CHUCKWAGON BREAKFAST RIDE

We have been blessed with temps in the low 70's every day since June 21, the official start of summer.  We took a wagon ride for a "cowboy breakfast" on Thursday morning.  This was one of two "trial runs" for the horses, wranglers, and cooks.  The first photo shows Paren, our wrangler, giving a description of the path we were on.  This part of the path was actually part of the old Yellowstone Road which connected the town of Jackson with Yellowstone National Park. 

We left the Colter Bay Corral at 7:30 a.m. which is a good time to see wildlife. Yes, we were rewarded with this elk watching as our two wagons passed within 50 yards of her.

We arrived at the meal site to see pots of cowboy coffee waiting for us.  The coffee grounds are put in a sock and, when the sock floats to the top, the coffee is ready.  Coffee was on the strong side, and we had to watch for grounds in the bottom 1/2" of the cup.

We were rewarded with this view of the Tetons with the sun shining on the still snow covered mountains.

Some of us gathered around the other campfire to get warm.

I'm sitting at one of the picnic tables waiting for breakfast.  Mount Moran is in the background.

 Once the breakfast bell rang, we moved towards the field kitchen.

Ryan and Harold were our two cooks.

We had such a good time on Thursday morning that we went again on Friday with our friends, Ron & Karen, who returned to manage the Jenny Lake Store where we worked last summer.  Notice, the tables have linen table cloths on the 2nd morning.  Breakfast consisted of ham, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, and pancakes.

Sometimes photos are priceless.  Here we are with Mount Moran over Paul's left shoulder.

Paul pictured with our two wranglers, Paren and Molly.

Ryan got creative with a pancake shaped like a mountain sheep.

We also saw two bears, but the bears were about 150 yards from the road, so we were unable to get a photo.

BEAR JAM

Our days off the 3rd week of June started out uneventful.  After washing the RV (you may recall we were interrupted a few weeks ago by a snow shower) on Thursday, we went for a hike on Friday.

Friday morning was cool, with temps in the mid 50's, and overcast.  We hiked out to Heron Pond to get a view of Jackson Lake from the Southeastern shoreline.  It was encouraging to see the water level in Jackson Lake on the rise.  There were actually some motorboats in some of the slips at the marina.  Because of the overcast skies, there were no blog worthy photos.  The only wildlife we saw were a chipmunk and a robin.

On our way back from town we saw a huge bear jam about halfway between Jackson Lake Lodge and Colter Bay.  A bear jam is were there are many cars parked along the side of the highway with the tourists, yes-we consider ourselves tourists on our days off, all trying to see and/or photograph the bear in its native habitat.  We saw a male grizzly nicknamed "Blondie" about 100 yards from the side of the road.  The pictures below give you an idea of how she got her name.

Notice how the shoulder hump of this grizzly bear is dark brown while her coat is a blond color.

FIRST HIKE OF 2011 AND A MOOSE FAMILY (MAYBE)

Friday was supposed to be a much better "weather day", and the forecast was correct.  The sun was shining as we began our hike at the Rockefeller Preserve.  You can see the sun reflecting off the sign below.

This view from the parking lot speaks for itself.

Evidence of spring was found along the trail.  These spring flowers have begun to bloom, but there aren't many of them yet..

The aspen trees have begun to bud and can be seen with this blue sky background.

The streams are beginning to flow faster as they carry the melted snow to the ponds and rivers in the Jackson Hole valley below. Paul admires the view near the end of our hike.

 

Here is the view looking down stream as the water flows briskly towards the Snake River.

The highlight of the hike was finding a moose cow and her calf blocking our path.  Here the cow enjoys her breakfast of branches.

We worked our way around the cow and were able to catch the cow looking at several other hikers who had stopped to watch.

If you look closely in the photo below, you can see the calf nursing by the hind leg of the cow.  The cow would allow the calf to nurse for a few minutes before "shooing" the calf away.

As we returned from our hike and approached the Visitors Center, we saw this bull moose.  You can see the antlers are beginning to form (moose, like elk, shed their antlers as spring approaches).  We wondered if this bull moose was the father of the calf we had seen previously.

Near a service road, we could see the preparations being made for the anticipated high water from the increase in melting snow at higher elevations.  The Park Service is in the process of filling sand bags to protect the Rockefeller Visitors Center from flooding waters.  There is a pile of sandbags on the left.

WOW, SPRING HAS ARRIVED IN THE TETONS--AT LEAST FOR TWO DAYS.

Earlier last week, on Sunday and Monday, the temperature broke 70 (by one degree) for the first time in 2011.  Sunday was the first day we were able to grill outside since we arrived in Wyoming.  Take a look at the picture below and you will still see a sizable patch of snow behind the grill.

What more can a guy ask for?  The charcoal is beginning to get hot, there is a plate of cheese and crackers on the grill table, and there is a cold beer waiting to be enjoyed.

I grilled out again on Monday night and just finished before the rain came.  It has rained at least half of every day until Friday with the high temperature staying in the 50's, including our day off on Thursday.  

On Thursday, we volunteered, along with other Grand Teton Lodge Company employees, to clean-up the roadside between Jackson Lake Lodge and Colter Bay Village.  The group shot before we began can be found below.  

We were each assigned a mile of the roadway to clean.  A little more than halfway through our area, the rain came, followed by a mixture of rain, sleet and snow.  One of the security staff came to our rescue to pick us up as the temperature had dropped to 35 degrees while the snow fell.    

   

SNOW AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS

Our our way into the town of Jackson, we stopped to take this picture of the Grand Teton.  The Grand stands at 13,775 ft. and is the highest point in the Teton Range and second highest peak in Wyoming. It is views like these that have kept us coming back to Grand Teton National Park over and over again. 

The Grand overshadows the valley below.  The small patches of snow at the bottom of the picture are along the bank of the Snake River which flows north to south.

We decided to take the tram in Teton Village to the top of Rendezvous Mountain.   The elevation at the base of the tram is 6,311 feet and the elevation at the top of Rendezvous Mountain is 10,450--a gain of 4,139 vertical feet in just over 10 minutes.  Once we were about halfway up the mountain, the snow appeared to be several feet deep below us. In the photos below, you can see just how deep the snow is around the base of the pine trees.

This is the beginning of one of the more advanced ski trails with a tremendous vertical drop at the beginning of the run.  This trail would not be for the faint of heart.  

Here is a picture of Paul at the top of the tram.  You can see just how much snow is still there on June 3!  Last year there was a small pile of snow about 8 feet high but not nearly as far across.  The tram operator said that this area had a near record 730+ inches of snow this past winter.  The temperature at the top of the tram at noon was 32 degrees, while the temperature at the base of the mountain was a much more pleasant 50 degrees.

Yes, the skier that rode the tram to the top with us is about to start off on a cross country ski trail.  He can be seen at the left back of the photo below.  Notice the ski poles in Paul's hands for balance on the icy crusted snow.

You can see the Jackson Hole valley over Paul's right shoulder.  A very impressive view!

This is Corbet's Cabin, a small restaurant at the top of the tram that serves hot beverages and is known for their homemade waffles.  You can barely see the sides of the building with all the snow still piled high.

The tram car is visible over Paul's left shoulder.  Each tram car can hold 60 people.  The panoramic views from the tram of the valley below are breathtaking.

This is a close-up of a cornice, an overhanging snow drift which could come tumbling down at any moment.  Breaking cornices is one of the causes of avalanches.   

Here is a view of the mountains from the tram.

WILDLIFE ALONG THE ROAD

During a drive on our recent day off, we spotted this moose along the Snake River which can be seen in the right background of the photo.

It was a great wildlife drive that day.  This black bear was spotted just before we came to the Rockefeller Preserve, one of our favorite places to hike.  You can tell it is a black bear because there is no hump behind the shoulder.  Black bears are not necessarily black, as this bear is almost copper in color.

On the way back from town we found this herd of bison along the road.  You can see that these bison have not totally lost their winter coats.  Bison can weigh as much as 2000 pounds and travel at speeds up to 30 mph.  The bison could crush our car if we got too close.  I wonder if State Farm would cover the damage?  In the first picture the bison is using the sign post to take care of an itchy spot.

Here is a close-up of an adult bison.  Probably not a "friendly" look.  Needless to say, we took this photo from the protection of the inside of the car.

Sometimes we see bison locking horns.  We are not sure if this is in "play" or the bison are fighting.

THE ICE IS GONE...SO IS THE WATER

We decided to take a hike on the first of our two days off this week, since the temperature finally was supposed to get above 50 degrees again.  We started at the Colter Bay Marina where Jackson Lake is no longer covered with ice.  However, the water level in the lake is extremely low due to water being let out of Jackson Dam into the Snake River because of the expected heavy snow melt in the next few weeks.  This is our 6th trip (4 as vacationers and 2 as workers) to this area in the last dozen years and Jackson Lake has never looked like this.

In the first photo, you can see the gas pumps that were barely visible sticking above the snow on a previous blog entry (2 weeks ago) when the lake was covered with ice and snow.

The lake level is down about 15-20 feet.  These docks are supposed to be floating.  Most of the brown shoreline at the top and bottom of the photo is normally underwater.

Here is a view looking back towards the Colter Bay Marina.  The boat ramp is to the far right and no longer reaches the lake.  The canoes, kayaks, and other small boats are sitting on the shore ready to go.  The marina is still scheduled to open on June 10.  

This photo is of two of the mooring buoys used for those boaters who can not get a slip in the marina because of capacity.  The buoys and its concrete anchor are connected with about 25 ft. of rope and are now high and dry.

We also took a short hike towards Heron Pond but had to turn back when the trail got too muddy.  Here is Paul standing in one of the snow drifts along the same path.

Here is a view of Mt. Moran (12,605 ft.) from along the same trail.  Notice just how much snow is on the mountain on June 2nd!  The larger white area to the lower left, shaped like a guitar being held near vertical, is Skillet Glacier.  Once the lake gets back to normal depth, the brown areas will be underwater.

Walking to work on Memorial Day just before noon, we noticed these spring flowers struggling with the little bit of snow that remained from the overnight 3-inch snowfall we received.  Here the buds are trying to open.

What a difference a few days make to Mother Nature.  Here is a similar patch of spring flowers on June 2.  Notice the blossoms appear to be fully open now that we have had several days of temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50's.  Yea!