Grand Teton NP

Crossing the Continental Divide the land opened out into vast expanses of grassland and sage bushes, we were now in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin. I could see herds of Pronghorn Antelopes and felt sure that I would get a photograph of them. Somehow they were onto me and as soon as I would think about taking a picture they were off. One even mocked me as we drove out to Fort Fred Steele, it sat beside the road quite content to watch us drive by. All I could do was stare back in amazement....camera nowhere handy.  

Pronghorn Antelope near our campsite along the North Platte River

After a few days camping along the North Platte River, virtually trapped inside Dude to escape the mosquitoes, and celebrating another year older. It was time to make our way to Grand Teton NP

Grand Teton NP

The ragged snow capped mountain range came into view and it was really something special to see. For the first two days we rode bikes around soaking in the surroundings. Then a day of rain gave us time to plan a backpacking trip up into the mountains.

Ice axes, climbing equipment, so much snow during the winter that the mountain passes were still covered in snow........the Ranger was explaining to us, when we called in to get a permit. This news was not new to us.... Longs Peak at Rocky Mountain NP had not been summited this season due to the epic snow fall last winter.....

We were not to be deterred and came away with a permit, and bear canister, to overnight in South Fork above Cascade Canyon. Just a mile from arriving back at our campground we experienced our first wildlife traffic jam. It took only a few seconds to find out it was a grizzly bear that had stopped the traffic, and then, we got our first look. The Grizzly was so intent on grazing it took no notice of the myriad of excited tourists lining the road and continued munching away along the embankment. We were totally in awe and excited our first grizzly sighting.

Our first Grizzly sighting

Making our way down to the ferry the next day we chatted to a SF couple, they were also backpacking up Cascade Canyon. The ferry departed every 10 minutes to cater to the volumes of people heading over to see Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. Once past these attractions the crowds dwindled and the lush and beautiful landscape opened up before us. Following a creek we got a surprise when we encountered a mother moose and her calf eating willow bushes. They didn't move off so we got to watch them for some time. Further along the trail we stopped abruptly, only 20 feet from the trail, were two Bull Moose. Thankfully they took no notice of us. We heard they can be unpredictable and did not want to pass them on our own.....so when other hikers arrived we took advantage of safety in numbers.

Bull moose near the trail

The higher we hiked water began cascading down both sides of the trail and we made lots of river crossings. After setting up camp we then hiked up towards Hurricane Pass. The roar of the creek helped blur out any wildlife noises during the night and I slept fairly well considering we were in bear territory.

Hiking up to South Fork

After the solitude of being in the mountains arriving back at Inspiration Point was like arriving in another world. We waited in line for the return ferry ride and chatted to a lovely couple from Pahrump, NV.

Back at Dude we changed into our swimmers and called into the Back Country Office to return the bear canister. We enquired about camping permits for the Lake and got lucky with a 2 night permit on Leigh Lake. With excitement growing about our next adventure we then went for a much needed swim in the lake.

Boon docking in the National Forest

It was late afternoon by then and any chance of securing a campsite in the park was gone so we drove out into the National Forest to boon dock for the night. We were camped among the Aspen trees with a wonderful view of the Teton Mountains…!!

The next morning on our way back into the park a herd of Bison were milling about on the road in front of us so we stopped and watched them for awhile.

Driving through the grazing Bison

The lighting was perfect for taking photos so we stopped at the Mormon buildings to take photos….we knew we had to launch Aquadude for our kayaking adventure but there was so much to see and do on the way…

                                   Mormon Buildings