September 30, 2016
Friday was a driving day. We needed to get from Grand Teton National Park to Salt Lake City to set us up for an easy drive on Saturday to Canyonlands and Arches. Still, I had a planned stop to make at Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake and a quick stop at Moose before leaving Grand Teton to try to see a moose.
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| Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
The morning was foggy. The mountain range was completely slammed. The elk were out and could be heard in all directions, though. A few were even visible.
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| Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
We didn't end up going to Moose to look for a moose. We didn't have to go that far. We saw not one but two moose next to the entrance booths about a quarter of a mile away from the junction to Moose. It was foggy and a little dark but that didn't stop me from taking a ton of photographs. None of them turned out great, but who cares? I saw a couple of moose and I didn't even have to go to Moose to see the moose.
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
I tried a number of post-processing tricks to try to make the photos suck less. None really worked. The photos I tend to like the best put an emphasis on the morning fog, but they tend to leave something to be desired as far as the moose are concerned. The first moose I saw was a lady moose in a meadow. She stood around for a while then moved into some trees.
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
Based on the size and shape of his antlers, I'm guessing it was an adolescent male moose that emerged from the trees. He tried to put a move on the lady moose but she was having none of it. Poor little dude.
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY |
After watching the moose until they disappeared into the trees, we headed to the Bunnery in Jackson where I picked up some coffee and a spinach and cheese croissant. If you're ever in Jackson and you like a good breakfast, this is the place to go.
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| Somewhere on Some Road in Idaho |
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| American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
Fast forward four hundred miles or so and we were on Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The island gets its name from the pronghorn that inhabit the island. A herd of bison also live on the island.
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| American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
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| American Avocet -- Antelope Island State Park, UT |
I'd originally planned on camping at Antelope Island, but at this point we'd been camping for four cold, occasionally wet nights, so I was ready for a regular room and a shower. I also wanted to see Salt Lake City and perhaps take a crack at photographing the Mormon Temple there. I figured if they light that one up the way they do the temple in Oakland it would make for some nice photos.
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| Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT |
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| Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT |
I'm not sure if dogs are allowed in the Temple Square or not. I didn't ask. Pongo and I took some looks from a couple of Mormon Mafia types, but they didn't say anything.
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| Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT |
I'm not religious. I don't have any respect for religion. I saw power, money and control in these walls. The placement of the Zions' Bank building right next door to the Temple Square seemed neither ironic nor by happenstance.
The temple is a beautiful building, especially when lit up at night. One good thing religions seem to do is construct buildings that are works of art. This particular building is a bit blocky, but I enjoyed looking at it and taking these pictures.
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| Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT |
Soundtrack:
- Band of Horses -- Everything All the Time
- Queen -- Greatest Hits
- LCD Soundsystem -- This Is Happening
- Robin Williams -- Live 2002 [2]
- Hank Williams -- Greatest Hits
- The Jam -- The Sound of the Jam
