Northern Section of Tetons

When we drove through the Grand Teton National Park last Sunday as we arrived, it was in pouring rain and so cloudy we couldn't see the mountains. Yesterday, we drove to the northern section of the park to see what we missed on the way down.

Starting with Sleeping Indian Mountain which was very visible in the bright sunshine:

Overall, the views on our trip through the northern section of the park were spectacular for different angles of these mountains:

 

While there are many turnouts and viewpoints along the drive, a special stop for us has always been the Jackson Lake area and the Jackson Lake Lodge. The dam is along the drive just before arriving at the Lodge turnoff, and we took a couple shots of that dam:

The view of the lake and the mountains isn't bad either from this location:

The dam actually controls the water flow into the Snake River at this location. The water was being released into the river at a very high rate while we were there. That means that the snow runoff is beginning to fill Jackson Lake and the Snake River will be rising to create some great river rafting trips. Of course, the Snake River also receives snow runoff of its own, so it will be interesting to watch the changes in the river.

Our stop at the Lodge included a small hike to the top of the hill adjacent to the lodge building where there are some great views of the lake and the surrounding area:

By the way, we discovered that the yellow flowers we thought were Helianthela are actually Balsamroot, but they are very similar and both in the sunflower family. We also saw some different wildflowers - Low Larkspur, while walking this trail at the lodge:

We expect to see more and more of the different wildflower varieties as time goes on and the weather stays warm.

The most unbelievable sight so far was on our way home. We drove past this huge field to the east of the main highway when we spotted a herd of elk, running through the field:

While watching these elk, we saw some bison in the distance in the same field:

and then, to our amazement, there was a herd of pronghorn close to the elk who were chasing them away. Here is a rare view of an elk herd, a pronghorn herd and bison, all together in the same field:

It is the largest, single gathering of wildlife we have seen so far this year.

There is a celebration in Jackson Hole this weekend - Old West Days - which is held every year on Memorial Day Weekend. We plan to attend the Parade this morning at 10 AM and maybe participate in some of the other activities. It is our final day today before starting our work schedule tomorrow. What a week it has been...