Travels of Sheila & Ted Summer of 2014: To Moose, Wyoming

We went back over to the lodge this morning to try and Skype with Aaron and Titina, still with no luck. We are missing seeing the grandchildren. The clouds were lower this morning beside the mountains with the snow sprinkled tops showing over the clouds. Except for right near the mountains, the sky was clear and bright blue. It was forty-eight degrees at 10:00 when we started out for the day, driving the eastern road of the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.

We missed the Pacific Creek Road so went first to the river access where we walked down on the shore. We watched a couple of boats with fishermen and one float boat before returning to the Pacific Creek Road, a side road following a creek through sagebrush fields.

Another dirt side road took us to Two Ocean Lake. We walked down by the lake to see if it would be a good place to kayak. The lake was fairly small, though pretty but we would have had to walk through several feet of goose poop in order to launch so decided against it. On these back roads, we really noticed that fall was in the air. The fall colors were starting to show, the wildflowers have all gone to seed except of a few remaining thistle blossoms and the Canada geese were flying high probably heading south.

Road on the Way to Two Ocean Lake

Two Ocean Lake

The Trees are Starting to Turn

Thistle, the Last of the Wildflowers

Geese Flying South

We saw twelve plus pronghorn shortly after going through the Moran Junction entrance and many more at Elk Ranch Flats Turnout. This area that is a huge, wide expanse of flat sagebrush covered land also has a small herd of bison.

There are Bison Out There

Many ranchers and homesteaders tried to settle on this land but only a few survived the harsh conditions. We stopped at the Cunningham Cabin Historic Site where an original log home still exists. There was a self guiding tour map to the Flying Bar U Ranch that we tried to follow to find the locations of where other buildings were but lost sight of the paths and wound up wandering through the sagebrush looking for signs of the trail. We did find several narrow, hand-dug irrigation ditches that still had water flowing through them. Thankfully, the land is so flat we had no chance of getting lost.

The Flying Bar U

What a View!

Wandering the Sagebrush

Hard to Get Lost in These Expanses

The road down to Deadman's Bar on the Snake Rive had a nineteen percent grade, probably the steepest road we have ever driven on. The steep parts were paved but the rest was dirt. There were vehicles and trailers from all kinds of outfitters there and several groups getting ready to float the river. Signs warned of the danger of the river and only experienced guides should attempt it. We walked out on the sand bar and watched the rafts and fishing boats for awhile before moving on.

Looking Up River

And They Are Off

The next stop was the Snake River Overlook where Ansel Adams took one of his most famous photos. We stopped to take photos from the same spot that he did and are sure ours are just as good. Huh! Actually, the trees have grown up a lot more so the river is almost out of sight and our cameras take in a much wider view so they really aren't comparable. In any case, it is a spectacular view.

Ansel Adams' Photo

Mine

And Ted's

At the Glacier View Turnout we got a good view of the glaciers on Grand, Middle and South Teton Mountains. We learned that in the past forty years the glaciers have lost twenty-five percent of their total surface area a fact we have found throughout the Rockies this summer.

Mormons settled the lower region of what is now Grand Teton National Park. The Antelope Flats Road leads to and area now called Mormon Row where there are many homes, barns, outbuildings and even outhouses still standing.

After a few photos we continued to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center. This visitor center, built in 2007, had great exhibits as well as one of the best films we have seen in a national park. There were panels in the floor that showed films as well of scenes from around the park.

New Visitors Center

Bronze Moose, The Only Moose We Have Seen

Quilt of Native Wildlife by Local Quilt Guild

On to Menors Ferry Historic District, another Mormon settlement on the Snake River where we visited the General Store which had a mixture of old and new items on the shelves. We chatted with the man working there, a full-timer like us, who said he would tell us all about the free and inexpensive places to stay in Arizona. It turns out most of them were casinos and you had to gamble in order to stay there. No thanks. There is a replica of the ferryboat that crossed the river as well as the home of Maud Noble where the first meeting proposing a national park took place.