Grand Teton - May 18, 2008

The landing at Jackson Hole airport has to be the prettiest one on earth, doesn't it? The weather was perfect on this Sunday afternoon and the Tetons were out in their full splendor. Our first trip to the Tetons yielded no clear views of the mountains so this was special to see as we flew in (Sit on the right side of the airplane for the Teton views).

We got the now famous Red Toyota Rav4 from Alamo, slapped our Y-Net magnet on the back, turned our wildlife radar on full (you all know that radar...right?) and headed out to Mormon Row for some Barn shots (I didn't know if we would have a clear day again so I made sure I got my required barn shots in)

Besides the "traditional" shots, I tried some different views I hadn't seen much before like this one:


Only one other photographer was there at this time in the afternoon but lots of other "observers" were there that were really fun to watch:


After checking in at Signal Mountain and watching a distant coyote chow down on a rodent of some sort, it was off to Oxbow Bend to take in those breath taking views and we were just in time for a bear jam. Apparently, bear 399 let the cubs loose the day before and one was hanging around Oxbow:


Oh yeah, there was a good view too:


Next we headed out Pacific Creek Road to see if the road to Two Ocean was open (it wasn't for our entire trip)

On the way we saw a distant moose in the willows and our first beaver in the wild.


Before heading down the inner road to Jenny Lake this muskrat caught our attention near the dam (As Chandler Bing would say, could he BE any cuter?):


Our day ended in spectacular fashion as we watched the sunset alone over the still mostly frozen Jenny Lake. We had only been there half a day and the real world had already melted away: