DAY 1: YNP/GTNP - 2011 Fall Trip

DAY 1: Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP- 2011 Fall Trip (Quarter moon over the Tetons), a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Kim and I flew from Cleveland to Baltimore then Baltimore to Salt Lake City. Dan Behm and his wife, Bonnie were on the same flight. The flight out was on time and flawless. Great landing in Salt Lake by the pilot. Nice and smooth.

We picked up our bags, got our rental cars and started the 5+ hr scenic drive to Jackson, WY.

The day was sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky. Beautiful. After some lunch, we resumed our journey.

Once we got to Idaho Falls, we split up. Kim and I continued on to Jackson. Dan and Bonnie got a few groceries and arrived about 45 minutes behind us.

The ride through Swan Valley, ID was very pretty with some great fall colors. Yellow aspens were the dominate color. The ride through the Targhee National Forest and the Teton Pass was beautiful was well. Once we started descending into Jackson Hole, the fall colors were really vibrant. We saw a moose upon entering Jackson Hole. Didn't stop for pics. We decided to spend the rest of the light we had (we got in JH around 6:55pm, Sunset was 7:06 pm.) driving through the park. We saw a male pronghorn, bison (of course) and a wildlfire at the Albright Turnout. (see pic below). We proceeded up the main park route and folks, the fall color now is spectacular! We hit it spot on! By the time we got to Oxbow Bend, it was too dark but looks like great color as far as my eyes could tell. There were several cars still in the OB parking out. We drove by Oxbow and saw a "jam" on the road to Jackson Lake. It was "dark" now BUT we knew why everyone was there as there were several bull elks bugling in the grasslands right by the road. We could see one bull's silhouette and he was a BIG guy!  It was a stereo experience of elk bugling. The rut is on! Kim's first elk bugling experience.

There was a beautiful quarter moon above the Teton range. See pic above. Again, this was a P&S pic with flash going off of course. (ahemmmmm, I know) but again, you get the idea.

We then drove back to Jackson Hole, has some dinner, and checked in hotel. We will be spending up to 2:00 pm in the GTNP Saturday, October 1 trying to see as much as possible as the weather is expected to change here (Jackson) to rain for the next few days. After our visit here, we are headed north to Yellowstone!

We have a 4:45 am MST wake up call. Headed out for sunrise at Oxbow and go from there.

Stay tuned for Day 2.