A Place Called Grand Teton National Park

How many times in our lives will we ever see such a sign?

A Place Called Grand Teton National Park

There is no place on this earth more unique than Grand Teton National Park, at least that I have seen.  The road from Buffalo, WY to the Tetons was long and as it turned out I would arrive in darkness.  Driving at night in a motor home with a total length of nearly 60 feet with towed attached is daunting.  Having already hit a deer on the highway just south of Jackson, Mississippi I was a bit stressed knowing this area of Wyoming so full of wildlife.  Once you drive into a National Park like Grand Teton the first thing you notice is that the cattle and sheep fences ever present along the Interstate and state highways are gone.  Animals have the right of way and it seems they take full advantage.  I have 20/15 vision and my night vision is equally good, so night driving is a constant exercise in scanning the roadway shoulders looking for my head lights reflecting off the retinas of deer, antelope, buffalo and elk.  It's a very good thing to not see those eyes at night because where there is one animal visible from the driver's seat there will surely be many more just outside of visual range.  

It was drizzling when Romeo and I arrived in Jackson, WY.  The intermittent wipers were set to slow as we crept along the narrow streets.  Romeo was curled up on the floor and seemed oblivious to our arrival.  The time was about 10 PM, but the streets were far from empty, which is unusual for small towns, at least to my experience.  I wondered at what time they rolled up the sidewalks and every half block or so I could see small groups of people heading to their cars parked curb side.  This was evidence of life, to be sure, Jackson has a night life, but preying on my mind was another question, "does it have a big parking lot where I can park for the night"?  It occurred to me that there are probably more than a few similarities between Jackson and Aspen.  Both are rich celebrity towns defined by their surrounding mountains and the valleys they occupy.  On the valley side of Jackson is an immense flat of beautiful prairie grasses and a trout infested snake of a creek called Flat Creek.  Note:  The next day I'd feel a great familiarity with the valley because I've seen it so many times in magazines and fly fishing videos.  So, this is fly fishing Nirvana, I thought.  Just a few miles further out of town past the National Elk Preserve is the most famous trout river in the world, the Snake.  I will eventually fish them both and more.  Like most American small towns Jackson was built from the center of town square radiating out.  Jackson's town square is one of those rare things we can justify labeling "unique".

There were four of these arches on the corners of Jackson's town square.  I saw at least one more on the edge of town.  Romeo has had a bath since this picture was taken, thank goodness.  People were starting to complain.

On each of the four corners of the square is built an archway over a sidewalk leading to the center.  The special thing about the arches is that they are built from intertwined deer, elk and moose deer antlers lashed together.  It is unique Western art, to be sure.  I assumed most of the people visible under the street lights to be tourists.  I think a reasonable assumption given that Jackson lives, breathes and bleeds tourism.  There was also the odd cowboy hat to be seen, so maybe the locals like to party, too.

Everywhere you turn there seems to be yet another life-sized
bronze of some animal or person.  Romeo could care less.

I drove very slowly in the halo of street lights looking for any place I could park and shut down.  The Jackson city fathers must have anticipated my arrival because it seemed that along every residential street was a sign that read, "No Overnight Parking".  They've seen the likes of me many times before, so I headed back out of town the way I came in and started scouting for any scenic turnoff with an easy exit.  I found one about 5 miles from town and pulled in for the night.  I'm not shy about these kinds of things, so I put out both slides on the motor home, erected my satellite antennae, put some soup on the boil and started watching classic Two and a Half Men re-runs.  I was about to eat supper when there was a loud rapping on the door.  It wasn't at all unexpected.  I peered out the window and under my illuminated doorstep were two men wearing uniforms with badges.  I was asked to step down from the coach and produce ID.  I did, they checked me out, and I was cleared.  After a series of questions intended to draw suspicion to myself they asked for the motor home registration.  I opened the glove box and what happened next is exactly the kind of thing I hoped would never happen.  The closest officer saw the heel of the pistol grip and asked, "do you have a gun in the glove box"?  To make a very long story much shorter just know they made an exception for me to spend the night in that scenic turnout and that I should get under way first thing in the morning.  I later found out the law has changed and for about a year it's been legal to carry firearms in National Parks.  A year ago the pistol would have been confiscated along with my entire hunting gun collection in the cabinet.

I set the alarm for 8 AM after going to bed after midnight.  I looked outside and it was thick fog, so I went back to bed to catch a few more ZZ's.  I emerged an hour later to a blue-bird day and the sounds of cars and diesel engines.  My little turnout was a popular spot to shoot pics of the Tetons.  All I can say about the view is OMG!!!  Until you see the majesty of the Grand Teton Mountains for yourself you'll never fully comprehend the image.  There really are things that cameras can not capture.  This is one.
The previous fog of the morning had risen into a little wisp of cloud against the face of these huge mountains.  Most of us have been to the Rockies or to some other mountain range where a sense of awe could be experienced.  These Teton mountains are different from all those, though.  There is no gradual climb to the peaks here.  The Tetons erupt almost violently out of the glacier formed flat prairie.  The valley floor is about 6,000 feet above sea level and the biggest of the peaks hovering over the valley are another 6,000 feet tall.  That's over a mile straight up.  It's jaw dropping beautiful and I would recommend all of you who might read this blog to consider visiting the Grand Teton National Park and experience this for yourself.  And while I was there I will say I never got tired of the view.

Still shrouded in lifting fog I still like the pic.

The first morning there I drove to the National Park Campground and checked in at the office.  Knowing I was low on diesel I decided to go to town and get a fill-up.  It took 73 gallons to fill up my 100 gallon tank and at $4.45 a gallon it was the most expensive fuel I had bought to date.  The road to town is a two lane hard top.  While pulling out onto the roadway I looked left and saw a white dump truck coming my direction.  I had plenty of time, so I pulled out and accelerated to the speed limit of 45 mph.  My attention became diverted for just a second looking at an antelope off to the right and I must confess to crossing the center line.  The dump truck basically side swiped my motor home, but in two places causing relatively minor damage or so I thought.  I didn't realize it at the time, but the damage was more severe than I had first realized.  The dump truck's right hand mirror put a five foot scratch on the paint between the two slides is all I could find immediately after the incident.  I felt lucky.  What I didn't immediately see was that his vertical exhaust stack had hit my bedroom slide topper mechanism and bent the actuating lever.  The damage would ultimately tear up the top of my slide when I pulled in the slide a few days later.  I've since had it repaired and there is no visual evidence to point to previous damage.  And since I've got some vials of touch-up paint for the scratch I figure I got away with my mistake nearly Scott free.  I hope the day comes when I can travel without incident because my record to this point isn't very good.

The Tetons are all about mountain views, but the Park is also about its animals.  To this point I've seen buffalo, elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and moose.  Every where you turn there are animals or at least that's how it seems.  I've got plenty of pics, so they will follow.  The only place I didn't see any animals was in the National Elk Preserve, which lies across the valley just outside the Jackson city limits.  I'm told elk can be seen there if you get there at dawn.  The elk I saw was lying in the sage brush posing for the tourists and their cameras.  I took pics of him, too.  

I framed these bison against the peaks for affect.  The larger herd was a short
distance away.  I sat in my car for a few minutes with an interesting result.  The
bison sauntered over to the road as if by request to be photographed.

When I saw a large herd of bison it didn't take all that much imagination to see millions of animals stretching to the horizon.  Lewis and Clark recorded that they had to wait for three days for a single herd of bison to cross before them at a river ford.  That's a lot of buffalo.  I saw, at most, 300 bison in the Park, but there are probably more than double that given I've only seen a fraction of the Park.  I'm also reminded that elk used to inhabit all 48 contiguous states and now it's just a handful.  I did see one animal I did not expect to see, a grey wolf.  I thought they were limited to Yellowstone, but they are in Grand Tetons as well.  I was parked in the National Wildlife Art Museum, which happens to be built on a mountain side.  I was peering out across the Elk Preserve when I saw a wolf loping along out into the flats.  He was HUGE!  I didn't realize they were so much larger than, say, a German Shepperd or a Husky.  The wolf jogged along and then disappeared at the edge of Flat Creek.  What was even more interesting about this sighting was that there were two fly fisherman wading in the creek not more than 50 yards from where I last saw the wolf.  I can only think the wolf has a den at the creeks edge and was therefore invisible to the fisherman.  In the end, I saw the fisherman walk right past where I last saw the wolf.  It was an interesting thing to me.  As an interesting side note I was talking with my brother, Huntley, and he asked if I had seen an antelope run beside the car before.  I hadn't, but less than 10 minutes later that's exactly what happened.  It brought a smile to my face. 

The herd just walked over getting closer and closer until...

This bull bison along with a cow and calf decided to cross the road right in front of me.  The bulls are markedly bigger.

Having crossed the road they were headed straight to the Snake River.  I assume they were thirsty.

This was easily the best of the buffalo pics I took.  Turns out animals don't necessarily know they are supposed to pose.

There were a lot of fly fisherman giving it a try along the Snake River.  I was camped within 300 yards of the river.

I never saw any celebrities in Jackson Hole, but saw evidence of their presence.  While parked in a scenic turnout across the highway from the Jackson Airport I saw private jet after private jet land and takeoff.  I saw at least 2 Lears, 1 Citation X and a Pilatus PC12 in the 20 minutes I was there.  Then a Falcon 90 landed followed by a Challenger, which are considered the creme de la creme of corporate jets.  I've had a love affair with aviation all my life I suppose due to my father being an Air Force pilot.  Driving around Jackson I couldn't help but notice the names on the realty offices.  I've heard of ranches being bought for mega-millions and I have no reason to doubt it.  Those are the kinds of properties handled by Southeby's Realty, which has an office there.

The last full day I spent at the campground a very unusual looking motor home pulled into the space immediately across from me.  A couple emerged from the cab along with their beagle, Rex.  From the very moment I was introduced to them I found them interesting.  They've spent their lives engaged in extreme sports from rock and mountain climbing to extreme skiing and surfing.  Their names are Garret and Dez.  

Seeing this monster extreme RV pull in across from my space was a treat.  To say it draws a crowd would be an understatement.  Some of the nicest people I've met on my travels so far I'm happy to call Garret and Dez my new friends.  The chassis is from an Army mobile missile launcher and the coach work is custom.  There is special storage in the back for motorized toys like dirt motorcycles and snowmobiles.  Each tire had 20 lugs and cost $900 each.  Capable of covering extreme terrain it has up to eight wheel drive.  I could only think how wonderful it would be if all mobile missile launchers were turned into RV's.

I should also mention they are a very handsome couple with affable and fun personalities.  I won't go into the details of our conversations, but suffice it to say they are interesting people who possess souls of adventurers.  I was most happy to meet them and upon leaving Dez climbed down to give me a hug goodbye and extended an invitation to visit them should I ever happen to be in Patagonia.  They apparently split their time between Patagonia, Buenos Aires and Aspen.  I think they mostly do extreme sports guiding these days, but maybe I'll meet them again and get a more detailed account of their lives.  If you Google their names in quotes there are many pages that come up.  Garret is most famous for his extreme skiing and a very bad fall he took while heli-skiing at the world championships in Alaska some years back.  I believe I remember that fall and when I mentioned I had seen it on TV he wasn't at all surprised.  Garret is used to being recognized having had several appearances on Jay Leno and other TV shows.  Dez is simply a beautiful woman who can probably do more chin-ups than any 10 men you know.  She's all about mountain climbing and says she experiences a keen affinity and kinship with mountains.  When I asked her if she's climbed all the 14,000 footers in the Rockies she simply smiled and said she is used to going much higher.  She is all about her personal challenges in climbing and I know she's competed for world records in the past.  I have scanned one of their websites and saw that she and Garret are also all about living Green lifestyles.  Dez has, unfortunately, taken a few rather severe falls while climbing and if truth be known she's very lucky to still be among the living.  Just in the short time I talked with her I'd have to say losing her would be a tragedy on many levels.  She's also a published travel writer who has had a prolific history as a writer.  I'm going to do a search for her book on Amazon and I'll report what I find.  I must say, though, a more beautiful soul I have never met.  Dez and Garret are special people who would be standouts in society no matter what they did in their lives.  This extremely athletic couple are special people and to meet them is to admire them.  I was most gratified for the instant repore we experienced.  It would have been fun to hang out longer, but alas.  I will say, though, they can now count me as a friend and a fan.  Their motor home is really cool as it is built on an Army mobile missile launcher chassis with a custom coach on top that has a toy shed in the rear.  It's all wheel drive is ideal for crossing extreme terrain like deserts or other rugged topography.  It's perfect.

Some random pictures taken around Grand Teton National Park...

This is the summer equivalent of cross country skiing.  I have seen it on TV once before, cool.  Notice the elk fence in the background.  There were cycling paths like this all over the Park.

Life sized bison sculptures at the National Wildlife Art Museum.

Elk bronzes donated to the museum.

Home sweet home camping without any connections in the National Park campground.

A good pic of the Snake River with its cottonwood forest.  The changing of the leaves was fantastic.
I couldn't have timed it better.

It was getting towards dusk when I shot this pic.  Bison are fond of rubbing against trees
and you can plainly see the bark is scraped off these cottonwoods.

Couldn't resist this pic with the glowing eyes.  My flash was on and he spooked right after the flash went off.

Couldn't resist taking this pic because you'd think it would sport a pic of an elk and not a goose.

Elk bronze looking very life like in this particular light.

I drove into the heart of the Elk Refuge, but didn't see hide nor hair.

It was here I saw the wolf crossing the meadow and hiding along the creek.  The prairie is the National Elk Refuge and the waterway winding its way with all the ox bows is Flats Creek.  I'm told it takes a great technical fly fisher to land even the first trout in Flats Creek.  I was quoted $450 for a half day of guiding.

Bad pic of a bull moose in the cottonwoods along the Snake River.  The cow and calf were hidden from view behind a tree.  I was tempted to get closer, but my policy is to never get too close to animals that can run faster than me.

I believe this is the first actual raven I've ever seen.  Notice the large size of the beak and the curve back to the head.  He was begging at a public picnic area in Jackson where tourists ate.  He's at least 50% bigger than a normal common crow.

Pronghorn antelope were everywhere in the Park.  This one is not a trophy, but he's getting there.

Lake Jenny at sunset.  Not the best light, but it still turned out to be an interesting picture.

Little different angle of Lake Jenny.

The opposite side of the valley from the big peaks is more rolling and it's here you see so much wildlife.

Taking pics is all about the available light.  This isn't a great effort, but it communicates the essence of the Tetons.

Last of the big rock pics.  If you look to the top right of the frame you'll see a white area.  It's glacier ice clinging to the mountain on the north side.  I expect these mountains are truly awesome during the winter with snow on them.

I wanted to stay a few more days in the federal campground, but there were no more ADA sites available and until I get another dual fuel refrigerator I am mostly limited to campgrounds with at least electric connections.  After a while I'm going to have my kitchen retrofitted with a new Dometic or Norcold frig and then spend more time in state and federal campgrounds that traditionally do not offer connections.  So, I was more or less forced to leave, which was fine given the season for these northern mountain National Parks is growing short.  I'm writing this post from West Yellowstone just outside the Park.  I'll be spending the next few days cruising around the thermal features of Yellowstone and taking in as much as I can before the snows and severe cold start.  I'm concerned about not making Glacier this year, but every time I pull up a weather report for Glacier National Park it appears to be better than Yellowstone.

I'm off to Yellowstone.  To be continued...

John