Road Trip: Grand Teton & Yellowstone

July 10, 2015

Friday was our last day in the parks and it started out  dreadful and wet.  We'd been dealing with sketchy weather all week--with a couple of serious storms mixed in--and the thought that our final day would be overcast and rainy was almost too much to bear.  I considered packing it up early and getting a start on the long drive home.  I'm glad we didn't do that because things cleared up in the afternoon and we ran into something almost on par with the grizzly bears we we'd seen the day before.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Jackson Lake

We toured around the Jenny Lake area in the morning.  It was very gray and very wet.  I took a lot of photos but most were not interesting.  We had hoped to go kayaking on one of the lakes or hiking but the weather squashed that idea.  Our only real option was to stay close to the car and hope that the rain cleared up.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Fishing Cone

We decided to drive up to West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone.  The drive is only about an hour and we didn't do a lot of touring around the thermal features the day before so it would hopefully feel fresh.  It worked out alright.

Black Pool, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY

We decided to drive up to Hayden Valley in the hopes of seeing more wildlife.  We thought the bears might be back if we were lucky.  We didn't see any buffalo or elk between the lake and the valley, which was a little disappointing.  It was even more disappointing to see only a single buffalo once we entered the valley.

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY

We headed up to the ridge where we watched the grizzlies the night before.  The rangers had moved the buffalo carcass a little way off from where it was Thursday.  There wasn't a bear in sight.  We saw something even more surprising instead.

Gray Wolf -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Gray Wolf

I had no expectations of seeing a wolf on this trip.  Everything I've read and heard about wolves in Yellowstone suggests that while not an uncommon sight in winter they tend to stay out of sight in the summer.  I was honestly more excited about seeing this wolf than seeing the grizzly bears the night before, and the opportunity to see a grizzly bear or a moose were the biggest drivers for coming back to Yellowstone.

Gray Wolf -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

We headed back to the campsite after that, making occasional stops for photos along the way.  I wanted to get back early enough to get to bed by ten or so.  It was going to be a long trip the next day and we were going to to need to leave early in the morning.

Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Jackson Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Soundtrack:

• The Decemberists -- The Hazards of Love