Snake River

A couple posts back, I talked about the mountains of Grand Teton National Park. One of the other prominent features of the park is the Snake River. The Snake River originates in Yellowstone National Park, and flows south into Grand Teton National Park before turning west towards its eventual consumption by the Columbia River. It is a giant river system, with numerous dams constructed on it (I counted at least 20 when I read the Wikipedia page) to provide navigation, irrigation and electricity.

Here are two photos that include the Snake River as part of the scenery. These may be repeats from the Blog Action Day post, but since they were not previously described as pictures of the Snake River, I figured it was okay to show them again. On another note, I think I have reached the end of my posts about the recent trip to Yellowstone. My next post should jump back to things closer to home.

Inspiration Point

There are a lot of trails in the vicinity of Jenny Lake, within Grand Teton National Park. There is even a ferry service across the lake if you want quick access to the far side. One of the popular destinations on the far side is Inspiration Point. There is a waterfall (aptly named Hidden Falls) on the way up, and the views from Inspiration Point are pretty nice. We ended up hiking to the far side, up to the waterfall and Inspiration Point, and then taking the easy boat ride back.

Part of the trail up to Inspiration Point is literally cut into the side of a short rock face. What is weird is that this caused me zero anxiety (unlike the trails that meandered next to the giant canyons of Yellowstone National Park). Tammy, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She had no problem the meandering canyon-side trails, but the climb up and down from Inspiration Point was not quite as inspirational to her as it was to me.

The first photo here is of a shadowy Hidden Falls. The second is one of the views from Inspiration Point, looking east across Jenny Lake. The third photo is Tammy negotiating the climb back down from Inspiration Point. And the last photo is of the Grand Tetons, taken from the boat as we rode back across Jenny Lake.

The Magnificent Grand Tetons

After Tammy and I tromped around Yellowstone National Park for about four days (we could have spent twice as many), we headed south to Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, Wyoming. This is where we saw (and I photographed) the bull moose, was investigated by the pika with an unfortunate tick, and nearly stepped on that grouse.

Not counting the two travels days where we drove into, and out of, the park, we only gave ourselves one full day in Grand Teton National Park. That could have been two or three days given the amount of stuff we did not attempt to see or do in this park. The one thing, however, that you cannot help but see, and that steals the show, are the mountains themselves. They jut abruptly out of the terrain, with no surrounding foothills, always catching your eyes. You cannot help but watch them. Interestingly, they are part of a fault-block mountain system, formed not because two tectonic plates are colliding, but because the earth is being stretched apart.

On our one full day in the park, we got up early enough to catch the morning sun hitting the mountains. Here are some photos from that effort. The first photo is a repeat, first posted a few days back as part of Blog Action Day.

Today is Blog Action Day

I am participating in Blog Action Day today. What that means is that today's post should be on a topic that is related to the environment. The focus of this blog is already about the outdoors, so relating today's post to the environment is no stretch.

I typically do not use this blog as a platform for preaching, or attempt to beat readers over the head with how I think they should live their lives. Today is a little different. I am sharing five photos (taken during my recent vacation to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park) of what I consider to be beautiful examples of our environment. Examples that exist not because of humanity, but despite it. Our environment will not be preserved automatically. We must take steps to preserve it, or places like the ones I picture below will only exist in our art and in our memories.

Ruffed Grouse

While Tammy and I were in Grand Teton National Park, we hiked the trail around Jenny Lake, past Hidden Falls, and up to Inspiration Point. This is the same trail where we saw that cute Pika with the nasty tick between his eyes. Along this trail there was a spur trail over to a pond where you sometimes could see moose. We took that trail, but alas, there was no moose. On the other hand, I almost stepped on a Ruffed Grouse.

This is my second close encounter with a Ruffed Grouse. I ran into one on a trail in Maine in June of 2006 (no picture). When I saw the one in Maine, I thought that it was somewhat slow to react to my presence. It saw me, and kept watching me, as it kind of sauntered off into the woods. It did not fly away in a panic. It just slowly, but purposely, walked away into the underbrush. At that time I thought that behavior was a tad odd, but I had never had a close encounter with a Ruffed Grouse before, so what did I know?

So, as Tammy and I were scanning the pond in the hopes of spotting a moose, I noticed some movement on the ground near my feet. I immediately stopped and watched as a Ruffed Grouse sauntered across the trail in front of me. Once again, this bird slowly but purposely, with no panic evident in its movements, made its way into the underbrush. Two close encounters with a Ruffed Grouse, same behavior each time.

Here is a picture of the pond with a reflection of the Grand Tetons in it. I timed the shot perfectly so that the water would be rippled, thereby preventing a clear reflection of the mountains (sarcasm). Tammy did a much better job with this opportunity. The next two photos are of the Ruffed Grouse that I almost stepped on.

Moose

Before I switch over to bird photos, I figured I would post one more mammal of the four-legged variety. A few days back I shared a photo of a cow and calf moose running away from our car in Bear Lake NWR, but this is a full grown male moose. He's big, and gots large antlers!

We spotted this creature in Grand Teton National Park. Much the same as Yellowstone, the large number of pulled over cars, and the presence of park rangers to keep the traffic moving and people a safe distance away from the animal, was our indicator that we might want to stop and check things out. There was a nice crowd of folks standing behind the park ranger, many with camera in hand, taking photos of this giant.

Tammy and I gingerly walked into the group, taking care not to get in anyone's photographic line of sight. Then we proceeded to take our own pictures. Mine were of the moose, but Tammy's were of the back of the head of a first class jack-ass. Someone else did not have the same courtesy as Tammy and I, and they planted themselves right in front of Tammy as she took her first picture. And then the moose laid down in the grass, becoming nearly invisible (believe it or not...that huge thing really did become just a discussion once he laid down...you could not see him). Tammy was just a "tad annoyed" until she heard some other woman complain about the same guy. Then she became quite steamed. That guy, of course, was like the moose, and now nowhere to be seen.

So, despite the frustration it may cause Tammy, here is my shot of that big male moose. And if that rude photo-op dude happens to read this, you were lucky to not get a slap in the face. And next time, watch where you are walking!

Pikaboo!

I was expecting to eventually see a pika, but I really did not know what one looked like. I was thinking it was mouse-like (although it is more closely related to a rabbit), but really did not know how large one would be, nor whether it would be shy and run away, or just ignore me. When Tammy and I hiked around Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, I got my answers.

When we startled this pika, it immediately ran for cover into the underbrush. And then immediately ran back out to the rock it was on when we first saw it. It would run and hide, and then just as quickly come back out. At one point I thought it might check out my boots. Unfortunately for this particular pika, he has a nice juicy tick right between his eyes. Maybe he kept running back out because he wanted me to pull that thing out?