Grand Teton National Park

After we were done at Craters of the Moon, we made our way to Grand Teton National Park, where we set up our tent to camp for the next three nights. No sooner had we set up our site when a kind stranger told us about a badger that was digging around just down the street. A short one-minute walk got us to the badger's hole where he or she was indeed digging a hole and just badgering around. The kids loved it. We saw a moose out in a field in the distance, that wandered just between our tent and another tent the next morning. It was only 10 yards, 15 tops, away as it wandered through the campgrounds. Again, the kids loved it.

We made our way to the Visitor's Center and got the kids enrolled for the Junior Ranger Program at Grand Teton. They eventually completed the requirements, and instead of patches they both chose the badges, which you can see them proudly wearing below.

I got up early every morning to go take some photos, but it was a complete wash the first two mornings from the wildfires in Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada. The smoke was just being pushed up the Snake River Valley, and as a result the Grand Teton mountains were almost completely obscured by smoke and particulate matter; however, the last night camping we had a strong windstorm come through that helped to clear things up significantly but it still didn't clear up the skies completely. I was happy enough with the background that morning, but now the smoke obscured the sunrise! Oh well, you can't win them all.

We had a nice breakfast at the Silver Dollar Grill at the Wort Hotel in historic, downtown Jackson, WY. I had eaten their many years (20+) ago with my father and stepmother on a vacation, and remember quite vividly the HUGE breakfast I had there. While I didn't exactly replicate that breakfast this time around (they served Starbucks coffee!?!), it was still a roll-me-out-in-a-wheelbarrow-I've-eaten-way-too-much kind of breakfast. Amazing.

We saw a bunch of animals while at Grand Teton NP. Bald eagles, moose, pronghorns, bison, woodpeckers, and of course the badger, but no bears. We took a wade in the Gros Ventre River, which was cool and refreshing. It was a fun three days/nights of exploring, but this park would be best appreciated by hiking and backpacking the backcountry (yes, it's on my to-do list). Next stop, Yellowstone!

Have a wonderful day. Cheers,

Marc