A little bit of this, a little bit of that

19 September 2018, Touring Grand Tetons National Park (Wyoming) : 91 miles

It’s been a strange sort of day, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, with no dominant theme or special highlight. It was a lot of fun, though. So settle back, dear reader, make yourself a nice cup of tea (or a pour yourself a G&T if that’s what floats your boat) and let the Platypus Man tell you all about it.

A distant view of critters

Setting off from Jackson, we’ve driven just a few miles before we see a coyote loping through the meadow. He’s clearly on a mission, and obviously has ambitions to be a wolf. He’s giving it some, swaggering confidently through the long grass, sun gleaming off his sleek greyish-yellow coat. Sadly we can’t stop on the highway, and bid him a sad farewell as we head off into the Grand Tetons National Park.

Within a few miles we come across a commotion. Traffic is at a standstill, cars are parked all over the place, the air is fizzing with excitement. A park ranger is strutting around, making clear who’s in charge of this show. In the distance Mrs P spots a Black bear cub crossing the road. She and several other people move to get out of their cars, cameras at the ready.

“Get back in your cars,” the ranger bellows, self importance oozing from every pore. If he knows that most of the people he’s shouting at have waited years, maybe even their whole lives, to see a bear cub up close, he’s not letting it spoil his opportunity for a good bellow. Everyone gets back in their cars. Meanwhile the bear cub has scarpered, and pretty soon after we move on too, lamenting a lost opportunity.

Female moose and calf

We arrive back at the spot where, yesterday evening, the bull (male) moose with the enormous rack of antlers was dozing in the undergrowth. He’s moved on, but instead a cow moose and her calf are lying in the shadow of a tall pine tree. They’re a couple of hundred yards away and largely hidden by vegetation so we can’t see much of them, and apart from flicking their ears every now and then to keep the flies away they’re not moving. We wait for over an hour in the hope of some action, but in the end give up in despair. Moose can be contrary, miserable buggers and these two – not to mention yesterday’s male – are a case in point.

In the middle of nowhere

We drive on to Antelope Flats. Sadly the antelope are nowhere to be seen, but this area of the Park is famous for a series of historic homestead buildings, including barns, other outbuildings, corals and fences all dating from the 1890s. This is Mormon Row, and the setting is idyllic, lying in the open sage flats and overlooked by the soaring peaks of the Tetons. Unfortunately, the view of the mountains is once again spoiled by smoke from the wildfire, but we can see enough of them to appreciate the magnificence of the location.

Homestead on Mormon Row, smoke-covered mountains behind

Welcome back, old friend

As we move on from Mormon Row we are surprised and delighted to spot, in the far distance, bison grazing on the flats. We haven’t seen them on previous visits to the Grand Tetons and didn’t even know they were here, but in fact there are said to be several hundred roaming freely in the National Park. They are not nearly as plentiful, nor as confiding, as their iconic cousins in Yellowstone but it’s great to know they’re around if you look carefully.

Did you feel the earth move?

We head out of the National Park and into the Bridger-Teton National Forest, along the Gros Ventre River. Here, in 1925, occurred one of the largest-ever recorded landslides. Some 38 million cubic metres of rock slid 9,000ft down the north face of Sheep Mountain, crossed over the Gros Ventre River and rode up the opposite mountainside a distance of 91 metres.

Lower Slide Lake, and dam wall created by 1925 landslide

The landslide created a dam wall over 60 metres high and 300 metres wide across the river, backing up the water and forming Lower Slide Lake. Two years later part of the landslide dam failed, resulting in a massive flood downstream that wiped out the small town of Kelly and killed six people. Although Lower Slide Lake remains, it is much smaller now than at its height.

To the untrained eye there’s little hint of the dramatic events that happened here nearly a century ago. The valley is peaceful, and the autumn foliage is as spectacular here as elsewhere in the Tetons.

Autumn colours along the Gros Ventre River

Arts and Crafts

Our next stop is the National Museum of Wildlife Art, on the outskirts of Jackson. It’s a superb museum, and worthy of a post all of its own which follows on after this one. However, there is a Sculpture Trail outside the building, and one of the pieces has special relevance to our experiences over the past 24 hours. As I’ve already mentioned, moose are contrary buggers that like to keep their heads down, so this sculpture from the Trail is probably the best sighting of a male moose we’ll see all holiday.

Moose on the Sculpture Trail, National Museum of Wildlife Art

Bearing up

After enjoying the moose sculpture we decide to have one last try for the real thing at our favourite spot, but no luck.

However, lots of other people are intently watching a stand of trees a hundred metres or so across the road. We’re told there’s a Black bear there, and watching through binoculars we can see a bit of movement, but nothing that makes us feel it was worth the effort of coming back here. Disconsolately we drive back towards Jackson, and after a mile or so comes across more traffic chaos. There’s another Black bear up a tree close to the road, clearly visible this time, snacking on fruit of some sort. We can’t park due to the chaos, but Mrs P snaps a shot through the car window as we drive slowly past. At last, a decent, close-up view of a Black bear, if only for just a few seconds.

Black bear, snacking in a tree

Gotcha!

Feeling much more chipper, we continue the drive towards Jackson, watching out for the site of yesterday’s humiliation. Twenty-four hours ago, driving the same stretch of road, Mrs P suddenly shouted out “moose, moose”. I screeched to a halt, sending a up plume of burning rubber and causing alarm amongst motorists behind me. However the ‘moose’ was actually a black metal silhouette, placed at the roadside with the sole – and unspeakably cruel – intention of catching out people just like us.

‘Fake’ roadside moose

I will confess that many years ago in Minnesota Mrs P and I were fooled by a model owl strategically placed on a telegraph pole, and spent 20 minutes trying to get the perfect photo before realising that the ‘owl’ was far too motionless for a living bird. Oh, the humiliation.

I never thought we’d get caught out like that again, but yesterday proved me wrong. This evening, for a laugh, Julie takes a photo as we drive past and it’s pleasing to see, just in front of us, a pick-up truck slam on the brakes as the driver falls for it too. Silly bugger!

Smoke gets in your eyes

18 September 2018, Yellowstone (Wyoming) to Jackson (Wyoming) : 129 miles

Welcome to the Tetons

The Tetons: when the smoke clears, the views are stunning

Within a few miles of leaving Yellowstone we are once again in a National Park. Grand Tetons is famous for its majestic and imposing mountains, and we’ve met several people on this trip who have said they prefer it to Yellowstone. We can’t agree, however, as the Tetons lacks the abundance of wildlife and the geothermal features which, for us at least, make Yellowstone so special.

To be fair, we do see some wildlife during the day, including a tantalising glimpse of a male moose with an enormous rack of antlers. Unfortunately he’s lying down in deep tree cover, and his rack is all we can see. However, this looks promising so we decide to return to the same spot tomorrow to see if he’s feeling any more sociable. We also get a brief view of a female Mule deer, but it’s a case of now you see her, now you don’t. In Yellowstone it felt like we were tripping over the wildlife, but here it seems like a bit of a struggle. By the end of the day I’m suffering severe bison withdrawal symptoms.

It’s a lovely day, warm and sunny, and you would expect the mountains to look at their best. However, for much of the day a haze of smoke clings stubbornly to the mountainsides, spoiling what should be magnificent scenery. The area is susceptible to forest fires – on our way into the Park we drove through large areas that had been devastated a few years ago – and we learn that right now there is a wildfire blazing not too many miles from here sending up plumes of smoke that are partly obscuring the mountains. This is the second time during the trip that forest fires have rained on our parade – remember our 80 miles detour to get into Glacier National Park? – which is testimony to the hot, dry summer they’ve had in these parts.

Colourful foliage, but not the smoke haze over the mountains

One of the best things about the day is the autumn foliage. In Yellowstone pine trees and sage bushes predominate; however in the Tetons broad-leaved deciduous trees are more in evidence, particularly aspens, and many are putting on a great show for the autumn.

Echoes of the Vicar of Dibley

Chapel of the Transfiguration, main (front) entrance. 

In an episode of the Vicar of Dibley, our spiritual heroine persuades her parish council that instead of replacing their church’s damaged stained glass window with one of a similar ilk, a plain window would allow the parishioners to better appreciate the glory of God’s creation. There is, believe it or not, an example of similar thinking to be found here in Grand Tetons National Park.

Interior view.  Note the picture window behind the altar

The Chapel of the Transfiguration is a small, log-built chapel deep in the Park, dating back to 1925 – before the creation of the National Park – when it was built to serve the spiritual needs of the guests and employees of nearby dude ranches. Even the legs and backrests of the pews are made from logs. However, it is the large picture window directly behind the altar that makes this place so special. A cross sits in the centre of the altar, and is silhouetted against a stunning panoramic view of the Tetons that can be seen through the window.

View through the picture window behind the altar

Interestingly, this place is not just a tourist magnet.  It still functions as an active place of worship during the summer months, when it is served by a succession of ‘Summer Chaplains.’

We visited this place some 20 years ago, and feel a return visit is long overdue. The chapel’s picture window is an extraordinary design feature, although whether it focusses worshippers minds’ on matters spiritual, or merely provides a welcome distraction from the drudgery of the sermons, is a matter for conjecture.