Summer Vacation 2010 Part 2

Day 5:

It was nice waking up in the Tetons. I came here with my family when I was a young teen back in 1977, and then again in 1979. So it's been a long time since I've seen these mountains. I woke before the rest of the family and went to have breakfast at the lodge. Someone yelled that they saw a grizzly out the large windows that face the mountains. So I hurried over there, and borrowed the guy's binoculars. Sure enough, out in the field was this grizzly looking for breakfast among an elk herd.

On this day we hiked in the Rockefeller Preserve in the south end of the park. The destination was a very nice glacial lake. We stuck our tired feet in the water, which was refreshing. On the hike back from the lake, we followed a creek all the way down, crossing it several times on walking bridges that offered magnificent views of the clear flowing water, as well as the mountains directly above us.

After hiking, we went to stay in a cabin at Colter Bay, on the northern end of the park. Has anyone ever told you that the driving distances in these national parks! That's OK, though. It allows us to slow down and take in the beauty. Saw a herd of buffalo grazing by the side of the road on the way back. I forgot to mention we saw a couple of female moose grazing by the river the day before. We all really enjoy seeing the animals.

Day 6:

It was time to go north to Yellowstone National Park, which almost borders the Tetons, except for about 8 miles in the middle. We set up "camp" at one of the rooms in Grant Village, named after President Ulysses S. Grant, who established Yellowstone as the world's first national park in 1872. Since the West Thumb hydrothermal features were a couple of miles down the road, we visited them. These pools of hot to boiling water are the strangest sights in the park, and something to see at least once in your life. That evening we enjoyed a Ranger talk at the visitor center.