Rob Saker's Blog

Gus the MSH (Mighty Squirrel Hunter) needs to study. When I mentioned we were going to see ‘Bullwinkle’s’, he clearly mistook this for ‘Rocky’s’. That seems inconsequential until you’re surrounded by 10 Bullwinkles in the evening with a barking Schnauzer. But before I get too far…

Elk Reserve

I left before dawn to drive to Grand Teton, heading north out of Jackson, trying to get an early start to the day and catch the good light.  Just outside of Jackson is an overlook to the Elk Reserve, where each Winter 25,000 Elk gather to graze.  The water in the rivers and lakes is warmer than the surrounding air at this hour, creating steam from the surface. The clouds in the horizon were amazing, and it was a view I thought would be difficult to surpass.  I was so wrong.

Visitor center

Jackson is lower in elevation and separated by a mountain from Grand Teton.  You’re driving up the highway and BAM…there’s the Teton mountain range.  No warning…not there, there.  I wondered how many accidents were caused when people saw this for the first time.

The visitor center at Grand Teton is modern with many new displays.  From the visitor center I learned that canyons were formed from the receding glaciers, which also formed Jenny Lake.

Took the Gusser around the entire visitor and rafting centers.  The center is adjacent to the Snake River, which has been tamed considerably with the addition of the Jackson dam.

Talked with the ranger at the entry station, who provided great advice on things to check out.  Kudos goes out to the Rangers at Grand Teton.  Each one was very helpful.

Exploring

I made the decision on this trip to not plan anything.  I’d drive in a direction, and if something seemed interesting I’d look at it.  If a road seemed like it might lead somewhere, I followed it.  If people seemed different, I’d talk to them.  No plans, just explore.

Found this great scenic road that took me to Jenny Lake, which is 200+ feet deep and as mentioned before was formed by the glaciers.  I don’t think it’s warmed much since.  The water on Jenny Lake was glassy.  I could see every detail in the mountains in the reflection. Met a couple that I kept running into as they were skipping stones into the lake.  Took a picture here that I think is one of my favorites.

Near Jenny Lake is a climbing school that also serves as a base camp for journes into the canyons.  They take visitors back into the canyons leading into the mountains.  Grand Teton goes back into the mountain range and I’d love to explore.  I spent a little bit of time on the local trails and think I’ll come back to investigate them further.

 Following the “interesting routes” thought, I found another road that claimed to go to Jackson Lake.  The end result was less entertaining than the drive, which went down a rugged dirt road to the beach.  The road was very bumpy, and Gus has indicated he’d prefer not to follow any future such roads.

Signal Mountain

To the east of the Teton range, and just south of Jackson Lake is a solitary mountain.  Signal Mountain rises about 1,200 feet, but can be reached by a scenic drive.  I took several pictures from the vista, but my favorite feature of Signal Mountain is the Verizon Wireless tower at the summit.  5 bars at 8,000 feet!  Love it!

Evening in the Park

Grabbed this great shot of Jenny Lake in the evening.

After returning to Jackson for dinner, I headed back into the park to view wildlife.  Ran into elk and deer everywhere, but my co-pilot decided he wanted to play with them.  Elk evidently aren’t fans of the high-pitched Shnauzer bark.  In fact, it seems to strike fear in them (along with small rodents) and causes them to start moving, quickly.  Either we need to study the Rocky & Bullwinkle tapes in greater detail, or perhaps basic math.  4,500 lbs. / 23 lbs. = 183 size differential.

Tomorrow, Yellowstone!  Will be hard to top today.

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