If I Were Going...: Travels with Mark: Grand Teton

Pretty, but cloudy skies

I promised that I would come back and chronicle my trip with Mark, so here it is. Forgive any brevity, but time has passed.

We started by heading to Grand Teton from Fort Collins, having spent the night at Caty's after an awesome Maroon IV/Kelly Clarkson concert in Denver. As we drove north, the weather worsened and we encountered some very light snow.

Map: NPS

We were headed for Grand Teton's Moran entrance on the east side. It has the advantage of what we assumed would be pretty scenery and not having to drive through the sometimes awful traffic of Jackson, Wyoming. I had not gone this way before, so I didn't exactly know what to expect. But, I had driven around the are when I had been in the Park before, so it wasn't completely foreign. I also hadn't driven up this late in the year (it was mid-October) and I think I was naive enough to not fear bad weather.

As we approached Togwotee Pass, we checked the radio warnings, which said the pass was closed! ACK!!!! To go back around was hours of driving. So, we decided we'd go into DuBois (pronounced "doo boys") and see what the prognosis was. We passed two more warning signs, neither of which indicated a closed pass. So, we soldiered on. The pass was open and gorgeous!

Togwotee Pass

There was eight inches of fresh snow (and evidence that the pass had been briefly closed earlier in the day).

A bull Elk eyes us suspiciously before running into the pines

Of course, we had to stop and take some photos.

Fences make good snow gauges

So, on to Grand Teton! And, we even had a little sun on the way ...

This was (falsely) encouraging

Mark was happy

We stayed in a big cabin in Colter Bay Village. Unbeknownst to me when I booked, it was the last two days of the season. After that, all lodging would close. The cafeteria with our promised free breakfast was already closed. So, we got coupons for the much tonier Jackson Lake Lodge. Mark, who loves a big breakfast (or two) was in heaven. There was a chef making omelettes! And, the huge bowls of fresh berries worked for me.

We had a lovely time, even though the skies never cleared enough to really see the mountains (a reason for Mark to come back).

We never really saw the Tetons

During our two days there, we had some nice wildlife sightings.

We went to Moose-Wilson Road because it's usually a good bet for Moose. We were not disappointed. There was a beautiful cow and her calf just over the ledge at the parking lot, munching away in the snow ...

Two Moose right on cue

But, the extra reward was the gorgeous frosted scenery ...

View from the Moose-Wilson Road parking area

On our many travels down Moose-wilson, we also encountered a couple of Black Bears. One in particular, a gorgeous cinnamon-colored Black Bear ...

Looking at us briefly

... was so engrossed in eating hawthorn berries that it didn't mind the group of photographers at all.

I was amazed that bush could hold such a big Bear

We got frightfully close.

A Ranger eventually broke up the party

Grand Teton has a lot of Elk, and I thought they might be gathering at the Elk Refuge for the winter. But, not yet. So, we didn't see many. We did capture one gorgeous bull ...