If I Were Going...: Grand Teton National Park: Some Different Sights

Magnificent! There is no prettier view than the Tetons

We (Scott and me; Caty and me; Scott, Caty and me) often go to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, mainly to look for Bears.

And, of course, for the scenery

It’s the closest reliable place to see Grizzly (AKA Brown) Bears and it seldom disappoints as far as sightings go.

Plus, the Parks can be really good for Black Bears and Bison ...

Mama Bison reunited with her calf after a brief separation when she couldn't get over the fence

... and occasionally good for Moose, Elk, Foxes, Coyotes, Beavers, Muskrats, Raptors and, even, Wolves.

Early morning Elk without a care in the world

So, the three of us went in June.

Scott and Caty

While at Grand Teton, we stayed two nights at Colter Bay Village in a two bedroom/one bathroom cabin. We like staying in Colter Bay because of its location in the north part of the Park. Sometimes we stay a Dornan's Spur Ranch Cabins in the souther part, which are nice because they have full kitchens. But, this time we chose where Bears are frequently seen. Cooking is not allowed at Colter Bay, but we brought food that didn't have to be heated, so that wasn't an issue.

We stayed in a similar cabin back in 2014

What was an issue was how the Colter Bay room was wired for electricity. One switch at our room's door controlled all the power in our room except one outlet right below it all the way across the room from the beds. Since Scott has a CPAP machine, we needed the power on. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem except that there was one rather bright full-room light that had no on/off switch. The first night, we slept with the light on.

The cabin was spacious; Photo: Grand Teton Lodge Company

That same light in Caty's room was either turned off somewhere or burned out, so she didn't have the same problem. The next night, we brought in extension cords that we had in our cars and, with two connected running all the way across the room, we could turn off all the power and still run the CPAP. Tripping hazard, but we survived. A plus of our room location was proximity to an ice machine,

Failed Again!

We have been skunked multiple years in our quest to see Grizzly COYs. That’s Bear-speak for cubs of the year, meaning the tiny little ones that have emerged for the first time from the den.

COYs from Silver Salmon Creek, Alaska, 2023

Caty and I failed when we went in 2023 and we skipped 2024 because of our trip to England and Wales. So, we made reservations as early as we could to return in 2025 to try again.

With all the Bear photography we do, you’d think we would have a good history with COYS. But, no.

I have seen COYs in Alaska; Only twice, though

I have never seen COYs in Yellowstone or Grand Teton or, even, Canada. It is not for a lack of research or effort. We always seem to miss the window (we’ve been too early, too late, in the wrong place at the right time and in the right place at the wrong time). We have seen many, many yearlings and two-year-olds.

Obsidian Sow with her yearlings, 2021

Just can’t seem to find the COYs.

We had a greatish visit in 2025, but failed again. In our defense, this year has been very low on COYs in general. For that reason, next year might be good. But, since Caty and I are going to American Samoa in June 2026, we might miss them again.

Positives

I said that our 2025 visit was GreatISH. Let me explain. We spent two days in Grand Teton and saw NO Bears or Moose. None. Zero. Zip.

We did see some spectacular scenery because …

... the weather was great ...

… the sun was out and there was no wind, creating great reflections …

… some early wildflowers were blooming ...

… creating great foregrounds for the mountains …

... making for some tricky photo angles (Caty is shooting in a field coned for Bear sightings)

Scott is the master of these foreground shots; Photo: Scott Stevens

After a marvelous encounter with Bear 610 and her three yearlings in 2023 and ...

610 and yearlings

... with Bear 399 and her FOUR yearlings in 2021, along with many other sightings over the years ...

These media darlings put Grand Teton on the map for many

... no Bears was a shock.

Although it was comfy for us, it may have been too sunny for Bears in their heavy coats

Cattleman's Bridge

We encountered some people at Cattleman’s Bridge, an area we often skip, who showed us where a River Otter den was and informed us that we had just missed them (par for the course).

Otter den

If you can’t have Bears, there is no reason not to try for Otters.

So, we went late one evening and early the next morning, times that are often good for wildlife, which, unfortunately, also includes mosquitoes. Otters never appeared, but we did have some very, very close encounters with a couple of North American Beavers.

Very close!

I got some video as did Caty (here).

For a moment, we thought maybe people were confused and thought that the Beavers were Otters (it happens all the time), but then a tour guide came by and confirmed that there was, indeed, an Otter den.

The Beavers were swimming and eating and swimming some more

I wrote extensively about Beavers here, so I won’t go into much detail about the actual animals. The ones we encountered at Cattleman's seemed non-plussed by the people (us) on the shore taking photos and videos.

In fact, the few times they had any reaction to outside activities was when they encountered other Beavers.

This one swam off to eat alone further down the river

While looking for Otters, we also saw a number of Bald Eagles, including two very mottled Juveniles (most likely one and a half years old) that were hanging out together across the water, jumping, flapping their wings and stalking.

This one posed after its (presumed) sibling flew away

Many people don’t realize that Bald Eagles take about five years to reach full classic white-head-brown-body coloration, so these birds confused some people.

I, myself, have never seen any as mottled as these two

It was still early morning and pretty dark, so photography was tricky.

And, it was harder to tell what they were doing

We also saw …

Some Canada Geese …

Beautiful American Wigeons …

... in a beautiful setting ...

A female Barrow’s Goldeneye …

… and another Juvenile Bald Eagle flying overhead

Certainly, it was a nice wildlife stop, but it would have been improved by an Otter, Moose or Bear.

Still Looking

The last time Caty and I were in Grand Teton, we saw a Great Gray Owl. So, we looked and looked, but had no luck.

We looked for years to find this one

Someone later told us that there hadn’t been many sightings this year.

We did see a cute little Yellow Warbler; Photo: Caty Stevens

We also went back to the Red Fox den we had seen in 2021 (that was a good year!), but learned that the den had been destroyed to force the Foxes to move farther from crowds.