One hell of a weekend

For those that don't know, I decided to take a little trip this past weekend. And no, it wasn't anywhere close by. I flew out to Salt Lake City and then drove roughly five hours up through southeastern Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The reason? Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

The drive up there was amazing, especially after you get through Idaho Falls. You pretty much parallel the Snake River, which winds through rolling hills, canyons, mountains, you name it. I would definitely recommend it as a road trip.

I got in late Friday and headed straight into Grand Teton. After scouting out a couple of sunrise spots to take some pictures in the morning, I drove over to an area known as Antelope Flats. My guidebook mentioned it was a good place to see bison and it most definitely was.

The area is basically a large, flat meadow, filled with grasses and brush. Hundreds of bison were grazing all around. They were everywhere, walking across the road, everything. It was awesome. I had never seen them in the wild and I really felt like a kid again.

I snapped off a few pictures (including this guy) and then headed on in to check into my hostel and grab a beer or two and a late dinner. I stayed just outside of Jackson Hole in Teton Village, which sits right at the base of the ski area. It's a really neat place to stay. On the drive in from the park I saw moose grazing in a stream.

In just that first day I saw moose, bison, elk and a coyote. It was pretty cool.

The next morning I got up at 4:00 to be out in time to take a few pictures of the sun rising against the mountain peaks. I headed down to a place called Schwabacher's Landing to catch what is probably the most famous view of the Tetons. Unfortunately, some ducks got in the way (long story) and I couldn't get the exact shot I wanted. I did get the following one though, so I'm pretty happy about that.

After that, it was back to Antelope Flats again, to a place known as Mormon Row. This is a collection of old barns built by Mormon settlers around 1900. It's a pretty neat area and the view from there is fantastic. No buffalo this morning though.

From there I drove up through Grand Teton to Yellowstone. The drive took about and hour and a half and I headed for Old Faithful. I got there just as it was erupting, but I didn't get a good view. So, I checked things out there and waited a little over an hour for it to erupt again.

When that was done with, I took a loop through the park and drove to the Dunraven Pass area where I decided to do a little hike. It was a six-mile round trip hike to the top of 10,200' Mt. Washburn. The trail is probably one of the best in Yellowstone for wildflowers (those are lupine in the photo below). I've never been one to just look at flowers, though I do like to take pictures of them, but it was pretty cool. You could see for miles in every direction from the peak. I even saw some elk in some meadows below.

After that I drove back down through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to Hayden Valley, a great wildlife spot. I saw some more bison, a few stupid tourists trying to get close to the bison, and what very well could have been a grizzly bear off in the distance. It was a long day, but definitely worth it.

The next morning, I took some shots from the Snake River overlook as well as a place called Oxbow Bend. Both are in Grand Teton. When that was done, I drove back up to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to take some shots of the very impressive Lower Falls. It was pretty cool and I timed it just right to get a little extra in the shot. Hopefully you can figure out what I'm talking about.

I was exhausted from the hectic pace, plus it was about 90 degrees so I didn't feel much like hiking, so I headed back down to Teton Village and took a few hour nap to recharge. It was a very good decision.

When I got up, I grabbed a couple of beers and dinner in Jackson Hole and then headed back to Antelope Flats for some more bison. There were all over the place again so it was a lot of fun.

The next morning, I went back to Schwabacher's Landing, but didn't do nearly as well as the first day. It was crowded this time too, about 6 other people besides me. The first day I had it all to myself, which was great.

I headed back over to Mormon Row to do a few more pictures and then it was back to pack and then hit the road to Salt Lake City.

All in all, an unbelievable weekend. I had a blast taking pictures and seeing the sights. I didn't do as much hiking as I thought I would, but the pace was so exhausting, it was a good idea to lay low the last day. It was also incredibly hot, so that would have been really uncomfortable.

I'll post some more pictures in a few days, once I work through them. Here's one last one for you. This was my last shot on Monday from the other barns on Mormon Row. Hope you like it.