We drove through Grand Teton National Park to get to Yellowstone. This route took us to a different part of the park than what we saw the previous day. It provided different views of the same mountains. The Tetons tower above the valley. I don't think there is a place in the park where you can't see them. They rise up very abruptly from the valley floor. There are not foothills before these peaks. The Tetons are some of the steepest mountains in the world due to being on an active fault line that is forcing them upward from the valley. The valley sits around 6,400 feet elevation, while the top of the peaks are all over 12,000 feet, with the Grand Teton standing at 13,776 feet. It is quite the change in elevation in a very short distance. Again, the views were amazing as the peaks had even more snow on them from the overnight precipitation. There were two cloud layers visible. One was along the peaks, while a second lower level hung above the valley.
The two cloud layers are clearly visible in these pictures
At a few of the viewpoints you can see small glaciers that remain on the peaks. One of them looked like a fish from one angle. We stopped by the famous Snake River Overlook where Ansel Adams took his legendary black-and-white photo. The landscape has changed a lot since his photo, which was taken in 1942. There are many more trees on the eastern bank now that block your view of the full bend in the Snake River, but it is still an awesome sight.
As we were enjoying the Snake River view we heard some thunder coming from the south. We turned toward Jackson to see a huge thunderstorm coming right up the valley. One of the best things about the huge open views you get in the west are the opportunities to see incoming thunderstorms. The cloud formations are amazing. They can also be a bit scary-looking when you aren't used to seeing clouds like this.
The fish-shaped glacier
Storm moving in
We tried to outrun the storm and get over the first mountain in Yellowstone before the storm reached us. My hope was the the storm wouldn't cross the mountain. We kept getting distracted along the way. They were worthy distractions though. One of my animal sighting goals was check off as we came across an entire field of bison. The storm was almost on us as we left the bison, stopping next at Oxbow Bend, another popular viewpoint on the Snake River. Shannon was excited about this place, so we stopped and hiked down to the river. We were forced to run back as the storm finally got to us. It rained the rest of the way through Grand Teton as we continued north past Jackson Lake. The rain was helping to put out some forest fires that had the main road to Yellowstone closed yesterday. The road was open now, but the charred, smoldering forest remained.
The storm was following us
Mt. Moran
Field of bison
The bison standing on the right has birds on his back
Oxbow Bend
Signal Mountain
The full Oxbow Bend of the Snake River
Jackson Lake in the rain
Geese on Jackson Lake
Burned portion of the forest in the northern part of Grand Teton National Park
It was raining when we got to the Yellowstone gate. It rained over the first mountain and got much colder. We drove next to the Lewis River initially. It sits deep in a canyon on the southern end of the river. After a few miles of descending, the road then runs right next to the river. We then reached Lewis Falls for our first Yellowstone waterfall. It was 39 degrees and raining hard when we got to Lewis Falls. We took a few pictures from the bottom, then headed up the muddy trail for a top view. The cold rain kept most of the other people off the trail. A German lady stopped us on the way up and told us there was an eagle sitting in a tree on the right side of the waterfall. You can see it in my early pictures, but I had not noticed it at all. Sure enough, it was perched right above the falls, looking awesome like bald eagles always do.
Lewis River
Lewis River just below Lewis Falls
Lewis Falls
Eagle in the top of the tree to the right of the falls
We watched the eagle for a few minutes before it began to shift around. I thought it was going to fly off, but then it let out the biggest stream of poop I have ever seen. If it had hit the windshield of your car it would have covered the whole thing. Shannon described it as an entire can of silly string being discharged at once. We had a good laugh and then it flew off, soaring through the canyon out of sight. They are very majestic and commanding birds. It's no wonder our forefathers picked the bald eagle as the symbol of our country. Nobody else came up the trail while the eagle was there so I don't think many people even got to see it.
Cool place to sit. Wish I could get up there.
This was just a second before his monster poop
Feeling better after his poop
Lewis Falls from the top
Lewis Lake
The rain stopped as we made our way over to our main loop for the day. Highways 191, 89 and 20 help to make up what is called the Grand Loop within the park. Our goal was to do this loop all in one day. The loop includes the majority of the park and the main sights, staying in Wyoming (the park also spills over into parts of Idaho and Montana). Doing the full loop in a single day is a bit ambitious as it is a very long loop, but we had little choice. It was too long of a drive for us to drive back to the park another day if we were going to keep camping in Jackson. The road to the northern part of the park was closed, so this was really all we could see anyway.
We traveled the Grand Loop in a clockwise direction, taking Hwy 191 north and west first, passing by the edge of Yellowstone Lake and the small Duck Lake. We crossed over the Continental Divide at three different points within the park during our drive. We found snow on the ground as we crossed it for the second time. Turns out it had snowed six inches here just two days before and the snow was still hanging around.
The huge Yellowstone Lake in the distance with the tiny Duck Lake in the foreground.
Snow
The sun was out by the time we reached the Kepler Cascades. We hiked on a trail of melting snow puddles from the parking lot to several overlooks. There was a gravel road back to a geyser near the cascades which allowed mountain bikes. I had my bike, but the signage said nothing of how far it was back there. The lack of riding areas is definitely a black mark against this park. All trails are hiking only. Bikes are only allowed on the main paved road and on a few select gravel roads. With all the tourist traffic on the main roads, there is no way I would ride them, so bike options are very limited.
Trail to the upper view of Kepler Cascades
Kepler Cascades in a narrow gorge
Video: Kepler Cascades
Above the cascades
Below the cascades with a steaming geyser in the distance
More from Yellowstone in the next post. This day is just getting started.
