Leaving Zion National Park on our 2012 summer trip, we traveled north to Jackson, WY, stopping in Salt Lake City, UT, for a replenishment of gluten-free camping foods. The next big destination? Grand Teton National Park. “Grand” is an appropriate adjective for this place, as well as its highest mountain — the Grand Teton itself, with an elevation of about 13,770 feet. Here we also picked up my husband from the Jackson airport, and new fun-filled adventures began.
Below is another shot of the family — this became a fun and favorite way for us to do family photos at any particularly spot, but it drove nearby visitors crazy, who promptly volunteered to take a normal group shot for us. We obliged for their sake. 🙂
Even so, we redid this photo several times, because Logan’s head kept blocking out the Grand Teton (not that we were surprised). We finally got one showing Grand Teton, but then Nolan’s head got cut out of the picture. Alas.
The Teton range lies adjacent on the western side to the beautiful Jackson Hole valley, which includes open plains, scenic lakes, winding rivers and creeks, and forested areas. On the eastern side of the valley sits the Gros Ventre range (pronounced groh-VAHNT). All around, gorgeous colors, fresh air, and fantastic hiking trails and wildlife viewing meant we were in nature heaven. The bison above, mamas and calves, made their appearance just as the sun was setting.
If you love hiking, Grand Teton aims to please. We put our muscles and our lungs to good use. One hiking trail took us around Jenny Lake, the color of which was such an enticing blue. It’s just as pretty when you canoe on it.
The same hike takes you to Hidden Falls. I was imagining a high, narrow waterfall would appear, but Hidden Falls was all power and roar — such a delight!
We also hiked up to Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake. The trails here gave fantastic mountain views.
Grand Teton National Park in summer still has many beautiful wildflowers, such as Indian Paintbrush.
One of my favorites was Monkshood, aptly named and vibrantly purple.
Bear-enticing berries were all around, as well. We didn’t encounter a black bear or grizzly while we hiked, but we could tell we were in prime bear country. This, I believe, is Twinberry, or Utah Honeysuckle.
All around, we could see how glaciers have shaped the environment. At some point, a glacier carried and deposited this giant boulder onto the hill on which it now sits.
This is Mount Moran, as viewed from Oxbow Bend, a photographer’s hot-spot. I bet you can guess why! But aside from the spectacular view, this is a prime wildlife viewing spot, too (at least, it can be).
But the wildlife, oh the wildlife. We saw a little bit of everything, from Bald Eagles to Magpies; Yellow-headed Blackbirds to White-Breasted Nuthatches; lots of Ravens, Robins, and Swallows; and even American Pelicans and Sandhill Cranes. Mammals ranged from the large — moose, bison, and grizzlies — to the small — chipmunks, mice, and squirrels.
Moose favor aquatic vegetation, and that’s exactly where we found this big bull moose, not too far from our campground.
The evening before, in the same area, we found a female moose.
And on our last day in Grand Teton National Park, we saw a beautiful mother grizzly bear and her three cubs, a couple of which you can see in the photos below.
These cubs were big but still youthful enough to play and run. One of the cubs even climbed a tree!
We were having such fun in Grant Teton NP that it was almost hard to pull ourselves away to get to Yellowstone, but we knew more adventure lay ahead. We said goodbye to the waters, mountains, wildflowers, and wildlife of Grand Teton and headed north.
But first let me tell you what this kid, our youngest, did. He declared early on in our trip the wildlife he wanted to see before we went back. What pressure to put on one’s parents, who know better that wildlife might show up — or they might not! But while Yellowstone pictures are still to come in this photo-journey, let me just let you know that we saw every one of them, starting with the big ones above. 🙂
Congrats on spotting the grizzly mama and cubs, AND for getting pictures! I hope you were safe in a car at the time. We were driving in Yellowstone 12 years ago and nearly ran INTO a mama grizzly and two cubs crossing the road. We got a close-up look — and so did she — but alas, we were too slow getting out the camera in our excitement to capture the moment.
The bison picture is spectacular too. Their humped backs echo the mountain range behind them.
We were indeed safe in the car, Pam, and across the road. Mama and her cubs paid us no attention. How exciting to have been so close to a grizzly when you were there, but I’m glad you and the bears were all safe. I wish the sunset bison picture had come out a little better, but the light was getting too dim for a quick shot without a tripod. But I’ve got better photos to come!
Moose and bears…oh my! Reminds me of, and makes me miss Alaska! I love Jenny Lake…so calm and beautiful! I’m loving these photos and planing a trip in my mind…Thanks for sharing Meredith!!!
Cheryl, Jenny Lake is very popular, and for good reason. We stayed in a different campground, Gros Ventre, but we spent most of time in the Jenny Lake area! I already can’t wait to go back.
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When we went to Yellowstone, we camped overnight in Grand Teton (twice). We didn’t get to do any hiking either day, though…Oh well, just means we’ll have to go back so I can see all the sites you saw.
Katina, you definitely should plan a trip back, and soon! We plan to do a lot more hiking next time, but we wanted to knock out the big “hot spots” on this trip.