We’ve been camping on the Gros Ventre River down by the southern entrance of the park. The valley here is known for moose and boy have we been seeing moose. This morning we were going to go for a hike in cascade canyon but it was ugly outside. We were going to go anyway, but as we started driving towards the park it was especially gray and gloomy so we turned around and went back to camp. I’m happy we did because right inside camp about 4 RVs away were a group of people with cameras so I went to go check it out. MOOSE, MOOSE, MOOSE, and another MOOSE. There were 3 bulls and 1 female. no pics just enjoyed.
There was a bull moose in the trees with a female. Another bull started approaching from the right and when it got to about 30 feet away it bedded down. Assuming it was a submissive move. As the bull on the right bedded down another bull moose started approaching from the left. The middle bull moose now bedded down. Now the female who was with the male in the middle started approaching the bull on the left. When the bull on the left and the female were about 30 feet away from each other the middle bull moose got up and started following the female and then the male on the left retreated. The female then went back into the trees with the middle bull moose in the trees. This all happened as we were only about 40 yards away. Real life nature show.
We decided to check out the visitor center in the southern entrance waiting for it to stop snowing. The visitor center was beautiful. There were floor to ceiling windows, a giant indoor fireplace, and fantastic displays. Here’s my daily knowledge bit…
Grand Teton National became a National Park in 1929. The Grand Tetons have some of the oldest rocks dating back to 2.5 – 2.7 billion years old and the granite and gneiss rocks compose the “core” of the range.
The Grand Tetons were formed primarily from Earthquakes and Glaciers. There is a large fault (the Teton Fault) running north and south along the Tetons. The west block rose to form the Teton Range while the east block went under the west block to creat the valley called Jackson Hole. Then glaciers came and formed the valleys between the Teton mountain range to see what we see today. One of the reasons the Tetons are so spectacular and dramatic is because they jut upward seemingly almost out of nowhere and reach peaks up to 13,775 feet. Because the fault lies directly to the East of the mountain range, there are no foothills or smaller mountains to take away from the grandeur of the Grand Teton mountain range. The Grand Tetons are the youngest mountain range in the Rocky Mountains. The Shoshone people called the whole range Teewinot meaning “many pinnacles” and the French renamed them the Grand Tetons.
When we were ready to go for our hike, it was still snowing and so we changed course and decided to drive into the the town of Jackson for a late lunch and shopping. Jackson feels like an Aspen. Everything is very expensive, the conversations you hear people having are annoying, but its a fun a place to spend an afternoon. For how beautiful the Tetons are I could move to this area, but I don’t know if I could handle Jackson year round. I did find this amazing store and had fun spending $20,000 worth of hand made furniture in my head that I easily could’ve bought within an hour 😉
Their town square has 4 giant Elk Antler Arches that have served as entrances since 1960. The local Boy Scouts collect the antlers from the nearby National Elk Refuge nearby where 7,500 elk spend their winter. The bulls shed their antlers in March, are collected by the local Boy Scouts, and the arches are built by the Jackson Hole Rotary Club. The antlers are then sold by public auction each year in May. Looks like troop 6 is in need of a field trip #Ed Guzman & Roger Storm 🙂
We had a tasty Asian fusion lunch at Tiger Teton followed by a bit more touristy window shopping. We then drove to the Jackson Hole Ski Resort to check it out. Seemed cool, very big, I’d like to go skiing there, but I have to say my first thought was, it looks like fun, but if its this cold in the beginning of October, what is it like to ski here???
We got back to camp early enough to go enjoy a bike ride and watch the sunset behind the Tetons. And surprise…another moose in the field. We watched him for awhile as he crossed the field and ended up walking right through the campground not even 40 feet from us. Now after seeing 4 more bull moose’s since yesterday I’m realizing just how big that sucker was yesterday. Anyway, good way to end the evening and now its time for bed because tomorrow is supposed to be sunny 🌞 so we plan to do the Cascade Canyon hike tomorrow before we take my mom to Salt Lake City to fly home. Goodnight 😴
