, The Grand Teton National Park

The Grand Teton National Park

I visited another of America’s National Parks after Yellowstone – The Grand Teton National Park. Both are in Wyoming, and the G.T park is directly below Yellowstone, so it was pretty much a case of exiting one park and entering another.   Once again, the scenery there is stunning, and the perfect time of year to visit as all the Aspen trees have turned a vivid yellow.  There was one disappointment however, and that was that the valley was filled with smoke from wildfires some miles away and we were often not able to see the dramatic mountains which are a stunning backdrop to various scenes.  We just had to make the most of the situation though and the haze did give a certain ‘atmosphere’  to the photos.

One afternoon we pulled off the main road and photographed the pretty scene below. It’s a well known spot to photograph the sunrise so we decided that we would visit there again to see what it was like in the morning light.

, The Grand Teton National Park

Setting a very early alarm, we set off the next morning hoping to see the glow of the sunrise on the mountains.  It was a very cold -2ºc  / 28.4ºf, and I was bundled up wearing many layers!  We enjoyed seeing and hearing all the ducks and birds returning to the river, the sun did make the trees glow and we could see the mountains, but they were still very hazy.

, The Grand Teton National Park

I’ve always associated the Mormon religion as being in the State of Utah, but there is a small area in the G.T.N.P called ‘Mormon Row’.  In the 1890s leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent parties from the Salt Lake Valley to establish new communities and support their expanding population. Mormon homesteaders settled in this area and clustered their farms close together.  The barn below has been photographed probably millions of times as it’s in a beautiful setting with a backdrop of the dramatic mountains.  You’ll have to take my word for that though, as once again, the smoke completely obliterated them.

, The Grand Teton National Park

As I’ve spent most of my photography career photographing people rather than landscapes, I can’t resist a good background for a portrait, and the barns and old fences in the area were just perfect 🙂 , The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

One positive aspect of the hazy skies there though was that potentially distracting backgrounds were hidden when photographing the glorious aspens.

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

Even the grasses growing underneath them were a gorgeous colour and I couldn’t resist taking some motion blur images.

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

Below – A clear(ish) day in another part of the park.

, The Grand Teton National Park

Just like in Yellowstone, people would pull over in their cars for wildlife sightings.  I had REALLY wanted to see a moose as I’d never seen one before, so when we saw a line of stationary vehicles we joined them and walked towards the group of people with their cameras all pointed in the same direction.  Success!  Four moose not too far away.  There was a park ranger keeping everyone at a safe distance as they are such huge animals and have been known to trample people if they feel threatened.

, The Grand Teton National Park

Nearby Jackson Hole is home to the National Elk Refuge, a protected sanctuary where hundreds of elk shelter during the winter months. Every spring, elk naturally shed their antlers, and it’s a local tradition for Jackson Hole’s Scouts to gather them up. In May, the community celebrates ElkFest, a multi-day festival with vendors, music, and food. During ElkFest the harvested antlers are auctioned off to bidders from around the world with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the National Elk Refuge.  Originally however, the antlers were made into giant arches at four corners of the town square.   Each arch contains more than 2,000 antlers and they have to be completely replaced and rebuilt every 30-50 years as they eventually decompose.

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

Just North of Jackson is the National Museum of Wildlife Art and we spent some time there one lunchtime. There are some fantastic sculptures there.

, The Grand Teton National Park

Late one afternoon we visited Mormon Row again as we thought that the skies looked to be clearing.  This time we could see the mountains behind, but they were still very hazy.  The setting sun was pretty on the barns though.

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

, The Grand Teton National Park

That’s two more of America’s National Parks ticked off for me.  There is certainly some stunning scenery to be enjoyed in them.

 

 

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2 thoughts on “The Grand Teton National Park

  1. Linda

    The Real Person!

    Author Linda acts as a real person and passed all tests against spambots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.

    says:

    Oh to be living your bucket list – amazing ….

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