Tuesday, September 20, 2016

More from Grand Teton

 

P1050253

We definitely got our fill of moose in Grand Teton National Park, seeing at least one almost every day either in the campground or along the Gros Ventre River. Or along Moose-Wilson Rd, like this one.

P1050248

The crowd was a dead giveaway that wildlife was present.

DSC06222

These two got comfy right behind some campsites and hung around all day.

P1050298

P1050302

P1050294

Maybe they were enjoying the view.

P1050299

I walked down there later that evening to see if they had moved and they were still lying down. Just as I was about to give up, the cow stood up, followed a few minutes later by the bull.

P1050303

P1050305

I think he was ready to head back down to the river, but she was just standing there eating grass.

P1050314

After a little nudge from behind she started walking with him following.

P1050316

They passed very close to this car, where a family was standing. The ranger kept yelling at them to get in the car, but they just stood there taking pictures.

P1050329

P1050320

Maybe people with turquoise hair are deaf? Luckily they did no harm and just walked through the campground back towards the river.

P1050330

We also got caught in a bison jam, although nothing to compare to the ones in Yellowstone. They were busy drinking out of the mud puddles on Mormon Row and did not want to move. We and the car in the lead coming towards us kept inching forward and they finally decided to get out of the road. I don’t think our Subaru would be a match for one of these guys.

P1050239

P1050242

Robin and Lydia, our friends from Ridgecrest, CA, stopped by for a couple of nights after getting six inches of snow in Yellowstone the day they left. They have our identical twin Lazy Daze. It’s always a pleasure visiting with them and their dogs.

DSC06220

One afternoon we went to visit friends Ron and Jane, who sold their house in Cave Creek, AZ and are living year-round in a condo just outside of Jackson. They tried to convince us to come and visit them in the winter, but we’ll have to think long and hard about that!

Jane volunteers at the beautiful Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, and we went for a hike there to Phelps Lake.

DSC06224

DSC06229

No foxes, just a few mule deer.

DSC06225

DSC06228

DSC06230

DSC06233

One day we took a longer drive north through the park for a hike at Two ocean Lake. There were lots of bear warning signs but this was all we found.

P1050280

We did get to see plenty of fall foliage.

DSC06234

It’s 6.4 miles around the lake with some ups and downs, but probably one of the more level hikes in the park. According to Wikipedia, “Two Ocean Lake, in the northeastern portion of the park near Moran, was named for Two Ocean Pass about 25 miles to the northeast where Atlantic Creek flows east and Pacific Creek flows west. Two Ocean Lake only flows into Pacific Creek so the name is a misnomer.”

DSC06241

DSC06236

P1050281

DSC06239

DSC06240

DSC06244

P1050268

P1050278

Our big wildlife sighting, but we can’t identify it. It was very small so Jim urged it off the trail to keep from getting stepped on.

P1050274

A few more photos from around the park. This is from the Jenny Lake overlook.

P1050289

There are several glaciers left in the Tetons but they are shrinking every year.

P1050285

From the trail behind the campground.

DSC06248

P1050340

P1050345

P1050336

And from the campground entrance road. This scenery is why we interviewed for a volunteer job with the Grand Teton Association for next summer, although we decided it wasn’t for us.

P1050334

P1050333

We both came down with colds over the weekend, our first in years, so didn’t do much our last few days in the park. We did manage to rescreen 4 windows that the cats had torn up, and replaced the sliding piece on the screen door that Sophie broke while trying to escape. I miss them but it’s nice to be cat-less for a change.

Yesterday we moved on to Flaming Gorge near Dutch John, Utah. Thought it was about time to start heading south.

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for he wonderful pictures. Be careful I came south too soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some beautiful pictures and MOOSE! You saw more in your campground than we did in Alaska!, but we saw more bear :) We did not do Flaming Gorge, but did find some nice dinosaur exhibits in the area. Looking forward to your blog updates on what we missed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great moose pictures! It is a great area and clearly we did to go back.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your moose photos are incredible! We've never seen them in the wild. Looks like you chose the perfect place to be for fall colors and wildlife. (Those people who get too close to wildlife are prime candidates for the Darwin Award. We've seen plenty of similar behavior in Florida with the 'gators and also in Yellowstone with elk and bison.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Snow up in the mountains above Ouray again last night... inching down sooner than I'd like but whadaya go'in ta do. Those Tetons are tempting, aren't they? But we decided there were far too many tourists. We did enjoy the back (west) side tho... fewer people, but man, the mosquitos were fierce little blood-suckers that made hiking more aggravation than fun. Of course that was in July; September is better for sure. "The Plan" will go out soon :) Look for it!!!
    Box Canyon

    ReplyDelete
  6. I so loved that area, for the wildlife and the scenery. I can see why you'd consider volunteering...and also why you'd take a pass on it. Not sure I'd want to deal with a Nat'l Park gig, just seems a little too intense.

    Looks like you have a little more color on the trees than we had last year, but you may be a week or two further into the season than we were. Gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That campground Is in a great location for scenery and wildlife. I'm looking forward to hearing about Flaming Gorge as it is on my list also.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fab moose shots! I'm still mooseless. :-( Great foliage pics too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, my, Gayle! Your moose photos are amazing! That bull lying down is just the best and the photo of him walking by turquois hair really shows the huge size of this guy! I always love seeing the buffalo anytime. What a beautiful hike:) We really must get there next year about this time. Hope you are both feeling better:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. These pics are AWE-mazing! You guys are too! The bear paw prints took my breath away. I'm behind and now have to scurry through past posts to find out what happened to the kitties. We send you hugZ from AZ! db&n

    ReplyDelete
  11. How very cool to have moose in camp as long as they're not aggressive, and the tourons don't get too close. Gorgeous fall colors. Happening here too. South is sounding good.

    ReplyDelete
  12. First of all, your photos are amazing! The fall colors are spectacular! I can't believe the number of moose sightings you had. We will have to go back in the fall.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Absolutely gorgeous scenery and wildlife shots, so jealous your last few posts have featured hiking in pants and jackets! Here I sit hiding indoors in the A/C as the heat and humidity continues in southern Wisconsin later into the year than normal. Can't wait to see Flaming Gorge, has been on our list for awhile but who know when we will finally get there!

    ReplyDelete