What I like best about my blog is that it has become our diary for the trip. At this point, nearly nine weeks into this trip, some events start to run together. We forget when we were here or there. In conversations, people are always asking where we have been. We always get raised eyebrows when we tell people all we have seen. It is easier to tell folks the places we haven’t been than to tell where we have been.
I had to stop at the Visitor’s Center this morning. While there we noticed a very large display of Indian relics. We spent some time looking through the exhibit. There were many articles of clothing and moccasins covered with beautiful bead work. You can only imagine the hours of work it took to create them. We found a pair of Seneca Indian moccasins dating back to about 1800. They were brightly decorated with painted porcupine quills. Several tomahawks made with iron hatch heads acquired from white traders were on display. In those days having one of them was a status symbol. Human nature never changes.
Grand Teton NP is truly grand. The mountains are ruggedly etched solid rock. A couple of glaciers can be seen amid the snow fields that bedeck the slopes. A series of lakes lie at the feet of the peaks, the largest of which is Lake Jackson. The water provides beautiful reflecting pools to mirror the image of the mountains and sky.
Glacier
Spring Lake
We traveled some of the park roads today taking time to stop at many of the overlooks. We stopped at Spring Lake to hike a short trail around the shoreline of the lake. The water was clear as crystal. Many were paddling around in canoes and kayaks.
After several hours of exploring the park, we returned to our campsite for a nap. Old folks do that, you know. We wanted to be rested up for the critter cruise we planned for this evening.
The best time to see wildlife is early morning or evening. We don’t get around too early some days so we thought the evening would work best for us. We set out for some of the most popular locations to spot critters. It was a very productive cruise. We saw herds of buffalo, elk, prong horns, beavers and mule deer. We have seen much more wildlife here than in Yellowstone.
Elk
Just at sunset we were sitting at Oxbow Bend overlook. We had been watching a family of beavers making trips back and forth across the stream. They had several little ones in the family. They never rested from their activity. Busy as a beaver.
I was scanning the edge of the wooded area in the distance when I saw elk beginning to come down to the meadow to graze. First there were several, then tens finally hundreds. As the crowd grew in the meadow, late arrivals could be seen galloping at high speed from the woods to the meadow. I thought of late arrivals at the “all you can eat” buffet making a mad dash for the last table.
Grand Teton Mountain, 13770 feet
We stayed until it was nearly dark hoping to see a moose or a bear. They frequent the area. Neither made an appearance. We visited with many people while waiting. Everyone had a story to tell about wildlife encounters they have had while hiking here.
One young family from Cincinnati walked right up on a black bear pawing in the grass.
They had been making noise and following all the safe hiking rules but the bear didn’t seem to notice them. He looked up briefly and went back to his pawing. Another woman walked up on a moose browsing on some willow branches.
We got back to the campsite well after dark. It is the first time I have driven the bread truck at night. In the morning we will walk a trail from our campsite to the shore of Lake Jackson. Darlie has taken nearly 200 photos of the Tetons so far. I have the feeling she will add many more tomorrow. Hopefully the water will be calm so we can get some photos with good reflections.
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