Journeys›Photograph

A Summer Day Through Yellowstone and Grand Teton

·Teton County, Wyoming·#hiking#summer#national parks#yellowstone#wyoming#grand teton
A wide, clear river with rocky banks flows through a dense evergreen forest under a bright blue sky.

Started the morning north of the parks, wading a rocky river and climbing a trail through sagebrush meadows before pointing the car south with the plan of ending the day in Grand Teton. Old Faithful went off more or less on schedule — a full boardwalk of people, phones over their heads, the steam column bending hard sideways. Farther down we stopped at a falls where a couple of people were picking their way across the downed logs in the current.

Crossed into Grand Teton in the late afternoon. The park dates to 1929, though it didn't take in most of Jackson Hole until 1950, which explains the marina full of cabin cruisers at Colter Bay sitting under Mount Moran like it was any lake town anywhere. Walked the shore of Jackson Lake for a while as the wind put a chop on the water.

Ended at Snake River Overlook, one of the southern viewpoints where the range holds a sunset the longest. The peaks went to silhouette with the sun dropping behind the Grand, and clouds kept sliding across and reopening the gap. Couldn't tell if it was going to color up or shut down, so we stayed until it did both.

A dirt path through a green, sagebrush-filled meadow, flanked by pine trees on hillsides and a distant forested valley.A person and a dog on a grassy trail in a hilly landscape with trees and distant mountains under a clear blue sky.A crowd of people on a boardwalk watches a geyser erupting with a large white plume under a cloudy blue sky.A wide sparkling river with logs flows from a distant waterfall through a dense pine forest; a person walks on the right.A lake scene with many boats docked and anchored, backed by snow-dusted mountains and a forest under a cloudy sky.Sunlight reflects on a lake with a distant dark tree line and mountains under a cloudy sky.A vast landscape shows a range of dark mountains with snow, a valley, trees, and fields under a cloudy sunset sky.A panoramic landscape features a snow-capped mountain range under a cloudy sky, with a plain and forest in the foreground.

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