Grand Teton National Park

Holding to our research that early morning is the best time to see the park and find animals, we were up and out bright and early to see what we could see.

We first headed to the place where we saw the moose the night before, and we weren't disappointed.  We found a bull moose in the willows and then farther down the road, a female moose with her calf.  As we continued through the Gros Ventre/Antelope Flats area, we saw more bison grazing and moving across the sagebrush.  We explored more areas of the park, including Oxbow Bend, Jenny Lake and Signal Mountain, and the views were spectacular.

It was cloudy much of the day, which made for interesting views of Grand Teton.  Sometimes the clouds circled the top and covered it.  Grand Teton tops out at over 13,000 feet, and about 3/4 of the way up, the treeline ends and it's just rock and snow.

We took a midday break to run to the grocery store, rest a bit and let Jeff get some work done.  We stopped by my favorite grocery store in Jackson, a "whole foods" type store that has great baked goods.  I still remembered their foccacia bread with sun dried tomatoes and was thrilled to find they had one left on the shelves.  We picked up some cold cuts and freshly baked ciabatta bread to make sandwiches for our picnic lunches in the park.

Later that evening, around 4:30 p.m., we headed back into the park.  The early evening sun changes the shadows on the Tetons.  We hunted around various spots to find some wildlife, but the opportunities weren't as plentiful as in the morning.  We watched the sun set behind the Tetons and then made our way back to camp.  It was dark by the time we got home, and we were exhausted.  With a 7:20 a.m. pick-up time for our sunrise scenic float on the snake river, we went straight to bed and got some much needed sleep.

Touring the Antelope Flats

Moulton Barn on Mormon Row