LUNCH FLOAT TRIP ON THE SNAKE RIVER

Since the weather has been so nice with the temperatures in the 70's, we decided to take a scenic float trip down the Snake River.  One of the benefits of working for the Grand Teton Lodge Company is that we get to enjoy many of the activities our guests get to enjoy for a fraction of the price.

The first photo shows several river guides waiting for our group to arrive.  These large  rafts are manned by two river guides and can hold about 18 passengers each.

After a safety briefing, we boarded our raft and began the journey down the Snake River.  The river is running very fast and high due to the increasing snow melt from the near-record snowfall this past winter.


Our lead boatman was Dan, who is in his 2nd year here at GTNP  The large rudders like the one he is holding are used to steer the boat away from the many obstacles, such as rocks or tree limbs found in the river.

The first wildlife we saw was this bald eagle flying overhead at our launch site.  Notice there are no clouds in the sky - what a beautiful day to be on the river.

We also saw a pronghorn antelope, but it quickly disappeared behind some brush before we could get a photo.  Later along the journey we saw this bald eagle in a tree keeping watch over "his river".  Bald eagles are very territorial and generally stay within the same 2-mile area.

The views of the Teton Range were spectacular with the sun rising in the east shining brightly on the mountains which, as you can see, are still mostly snow covered on the last day of June.  Here you can see the color of the river almost matches the raft.  The water is murky brown in color from the sediment the melted snow picks up as it travels down the mountains and flows in the Snake.

Here is a view of the Grand Teton (13,775 ft.) from the river.

This particular part of the river reminded me of canopy roads, found in rural Florida.  Notice how the pine trees are curved over the river.

Lunch was served at the end of our 2 1/2 hour float at Deadman's Bar, named after a triple killing which took place in the summer of 1886.  In summary, the cook who was working for 3 gold miners killed them when he was not paid any wages for a month (was supposed to be 25% of the gold the miners found).  The bodies were later discovered her.

What a beautiful setting for lunch with the Grand Teton as a backdrop.