THE Trip, Grand Tetons Round Up, Old Faithful

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

A few photos taken during our day trip to the Grand Tetons National Park, June 21, 2011.  Pretty scenery and a few "critters".

Below:  Chapel of the Transfigurations, near Moose Junction, Grand Tetons National Park.

Below: the water, rivers, lakes, streams, clear, the colors are amazing, gorgeous, and great reflections!

Our long long day trip was not over quite yet.  We were driving past the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park on our way back to Tana, when Man suggested we stop and see if the Old Faithful was close to doing the old faithful thing.  We were so tired, ok, I was so tired, I really did not want to stop, but, Old Faithful was some distance from our campground, and Man pointed out to come back would be retracing our miles and since time was of the essence - -

We stopped and quickly discovered that Old Faithful was probably going to erupt in the next 20 minutes or so.  So, we stayed, and Old Faithful did not disappoint, pretty much on time, there she blows:

Old Faithful is one of the most popular and very dependable, time wise.  Some interesting facts are found on this page.  There is a web cam set up at the Visitors Center there, but, when I checked it, all I saw was a black image.

Sony and I spied this pretty blue bird while watching the Old Faithful show, bird unidentified, lots of Sony zoom at work here, focus lacks a bit, but, isn't he pretty??

As we were leaving the area around Old Faithful another geyser erupted, I am not sure of the name of this one, but, it was (to us) just as spectacular.  In fact, Man and I liked it even more!  It was close to 7 PM local time, the light was starting to wane, we were some distance from the geyser, the photo does not do justice, still, tis wonderful! The structure that runs left to right along the foreground of the photo are benches, look close, to the far left, you can see a gentleman sitting, taking in the show, it will give you some perspective as to the size of this geyser.

What an end to an overwhelming, exhausting, exhilarating day!

THE Trip, The Grand Tetons, My Ten Fav Photos

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

On our day trip to the Grand Tetons National Park, June 21, 2011, Man and I drove south from Yellowstone National Park, across the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway to the park, continuing our drive south all the way to Moose Junction.  At Moose Junction we turned back north via route 191/26/89.  When you reach Jackson Lake Junction you can retrace your route through Colter Bay and head right back to Yellowstone the way you came, and that is what we did.

Along the route we took several of the cut offs and scenic drives, like Signal Mountain Road, the Jenny Lake one way drive, a brief stop at the Chapel of the Transfiguration and the Snake River Overlook.  Trying as hard as we did to "see it all" there was a bunch we just could not see, missing a highly recommended drive along Antelope Flats Road, where we were told we most likely would see lots of large wildlife.

Every where we stopped I took photos of the surrounding mountain ranges, of the Tetons.  Here are my ten top favorites of the day.  Yes, the last two are very similar, I had a HARD time picking between them, so, did not pick, just included!  LOL  So, no more chatter, just eye candy:

Eye candy, Grand Tetons style.  Magnificent, stunning, eye candy.




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THE Trip, Colter Bay Visitors Center & Indian Arts Museum, Grand Teton National Park

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

We had been in the truck for some time driving from West Yellowstone to Colter Bay.  It was more than time for a break, lunch, stretching, walking around and tending to the needs of the fur kids.  We pulled into the Colter Bay Visitor Center, snagged a parking spot and went to investigate the center and the museum.

The museum had a really wonderful collection of Indian artifacts.  I took a number of photos, however, I do NOT take photos with a flash inside museums and use only available light - - unless I am told it is fine to use the flash, which does not happen often.  In this case the light was very low, a good number of the photos are out of focus.  I also had to fight reflection and protective glass cases that most of these artifacts were displayed in.  However, with the magic of photo editing software I can share these with you.

Below, the grizzly bear claw necklace, according to the signage, proved great hunting skill and bravery.  Some of the claws in this particular display came out of necklaces dating from 1800.

Below:  the art of Navajo silver smithing:

Below:  Pipe bags, the bag at the top of the photo is said to be Sioux, made about 1890.

Have no information on the artifact below, looks like a drum head:

Below:  Fabulous samples of clothing.

As wonderful as the museum was, lunch was screaming our names.  We asked the staff where the picnic area was, happily it was not far.  After a short drive, we carted the cooler and picnic basket down to the lake, finding a picnic table front and center.  There were a few bugs, but the food was delish, and the view, well, what say you, winner??  Ya, I thought so too!  LOL  I actually sat at the table, between bites of my lunch, I balanced Sony on the top of the table and shot and shot, just because I could.  But, this panoramic was by far the best of the best of the photos.  (Do try clicking on this photo, larger is so much better!  LOL  It is too wonderful on my large monitor with larger resolutions!  WOWSERS!!)

With lots more to see, and many more miles to drive, (we will return to Tana the way we came, via 3 crossings of the Continental Divide) we could not linger long enough at this very special luncheon site.  So, sadly, we pack up, and head out for more vistas to discover.

As we turned to leave this beautiful spot I found these, bright, sunny, joyful:

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THE Trip, Driving From Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After we passed our lone Bison walking the line we got this day trip moving along.  At Madison we turned south.  This is an area that has a lot of geysers and paint pot areas, which we totally skipped.  Our experience the day before with the strong odors pretty much halted all further stops at the geysers and pots and pools.  Hate to say, seen one, seen em all, so, instead lets just say, smelled one, smelled ENOUGH.  Yes, we really did find the odor that objectionable.  We were actually quite surprised to see parents taking babies in strollers on the board walks around the geysers at Norris Geyser Basin.  We had a chat with a employee in that area who said the Bison frequent the geysers during the winter because, they are no fools, it is w*a*r*m!  However, if there is any weather inversion, where the winds do not blow and the fumes from the geysers are trapped near the surface, and, well, they have found Bisons that have passed to their great rewards from the fumes.

Anyway, Man and I decided that we just did not want to subject our lungs to any more odors, so we passed up all further visits to geysers, except, for one, Old Faithful, stay tuned, I'll chat about it in a few days.

We did however, drive past a lot of thermal areas, I love this photo, cold blue rapid running water, visitors fishing away and steam puffing out of the ground in the background.

On the drive between Old Faithful and Lewis Lake you cross the Continental Divide three times.  We will go from an elevation of around 6800 feet at Madison to 8391 feet at the middle crossing of the Continental Divide.

Below, yes, lots of snow, we are here on June 21, 2011.  There are several picnic areas along the way, but they are still un-opened, in fact, they are full of snow, the plows had not attempted clearing them.  I am not sure if they ever do plow them or just hope that Mother Nature melts the snow.

Here we pass the 2nd and highest point of the Continental Divide, 8,391 feet, the  right corner of the sign is still "in" the snow bank.  These roads are closed from early November till mid May to automotive traffic, I believe they do allow vehicles like snowmobiles on some of the roads during the winter, but only with guides.  Since there was no chance Man and I would be there during these snowy months, I did not take extensive notes on the procedures!  LOL

This is Lewis Lake, the wind had pushed the ice onto the eastern shore, it looked cold, crisp, clear and stunning!

Lewis Falls, my brochure indicates they drop 29 feet.

Below:  Sony zooms us in:

To get our bearings, we are traveling south from Yellowstone National Park into the Grand Teton National Park, along the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.  Our first destination will be the Colter Bay Visitor Center, but, first, one of our first really good views of the Tetons, believe this is over Jackson Lake.

*Wait till you see where we had our picnic lunch!  OHHH MYYY!
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