Ann and Dan's Excellent Adventure Begins

I guess I shouldn’t go on a three week vacation and not post anything, so here’s my attempt at doing some justice to our trip.  As I hinted in the last post, just over one month ago, Ann and I went on vacation to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and areas thereabout.  

Like all excellent adventures, things didn’t turn out exactly the way we thought it might.  Some things for the better (we didn’t have to use our bear spray in self defense [and Ann didn’t have to use her can on me!]), and some things for the worse (Ann’s phone died mid-way through the trip so we had to take a couple of day detour to find a Verizon store [alas to no avail - Ann has her replacement phone now], though that did allow for us to have a nice lunch with some friends on our trip back to the Tetons).

While we wanted this to be a photography vacation, we both agreed that it was a vacation and the fact that we had a lot of time for the trip, we weren’t going to be rushed about it.  Which was good.  We didn’t see everything, but of course you can’t even with three weeks, but we were able to enjoy our experiences. I’d done a lot of planning so we had lots of places to go, and didn’t have to go anywhere!  

As for photography, we didn’t constantly photograph (generally concentrating photography in the mornings and afternoons when the light was better and not photographing during the mid day), but when we did, we tended to make a lot of images.  Ann is dissatisfied with her images as she tends to be, I’m a bit surprised at the number of my images that I’m pleased with.  Still, there is a lot to sort through and then to polish up, so in order to get these posts out I’ll be using largely unworked jpg images.  For those of you who are on Facebook, when we had internet access I tried to post as many shots as I could - all iPhone shots.  The camera on the iPhone continues to amaze me!

In keeping with our game plan, our first day of vacation was spent packing and shopping for food.  Yes, as much as we wanted to get out the door, we decided that we weren’t going to kill ourselves to get on vacation so the best way to accomplish that was to take a day to do all the get-ready stuff.  That said, we got up early the next day and hit the road well before sunrise.  Which was good because we drove all the way to Jerome, Idaho, with a stop for a late lunch in Boise.

And what a lunch it was.  For those of you not on Facebook (are you getting the hint that you should join?  you’ll see more of my ad-hoc images), this is what I posted:

Sausage Lunch

Bratwurst cooked with onions, peppers and apples.Yes, apples.Delicious!Oh, and the stout wasn’t bad either!

While that first day of driving was pretty much insane, we were rewarded for our efforts on the next day.As planned we got up early again and instead of heading east, we went north to see the Sawtooth Mountains.Our plan was to get to Stanley Lake while the light was still nice.We made it there when we wanted to, but sometimes nature doesn’t totally cooperate with you (a lesson we would learn many times on this trip).Still, it’s a beautiful view and was well worth the effort.

We were fortunate to get the bit of sunlight that we did.  Most of the Sawtooth mountains were socked in on our drive up and after about ten minutes of sun, became socked in again.  Ann and I went for a late breakfast in Stanley with the hope of things clearing up, but it just didn’t happen.  Lots of beautiful sun everywhere else, but a cap of clouds on the Sawtooths, so we headed on our way.  

Instead of heading back south and then east, we decided to continue on the scenic route north and east through the mountains following the Salmon River. It was a lovely drive. By mid-afternoon we arrived in Driggs, Idaho, our home for the next couple of nights, in Teton Valley. Driggs is supposed to have a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons, but on that day the Tetons followed the lead of the Sawtooths and decided to be hidden behind clouds. We didn’t mind so much, knowing we had plenty of time to see those beautiful mountains.

We stayed at the Teton Valley Cabins, recommended to us by a friend.  They’re affordable and roomy and ours had a kitchenette, which made getting ready for the next day’s hike (coffee and breakfast) a lot easier.

The next day we got an early start to Teton Canyon (about 7 miles away) to hike as far into it and as near to the Alaska Basin as we could.  Which wasn’t very far.  Two things we learned. One, hiking in the mud is exhausting!  Two, hiking at 6,000+ feet isn’t like hiking at 3,000 feet.  We hadn’t figured in acclimatizing into our plans.  Still, we managed about 3.5 miles into the canyon (which made it a 7-mile round trip) and, to use a word that’s already been used too much and will even more in the next few posts, it was simply beautiful.

For much of the hike we were by ourselves taking our sweet time and hollering “Yo Bear!” every so often, especially as we approached brush, blind turns or hillocks.  I haven’t had to use my sergeant’s voice that much since the guys were little kids!  

Wisdom getting the better of valor (well, some might call it stubbornness), Ann and I decided we shouldn’t exhaust ourselves totally on our first hike and we turned around at a nice stopping point that gave us a place to eat lunch and do a bit of photography (with Ann loving a group of marmots on a nearby rock that couldn’t quite figure us out).  

On the drive back to the cabins, we decided to stop off at a spot we noted on the way in that had a view of the Grand Teton (covered in clouds in the morning).  Now this is what we really came out here for:

After getting back to the cabin, showering and having dinner, we rushed back out for a sunset shot.  Gambling that the ski resort to the north would have a decent vantage point, at least one better than we found above, we headed past the turnoff to Teton Canyon and started the climb to the ski resort.

We never made it there.  As we approached a bend, we pulled off to the side and concluded that, at the least, we could shoot from there.  We hopped back into the car and, just past the bend was a viewpoint (not on any map we had . . .).  That spot was better.  Then we drove a bit more.  But when the road made a big turn left, it entered a draw where the view was blocked by a ridge, so we turned around.

Once back to the scenic viewpoint, we walked out into a field to get a better position.  While it took a while for the sun to set, and it started to get mighty chilly, the wait was worth it.

Afterwards, we headed back to the cabin for our last night in a real bed for awhile.  Next stop, Yellowstone!