Road Trip, Day 3 - Wed 12 Nov: Grand Teton National Park

It was once again a bit of a cold morning when we woke up.

-19C but feels like -29C. Is there really a difference?

That is 9 degrees Fahrenheit. About minus 12C.
The little RAV wasn't too thirsty either, averaging  just over 12km/liter (29MPG in American speak). And to date petrol prices ranged anything from $2,94 to $3.75 / gallon.

Too cold to go for a run!

The inside of my nose was literately freezing together

Although it was cold, the forecast for the day was sunny skies, but then again some more white stuff expected for Thursday. Since we had two days in Jackson, we decided to check out Grand Teton National Park, adjacent to the town, for the day. I was here very briefly during 1993 and since then always wanted to come back, as I then held the opinion that this is one of the most beautiful places in the USA.

Getting some free maps.

Kruger National Park

And again I realized why I was so impressed by this beautiful place. Unfortunately our little camera was unable to do any justice to these spectacular vistas. And only the French will have the audacity to call this "the place of the big boobies"!

It is also interesting that there are no foothills to speak of. Flat plains and then good old mountains.

Various layers of beauty

Playing around with the pano settings on my camera. Click on it for the original size:

The Tetons in the distance

. . .  (no words to describe)

Climate change is real!

The famous Snake River flows past the Tetons right in front of the mountains. A guy named Ansel Adams took a well known black & white picture of the river and the Tetons. Check it out here.  This was Brenda's attempt from roughly the same spot:

I like her's better :-)

 From the same spot but to the right (north):

Gekke en dwase . . .

I LIKE this place!

The park road to the historic Mormon Row was still open.



Really boring.

However, if you do a 'Google Image' search of 'Moulton Barn', you may have seen a picture of what is now being described as America's most photographed barn. And even in winter it is a pretty scene:

 



Personally I think it is just because of the Grand Boobies behind it.


There is also some wildlife in the park.

Safety behind the Eskimo!

A poor picture of the only bison we saw.

Mmmmmoooooooooose

bring it on!

 And lo and behold.

We were driving slowly after just passing over the Jackson Lake dam wall, when I thought I saw in the distance some rather large baboons running over the road. But then I realized this couldn't be: Our esteemed president is not on vacation here (as far as I know) and also from afar these at least looked like intelligent baboons.

Their short legs and flat feet make them very cute when they walk!

Papa bear, mama bear and baby bear

Who ate my porridge!?

Yours truly returning after chasing the bears away and securing the area.
;-)

Apparently we were lucky to have seen these brown (grizzly) bears. A lot of local people that we spoke to have never even seen a bear in the wild. Anyhow, we really enjoyed watching these MAGNIFICENT creatures.

I was also able to get a short video clip of them disappearing up the hill - click here.

Some more scenes of this winter wonderland.

Buig die boompie terwyl hy jonk is. 

Time for some reflection

Jackson Lake

At one stage the Rav started making funny noices. The poor thing's wheel hubs were all iced up! It took us the better part of half an hour in that cold to break off the ice around all four wheels. I even tried peeing on it, but it just froze solidly straight away! (Brenda also mumbled something about a smell)

 Right next to Grand Teton NP is the National Elk Refuge. Which in my opinion does not contain ANY elk:

Do you see any?

At least its still pretty

Just one last picture of the Tetons

What an awesome day . . . my 1993 opinion still hold!