Where the wild things are Here we are at Day 17 (holy cow). We had a relaxed day and did some light hikes to some pretty lakes in the area. The weather was spectacular. The freezing cold of yesterday was replaced with brilliant sunshine, blue skies, and temps up to the 60s.
First, we headed straight to Moulton Barn. Remember the photos from a few days ago where the mountains were completely absent? Well, look at the barn today!
Now I have the same shot as everyone else 🙂
The Tetons have returned! I am so happy that it snowed earlier this week. It really brought out their character and majesty. By the end of today, the snow halfway up was mostly melted. Winter isn’t far behind. The temps are supposed to drop into the 40s again by the beginning of next week.
Then we made our way to Jenny Lake. Apparently, so did all the other tourists. The parking area and lake coast was a zoo of people (and so many rude ones!). Once we were on the trail, the crowd thinned out. We decided to take the 3 mile hike up to Inspiration Point, one of the most popular hikes in the park. We were about half a mile away from the point when the path was blocked and a sign informed us that the trail was closed. We were pretty aggravated since up to then, the hike was mediocre (compared to previous hikes we’ve done). We never got our payoff. I did get “attacked” by a red squirrel though. Bill almost stepped on it as it hurried across our path. In its panic, it jumped on my leg before disappearing in the brush. I let out a startled scream of course.
Jenny Lake’s coast, minus all the people
After that, it was time for lunch. Guess what it was? You know. After we stuffed our faces, we headed over to Taggart Lake for another quick hike. There were three highlights during the hike. Here they are in no particular order of their “excitement factor.”
Taggart Lake. Could this spot be any more beautiful? No, I don’t think so.
This was a pretty tame ruffed grouse. He had several friends. None of them seemed to care we were around.
We thought this guy was a squirrel at first. He’s an American marten and I wish I had a better photo. But you can still see how cute he is.
Before we headed back home, we decided to look for more wildlife since the sun was going down. We saw tons of pronghorns, which are cute, but a little played out. But then we started to have repeated sightings of what I think is the most magnificent of the large mammals in the park. Elk. Not only did we see them, we HEARD one. A beautiful male with his harem of females was very agitated that our car was nearby. He turned his head skyward and warned them with his call. It was a gutteral high-pitched sound with haunting urgency. Then they disappeared into the woods. It was a perfect end to a an almost perfect day (wish we could have seen Inspiration Point).
Exactly how does he walk through the woods with that rack?!
Tomorrow it’s back to Yellowstone before we continue on.
Billy on the Taggart trail
The Tetons are stunning! So glad the weather cleared for you. I am getting a serious case of wanderlust following this blog.
Give in to the wanderlust! I hope we can inspire you and your family to visit at least one place we feature on our blog. It’s a beautiful country!
The elk has a nice rack!
Lol. Yeah he does.
That elk picture is spectacular! Jenny Lake and Taggart Lake look pretty spectacular too. Even though I’ve seen pictures of Moulton Barn many times (kind of like Motif No. 1.), yours is beautiful with the blue sky and white mountains in the background.
Thank you! It’s all spectacular. It’s hard to figure out which photos to post. There is so much to see and photograph! We are so happy it snowed. It adds character and dimension to the mountains.