grand teton and yellowstone national park tours.

My Grandma came to visit me last week. I was so excited to show her around all of my favorite places in Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson. On top of that, we made a pretty spectacular trip to Yellowstone. Here’s the story:

Anytime visitors come to the area, they hope to see as much wildlife as I can. With an area heavily populated with all sorts of creatures that are out of the ordinary for most parts of the country, it’s no surprise. The first few days of Grandma’s trip, we toured Grand Teton National Park. I took her across Antelope Flats, near the town of Kelly where we saw a herd of bison and several pronghorns. Next we visited the Mormon Row barns, some of my favorite buildings I think I’ve ever seen. They are so beautiful and rustic and looked even more spectacular against a dark and stormy sky.

We then drove up to Jackson Lake, checked out Cunningham Cabin, Oxbow Bend and the Jackson Lake Dam, then back down south through the park road and past Jenny Lake. On our way down the aspen-lined Moose-Wilson Road, we spotted a moose right next to the road. The next evening we saw a brown bear! Within two days, my grandma saw nearly all of the animals you can see here in Jackson.

Sunday was one of the best trips to Yellowstone I’ve ever had. We set out north on a rainy day. The clouds were dark and ominous, but the Park wasn’t crowded and it had more of a wilderness feel than I’ve felt before. With no visitor centers open, I felt really “out there.” Of course one of the first animals I came across was a huge bison that I nearly ran into as I was turning onto the fishing bridge road near Yellowstone Lake. It ran away and continued on down the road to freak out more motorists. Not only that, but there was a whole herd of them about a mile later taking over the roadway. As we neared the fishing bridge, I spotted a whole entire herd trampling over the ground near some trees, heading straight for the bridge. They continued in their gallop and I watched terrified as two men started running TOWARDS the charging herd! There was a small barrier between the men and the huge animals, but barely enough to protect them if one of the bison had gotten annoyed by their presence. What idiots. I really don’t understand how people can be so naïve. Anyway, we watched in awe as the herd approached my truck and then galloped up a nearby hillside. Wow. Spectacular!

We made our way around the main driving loop, past the Sulphur Caldron and Mud Volcano to the Hayden Valley. I had hoped to see some more animals in this area but really only expected to see more bison. A few miles into it, I saw that about three cars were slowed nearly to a stop watching something in the road. As I got closer, I realized it was a black wolf! Wolves are pretty rare to see so it was an amazing sight to see one so close. I followed it, along with a couple other cars as it made its way down the roadway for a bit and then back into the tall grass. Lots of photo opportunities on that one. How lucky we were!

We headed around the middle part of the grand loop to visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Norris Geyser Basin. On our way we saw a huge bull elk feeding next to the road. Finally we ended our Yellowstone adventure at Old Faithful and its geyser basin. We got there right on time, as the famous geyser erupted right as we reached our seats. Dark skies threatened the area but we walked around for a bit. And checked out the other geysers and springs. Another geyser started going off and I ran back to take a photo but as I did it started pouring rain! The rain only lasted for a few minutes, only to produce a gorgeous double rainbow. What a beautiful ending to a beautiful trip! I couldn’t have been happier with the way the week turned out. Enjoy the photos!