Last Day T Grand Teton

Hi All,

We spent our last morning visiting historical sites.

The Cunningham Ranch was occupied around the turn of the century

Cunningham's 160 acre homestead proved too small to raise enough hay to make it through the winters. After years of hardship? Cunningham facilitated the sale of his and most other local ranches  to ensure conservation of the Teton valley.

New flowers bloom against the backdrop of a 120+ year old log cabin

One last spectacular image from Schwabacher 's Landing

Murrie Living Room-The Murrie family moved from Fairbanks, AK to a former Jackson Hole dude ranch in 1945. They immediately began local and national wilderness conservation efforts that led in part to formation of the Wilderness Society which Olas led for nearly 20 years and passage of Wilderness Preservation legislation in 1964. Mardy Murrie lived in this house until her death in 2003 at age 102.

The nearest of several wildfires burning in Yellowstone NP and Bridger-Teton National Forest . Fortunately the wind kept the smoke away for our last day,

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 10- Yellowstone National Park

Hi All,

Today we mounted an expedition north to Yellowstone. We drove 270 miles withe the main objective to see wildlife in Hayden and Lamar Valleys. Our strategy is to stop whenever we see people with spotting scopes. The first stop had some wolves very far away; not much to see. The second stop had three river otters resting in the grass and we got good looks at them. The third stop was a couple watching a coyote eating the remains of a bison carcass. They have been watching the carcass since it was fresh five days ago and have seen grizzly bear and wolf feeding on it as well.  They park their motorhome along the road starting before dawn and watch wildlife all day. This interesting couple grew up in the Boston area and now full time in their motorhome. They use the same mail forwarding service that we do so we have the same street address.

Dragons Mouth Spring

Old male bison resting and staying away from the younger males fighting for breeding rights.

Bison herd in the foothills

Blue Star Spring; contains bones from a young bison that fell in last year.

Woodwork and stonework in the 1904 Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 9- Supplement

Hi All,

We need to add this beautiful sunset to today' images.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 9-Grand Teton

Hi All,

Today we drove the scenic highway to the town of Dubois, about 60 miles east of Grand Teton. We learned that it was pronounced "Due -Boys" (this is Wyoming not France;-).

The overnight rain washed a lot of smoke out of the air so it was really clear. We stopped at Oxbow Bend for this neat reflection.

Ramparts of eroded mountains were all along the highway

This is the Tie Hack monument, dedicated to the loggers who cut the railroad ties.

The Big Horn Sheep Center had wonderful films, displays and dioramas about the life of these mountain animals. Local efforts to preserve winter habitat has created the largest herd of big horn sheep in the state.

We drove into the area where the sheep winter but it was the wrong time of day as well as the wrong time of year.

Nearby along the highway were sandstone cliffs eroded reminiscent of the Badlands

Downtown Dubois - it looks like an old cowboy town and we even saw one walk across the street wearing spurs. The general store was founded in 1889!

More mountain ramparts on the way home.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 8-Grand Teton

Hi All,

We spent most of today riding along with one of the Wildlife Brigade volunteers. We got to experience most everything the brigade does except working at a wildlife jam since none occurred during Nancy's shift. However, even in the absence of bear jams there's lots to do. We patrolled park roads where bears had been seen recently and we patrolled campgrounds looking for food, coolers , BBQs and any other items than need to be put away to avoid attracting bears. We confiscated a few items and left the campers a note about why the items were taken and where to retrieve them. None of the violations were serious enough for us to call a law enforcement ranger to cite the campers ($75 minimum fine).

We also learned about another brigade role, carcass removal! A mule deer buck was hit by a car. The dead animal was loaded on a pickup and taken to the disposal site away from visitors where the bears can eat the carcass in peace. Sandy watched for bears while Nancy unloaded the deer surrounded by skeletons. It was really interesting.

Tetons across Jackson Lake

Entrance to carcass dump

Large bison herd

Why did the bison cross the road?

Later we went shopping. Boy are we looking forward to lobster when we get back to Mass in September!!!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 7- Grand Teton

Hi All,

An extraordinary day. We started with a  two hour raft float down the Snake River.

The intrepid rafters by the danger sign

Boarding the raft from the gravel bar

Spencer keeping us off the rocks

We took time out from watching moose, bald eagles and osprey to snap this photo.

After lunch we headed south in the park but got caught in a "bear jam" as dozens of people blocked the road to get a look at:

This beautiful grizzly bear. We finally got past and got to our destination

The Laurance Rockefeller Preserve. This is a beautiful, recently developed area in the park that honors the youngest son of J. D. Rockefeller Jr. who continued his fathers conservation and philanthropic efforts. The visitor center here is unique and hard to describe. You'll have to come experience it for yourself.

Evalyn and Sandy admire a mountain mural composed of 3/4 inch squares depicting birds flowers and other wildlife.

 

From the visitor center we hiked the 3 mile Phelps Lake trail past this lovely waterfall.

to this stunning view of Phelps Lake and the mountains beyond.

On the way back, we spotted this bull moose with a huge rack.

We concluded this fabulous day with a double header of ranger programs. At 7pm we heard about bison and how the herds went from 60 million to only 23 individuals before they were protected and allowed to recover. The 9pm program was an overview of the development of the national park system and some of the people who made it happen. Both were excellent.

We said our good byes to Jim and Evalyn since they will likely be gone before we get up tomorrow.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone( except the bear image that Jim shot)

Day 6- Gramd Teton

Hi All,

Today we took inspiration from Jim & Evalyn and the four of us hiked to Inspiration Point and beyond.

The trip starts with a boat trip across Jenny Lake

Early stages of the trail gave hints of views to come

The lower trail followed this beautiful cascade 

More beautiful cascades

Hidden Falls

Above Hidden Falls the views get nicer as the trail gets steeper

This section is much steeper than it looks. From the falls to Inspiration Point is a half mile and gains 500 feet in elevation!

Inspiration Point was a lovely view across Jenny Lake. Unfortunately it was directly into the morning sun, hence no decent photos. Another quarter mile past Inspiration Point we earned better vistas of the Tetons.

A quiet afternoon and an evening ranger program about climbing Grand Teton concluded another great day.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day-4. Grand Teton

Hi All,

We took it easy today and late morning 
we drove the road up signal mountain.  The views were very nice but visibility was hampered by smoke and haze. Next we drove to String Lake and after our picnic lunch we hiked along the eastern shore including part of Leigh Lake.

Mt Moran from Leigh Lake

North end of String Lake

Sandy looking for birds

Creek flowing into String Lake

New bridge at south end of String Lake

The heat and altitude got to us this afternoon so we relaxed in the coach all evening. Still having a great time.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Day 3- Grand Teton

Hi All,

The sky was clear so we headed out early to visit many of the classic photo spots in the park.

Our favorite spot is Schwabacher's Landing where a quiet stream provides great mountain reflections

Further along the stream at Schwabacher's

Photographers are not the only ones attracted to this place. This artist was from Stamford CT.

Mountain views from the main road.

Mormon's Row preserved barns and other buildings from the community of 33 families that settled here in the 1890's

The old buildings are very photogenic in the morning sun.

Small herd of bison close to the road

Another view from the Jenny Lake Road.

That was a long morning. After lunch at the coach, we did laundry and Internet and later had our first campfire at Grand Teton.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone