We finally settled on Jackson Hole because we love scenic drives, natural beauty, and wildlife. It's also a new destination to us, which adds a level of excitement. The reason we almost cancelled three weeks out is that we were concerned about smoke from the extra active wildfire season. We called our inn and another hotel in town to gauge the status and while they admitted that the smoke had been bad, air quality had improved and would only get better with the temperatures dropping and rain/snow fronts moving in. With their assurances, we barreled ahead!
Travel dates: Wednesday, October 4 - Sunday, October 8
Wednesday, October 4
To save some money we flew in/out of Salt Lake City. That meant a bit of a drive, five hours, to get to Jackson. There's a lot of really ugly sprawl immediately around SLC but once you get beyond that, about an hour into the drive, there's a lot of beautiful open space. Some of the best scenery was between Utah and Wyoming, right in the southeastern corner of Idaho. We oohed and aahed over the amazing foliage.
Somewhere near the Idaho/Wyoming border we got our first glimpse of the incredible native wildlife. We spied our first moose of the trip! There was a lot of grazing cattle to our left so we just assumed it was a lone cow off to the right but the way it was moving made us look closer and sure enough - moose. It was moving way too fast, almost jogging, for us to stop for a picture.
We didn't arrive in Jackson until it was dark so we wouldn't see much until the next day.
We stayed at Huff House Inn & Suites right in downtown Jackson. Evan and I can't rave about this place enough. It's probably the best B&B/inn/hotel we've ever stayed in. It was the perfect mix of personalized and hands-off care. Huff House doesn't have a single host/ess but a rotating staff that man the desk and serve the breakfast in the morning. There wasn't a weak link; every staff member had outstanding customer service skills. They were available to us if we needed them but also discreet enough that we could go about our business without interaction.
The breakfasts were INCREDIBLE. We were excited to get up every morning to find out what delicacy would be put before us. They offered two options - sweet or savory. We always got one of each so that we could sample everything and share. They served the best egg's benedict of my life. That would be reason enough to return.
Our room was nice and cozy and the house was restored and decorated beautifully. I'll admit that we didn't spend a ton of time at Huff House because our activities took us outdoors but we treasured every minute we were there. It was a delight to come back to a plush, comfortable bed and unwind with a little TV after a long day. It was an all-around outstanding experience. It wasn't inexpensive but you absolutely get what you pay for.
Thursday, October 5
We never did much exploring in Jackson proper. We focused our energy on the great outdoors because that's where the magic is. That being said, Jackson is cute. It's small but has a varied assortment of restaurants, shops, and art galleries. I also really appreciated the town square that's punctuated by elk antler archways. No elks were harmed in the making of the arches. The antlers were collected after the elk shed them.
The weather was glorious so we took advantage and conducted a photo shoot to commemorate our ten years of marriage.
Our first glimpse of the glorious Grand Tetons and the Snake River:
Then we made our way over to Antelope Flats, an iconic scene per a Huff House staff member.
When we got back on the road to enter Grand Teton National Park, we had our first wildlife sighting of the day - pronghorns. They're such elegant creatures.
Per a Huff House staff member's recommendation we took a short hike by String Lake up to Leigh Lake. Huff House made sure to provide us with bear spray and an umbrella (just in case, though we never needed either). Since we don't live in bear country we were both a little on edge knowing that we could have a bear encounter. Fortunately, there was a decent stream of people coming and going and we made sure to talk the whole time. Evan added to our noise level by playing music over his phone. It was about a mile in and a mile out.
I think this is a grouse...?
All of the lakes, rivers, creeks we encountered had the clearest, cleanest water I had ever seen. It was also cold to the touch!
At the end of our hike while I was waiting for Evan to get something from the car I saw a creature in the distance and at first, I thought it was a dog. I started to think, gee, what if someone abandoned their dog or it got loose? I might have to step in and do something. Luckily, I zoomed in with the camera before approaching what ended up being a FOX.
More pronghorn in the park:
Jackson Lake with Mt. Moran in the center background:
Grand Teton National Park is relatively small. We drove through 80% of it in a matter of hours, which included stops for picture-taking and our short hike.
From there we took a detour down Moose-Wilson Road. It's a narrow road so it makes for difficult wildlife-watching as we would discover later. It's absolutely worth the excursion. It's the only spot we saw moose and black bears. In almost all cases I had to bail out of the car and take pictures from the edge of the road while Evan drove around.
Park rangers are there to protect the animals and people. They might come off gruff but it's only because they're trying to keep everyone safe and keep traffic moving. I read about "bear jams" on the NPS site for Yellowstone but I didn't think I'd experience them first-hand! A bear jam is what you'd expect it to be - a traffic/people jam resulting from a bear sighting.
Our first pass down the road we didn't see any wildlife but we pulled into the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve for a quick look around.
We saw another of these signs that we became intimately acquainted with during our trip:
On our return trip down the road we hit two areas of excitement. It's very easy to tell when there's been an animal sighting because you'll see throngs of cars, people, or both.
Our first moose of the trip:
Seconds later, just a little farther down the road, there was a bear jam! I joined in the fun and tried to get a few pictures. It was difficult to compete for a spot, especially with all these gigantic lenses in the way. The ranger said the black bear cub was eating hawthorn berries but I think they might've been huckleberries. What do I know? I was also confused because we've seen black bears in the Shenandoah before and they were, well, black. Both black bears cubs we saw looked brown to me. Again, what do I know?
I can't be sure if we saw the same bear cub twice or two different ones but s/he/they were having a ball! Who knew eating berries could be so much fun!
From there we returned to Antelope Flats because we heard that an adjoining road, Mormon Row, was a good place to see bison. We didn't end up seeing any but we took more pictures of the beautiful scene.
No bison but definitely horses:
We had a Southern-inspired dinner in town at Cafe Genevieve. It was quite good, if a bit expensive. What set it apart was its "pig candy" appetizer and the mac & cheese Evan got with his fried chicken was awesome!
Friday, October 6
We decided to spend our actual anniversary in Yellowstone National Park. We got a bit of a later start than I was hoping for but we were on the road by 9:45am. As I mentioned earlier, Grand Teton National Park is relatively small. Yellowstone, on the other hand, is gigantic. The Grand Loop Road is shaped like the number eight and in one very long day we managed to cover the lower loop. There's no way you can do both loops in one day unless you like to rush and you're starting at one end and then staying at the other end. We had to make a return trip to our entry point so the lower loop was our limit.
To enter from the South Entrance you have to pass through GTNP. It was the one stretch of the park we didn't cover the day before so that worked out nicely.
After having spent time in the area I can say that Oxbow Bend is my favorite scene.
Toward the end of GTNP we saw a hullabaloo on the side of the road. The ranger there looked pretty excited to inform us that a grizzly bear was foraging across the way. He reported that he had been there for three weeks. I guess that means he's picked his future hibernation spot. He was quite far away so you might not believe that the gray/brown blob is a grizzly but we heard it from the horse's, er, ranger's mouth.
Around 11:00am we had arrived:
When we entered the park we stopped at one of the first visitor centers to get gas and use the bathroom. While there Evan asked around and got a phone number so we could get Old Faithful's eruption times. We had about thirty or forty minutes to drive and then, twenty minutes to wait for the eruption. It worked out quite well with our schedule.
Old Faithful is one of several geysers so before we even got there we started to see steam rising from the ground. You have to do Old Faithful because it's so famous but it was pretty underwhelming. What makes it special is that its eruptions are predictable, hence its very apt name but it was probably the least exciting stop we made. We were also far from alone. It was the most crowded spot in the park. It was also extremely cold outside so as soon as we got a few pictures we were out of there!
From Old Faithful we moved on to the Grand Prismatic Spring and other accompanying springs. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing the steam toward us rather than away so it made it difficult to take pictures and almost completely obscured the brilliant rainbow colors of the GPS. Bummer. If we hadn't had such limited time we might've taken a hike up to a better vantage point.
On our way between springs we spied a lone, snoozing bison:
Then we made our way to the Fountain Paint Pot Trail where Evan coined the term "Smellostone" because of the sulphur-induced rotten egg smell permeating the area. I saw a lot of bison dung around. I understand their thinking - if it smells like a bathroom then it must be a bathroom.
This part was the most fun. It was like watching a giant bowl of pancake batter bubbling and boiling. It was definitely our favorite of the springs section of Yellowstone.
We turned off the main road to Fountain Flat Drive because we saw a herd of bison. We also saw a lot of DUMB people out of their cars and taking pictures 3-5 feet away from the bison. Big no-no. When you enter Yellowstone there are no fewer than three warnings about how far to stay away from the animals and that they have injured and killed visitors before. Do you think that scares people? Nope. I guess everyone assumes it won't happen to them. And then there are other tourists who pose for pictures near/in front of the animals. They actually turn their backs to these giant creatures who could charge and gore them in mere seconds. Do they think that they're at Disney World dealing with animatronics or something? These are real, live, wild animals. They should respect them and their environment and...GET A CLUE!
A ways ahead we got a nice surprise. After we got back on the main road we saw a bunch of cars pulled over and people out with their cameras so we knew there was something to see. I've identified this animal's dung on hikes but I'd never seen the animal in the flesh - coyote! It was so cute too. It was hopping and bopping around, I assume hunting a small mammal.
Then we veered off the main road to take several turn-offs to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. To save others time, unless you're specifically hiking one of the trails attached to the other turn-offs, only turn at the "Grand View". If you want a nice picture then you don't need to waste your time with the other lesser views like we did. I definitely awed at the depth of the canyon. It's not as impressive as the more well-known Grand Canyon but it's still spectacular.
Then we made our way to Hayden Valley, famous for wildlife watching. We only saw a lone bison in the distance. We spoke to a woman on the roadside while we were observing the coyote and she said that she and her family had seen a wolf pack there the night before. Lucky! Even without wildlife the scenery is gorgeous.
Just as in Custer State Park, we had to stop in the road because of a bison crossing. I was able to catch this cutie grooming himself once he reached the other side of the road:
On our way out of the park we swung by Yellowstone Lake. The water was choppy and with the wind and the cool temperature it was starting to feel pretty miserable outside. Then we saw a sleeping bison right next to the Lake Hotel. How fun would be to step outside your room and see a sleeping bison?
And then because the day/evening wasn't exciting enough we got our first glimpse of an elk doe. I had obviously interrupted dinner.
It was kind of amazing how the weather started to improve the closer we got to GTNP. The weather wasn't terrible in Yellowstone but it was chilly, damp, breezy, and mostly cloudy. The clouds seemed to dissipate toward the end of our road journey. We parked the car and enjoyed the sunset.
We drove back to Jackson in the pitch dark and arrived in town around 8:00pm. We were starved so we got something quick and easy from Pizza Caldera. We were ravenous but even so, it was quite good. The elk sausage really took it up a notch. Forgive me, elk friends!
It was a very long but fun and eventful day. We saw oodles of wildlife and beautiful scenery as exhibited here. I'd love to do the upper loop one day in the not too distant future and stay in Montana. We spoke to some inn guests who live in Montana and they said we have to go in the winter because no one is around and you can take special guided tours to see the abundant wildlife.
Saturday, October 7
The weather was almost perfect today except for the wind. We thought about taking more couple pictures but the wind made it very difficult so we gave up fairly quickly and just tried to enjoy the environment.
We repeated some of our old haunts from Thursday.
Antelope Canyon:
Oxbow Bend:
Mt. Moran was obscured by clouds the first time we were there. What a magnificent sight it is on a clear day.
We repeated the whole GTNP and saw more wildlife along the way.
Pronghorn:
An elk herd:
As far as I could tell there was only one male so I assume that's his harem with him!
On our way out of the park we stopped to take a hike to Taggart Lake. We were ill-prepared. Our ignorance had us embarking on the hike without bear spray, water, and proper attire. When we started out we thought we would be walking for maybe ten minutes, see a lake, and then turn back. Yeah, so it was 1.6 miles to reach the lake and then 1.6 miles to get back to the parking lot. Also, it was not flat. Most of the hike was on an ascent.
Fortunately, we didn't need bear spray. There were a lot of people on the trail so I don't think it would've been an issue anyway. We had to ignore our thirst - at least we had water in the car waiting for us. We were also wearing long-sleeved flannel shirts with heavy jackets because it was cold and windy out. The physical exertion made us uncomfortably warm rather quickly. Putting that aside, it's probably the most fun we had on the trip. It was a beautiful, moderate hike and we talked, laughed, and lost ourselves in the moment. We've been preoccupied with something and despite trying to get away from it all, your troubles tend to follow you. It wasn't until that hike that I think we both let loose.
Once we left the park we returned to Moose-Wilson Road to see if we'd have more luck spotting a moose. I know we technically saw a moose the first day but it was mostly obscured by vegetation. I had this image in my head of a moose walking through the water. That's what I was looking for.
Our excursion started as almost a total repeat of the other day. We did see a moose but it was lying down in a field of vegetation. You could only see its rack sticking out. We waited around for 10-15 minutes hoping it would get up for a better view but we eventually gave up.
Then we had another repeat performance in the form of a black bear eating berries in a tree! The only difference was that it was on the other side of the road and I think I got better pictures this time around.
We turned around on the road and passed the moose sleeping in the vegetation. He hadn't moved so we made the right call to not wait around. We went to the front of the road where there's some water and noticed that there seemed to be some excitement about a moose - a different one. We were told we would have to hike a bit. Fine by us!
We followed a small pack of people and spotted the moose. But it was a moose on the loose so we had to give chase. For the record, the moose was way below us and we were up high on a hill so we were not actually chasing the moose but chasing a good sighting of the moose from a safe distance. I actually ran with the camera. If you know me, you'd probably never picture me running but that moose made me run for the perfect picture and guess what? I got it! I got the very picture I had conjured up in my mind. At that point, I felt like the trip had been made. What a high!
We ended the evening with sunset pictures at Antelope Flats.
For all intents and purposes that was the end of the trip. Sunday was basically a long drive back to SLC and then we flew home.
We picked a fabulous time of year to visit the area. A friend of ours has visited Yellowstone twice in June and he said that it was bumper to bumper traffic and that they missed highlights because the wait was too long. We didn't experience any traffic and we got to see everything we wanted to see. That being said, Yellowstone is still pretty popular. There were a decent amount of people at Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring. Even Saturday in the Grand Tetons had quite a bit more people than Thursday. Despite that, it really wasn't crowded because October is considered a shoulder season and facilities are starting to close. I really want to go back in the winter like that couple suggested because it sounds like the animals are out and about and you can take specialized, small tours to explore. It sounds really romantic and quaint. Adding that to the bucket list!
There aren't words sufficient to describe the beauty of Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. It's impossible to fathom a beauty so vast and otherworldly. I love all animals so it was a thrill, as it always is, to see such amazing creatures in their native environment up close.
Something I really enjoyed about this trip is the number of wonderful people we ran into either at the inn or in the parks. For those of us that were in respectful awe of the animals, it felt like we were part of a club. We gave each other tips and said where we saw this animal or what back road to try for a sighting of that animal. It was exciting and fun to feel a part of an inclusive clique. That might seem like an oxymoron but in this case, it isn't. Cliques tend to be exclusive but in this case, anyone can join the clique. As soon as you decide you want to admire the animals and not accost them with rabid and dangerous attention, you're in.
We didn't specifically go out of our way to signify our anniversary with an event or meal but that's OK. Our breakfasts were fantastically special (so good they made me dance in my seat) and our Taggart Lake hike was spontaneously romantic. If we're laughing, we're having a good time and we were giggling the entire hike. I hope we keep laughing for the next 50 anniversaries. I wouldn't want to laugh with anyone else.
