Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center in Jackson

We worked today and had our Grand Teton Association (GTA) orientation. They served some yummy rolls and breakfast items in the morning and we had pizza delivered from Dornan's Pizza. The pizza was excellent. We have found our pizza place here! We learned a lot about the GTA and its functions today as well as getting a bear spray demonstration. We actually got to use a spray can so we could really see how it worked.

We signed a contract to work with the GTA until September 20th so we'll be in this area until then but there is a lot to do and we expect to be busy the whole time.  We volunteer three days a week and it is REALLY volunteering because the people who get paid for working five days a week pay $12.08 a day for their full hook-up site.  They also get $12 or more per hour depending on many years they've worked for them seasonally.  However, if you weren't working here, the price for housing is astronomical so we are happy.  This is where we wanted to spend the summer!

After work we headed over to the Visitor Center in Jackson which is also called the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center.  We normally called it the NER for National Elk Refuge as the Visitor Center is on the Elk Refuge or right in front of it. We bought some books for the grandkids using our GTA discount and we also bought a new bird book for us. Mary purchased a long sleeve t-shirt too. Our discount is pretty good!

Bronze Sculpture Outside the VC

Elk

Grey Wolf

Antler Chandelier

Grizzly Paw Print

Elk Refuge Behind the VC

Across the Street From VC

After shopping there, we went wandering through some shops in Jackson but we didn't buy anything. We just nosed around. We also stopped for groceries on the way back to the campground.

Unknown critter llives in our yard

This little guy lives on our lot at the campground.  I'm not quite sure what he is.  He is bigger than a chipmunk and smaller than a marmot and he has a tail so he isn't a pika.  Anyone know what he is?

Yellowstone National Park

After leaving Oxbow Bend, we headed straight to Yellowstone National Park. We were surprised to see how much snow was on the ground since it is May 27th! It was a little brisk outside today too! 

We stopped at Lewis Falls to get some pictures and then we headed to the Grant Village Restaurant to have some lunch. The last time we were in Yellowstone we wanted to eat here but it closed right before we arrived. This year, we were almost the first people to arrive for lunch and so we were seated right next to the windows and the scenic views. We had a nice lunch and warmed up a little after being outside for awhile.

Next stop was Old Faithful. We've seen it go off before, but you just can't visit Yellowstone with seeing it. We actually saw it twice today. The first time we visited the Visitor Center and we were just in time to see the show. We headed outside and took some seats in the second row. There was quite a crowd waiting to watch Old Faithful spew. It did not disappoint!

 
Then we headed over to the Mud Pots and all the geo-thermal geysers and assorted hot pools of water. Some of them are so beautiful. They look tempting enough to jump in but that sure wouldn't be wise! There was a lot of bison scat around the mudpots. They must like to lay down and warm up in the area when it is cold. The mud pots were really boiling today. I guess they do a lot more boiling in the spring and then they die down in the summer. We took a great movie of a bubbling mudpot.

When we finished walking around the geo-thermal area, we headed back to the Visitor Center because we had to hit the restrooms. When we arrived Old Faithful was going off again so we watched it through the windows of the Visitor Center and I think we actually had a better view from there than we did outside!

It was time to head for home already so we got in the truck and headed on back. On the way home, we stopped at Leeks Marina in Grand Teton National Park. There is a little restaurant there that has good pizza. You can sit out on their deck and eat, but it was too nippy for us so we ate inside.

Oxbow Bend Turnout - Grand Teton National Park

We set out this morning for Yellowstone National Park which is about 50 miles from our campground but, of course, Yellowstone is huge so once you get there, you can travel many more miles. On the way, we stopped at the Oxbow Bend Turnout which is in Grand Teton National Park before you get to the Colter Bay Visitor Center. The Oxbow Bend Turnout is one of the prettiest views in the park if you ask me. I think one of these days I am going to try and paint it.

Oxbow Bend

Gros Ventre Slide Area and Animals Galore Today

We had a terrific day of sightseeing today. It started when we left church this morning. As we drove home the whole herd of bison were grazing in the fields along Gros Ventre Road. We stopped to take pictures of them and listen to their growling noises. 

This guy has an itch he can't reach!

Oh my, his head itches too - No wonder these trees lean!

Then we changed clothes and had some lunch. We decided to go out and see some more of the sights. We began by driving up Highway 89 to one of the scenic turnouts along the road. From this viewpoint, we got some good pictures of the mountains. We were hoping to see some beavers at work because we had heard that there were some in the area but they apparently knew we were coming and vacated the premises. I pulled out my binoculars and found some Sand Hill cranes so I had Lee get some pictures of them because he is much more gifted at getting good pictures of birds and animals that are almost out of sight with the naked eye. He did get some good ones - even a couple of them flying off. They make the most interesting noises when they are flying. We'd never heard them before and now we'll always know that sound! 

Sand Hill Cranes

Sand Hills in Flight

One of the features that you can't miss seeing in this area is the Gros Ventre Slide area. This area that looks like a huge hole or gash in the side of a mountain on the east side of Jackson Hole is visible from much of the south part of Grand Teton National Park. From the roadside turnoff, we could see the slide area behind us as it features prominently in the distance. We decided to drive in that direction and get a closer look at the slide area and the lake it created. We drove back to Gros Ventre Road and headed toward the small community of Kelly. While on this stretch of road, we had to stop to get pictures of the herd of pronghorns that were getting their fill of the local grasses. It looks like today is a good day for animals!

A herd of Pronghorns

You can see the slide area as it appears larger as we approach it.

We continued down Gros Ventre Road past Kelly until we got to the slide area. This massive landslide occurred on June 23, 1925 following weeks of heavy rain. Approximately 50,000,000 cubic yards of rock slid off the north face of Sheep Mountain and into the Gros Ventre River valley. The rock formed a large natural dam, backing up the water and forming Lower Slide Lake. The winter of 1926-27 brought heavier than normal snowfall and the resulting snow melt combined with more weeks of heavy rain in May 1927. On May 18, residents began to notice debris from the flooding of the upper valley floating downstream in the river. Alarmed, several residents went to the dam to discover that the lake had over-topped the dam and was beginning to wash it away. Alerted to the situation, the residents of Kelly evacuated. The ensuing flood was 6 feet deep for at least 25 miles downstream. The flood destroyed most of the town, leaving only the church and the schoolhouse standing. Thanks to the prior warning, only six people died in the flood. The deluge also damaged ranches and part of the community of Wilson, 14 miles downstream on the Snake River.

What is amazing is that this happened in 1925 and the hillside still looks like it could have happened yesterday. As we were getting to the area that has the path to the slide area, it was approaching dusk which is not a good time to be out without bear spray and, of course, we had left it at home. But, Lee convinced me that we were invincible until I spotted a huge bone from some animal right on the path. It was all that was left of it and a very good reminder NOT to be on any trail in the area without your bear spray. Bears have shown up in town here so thinking that some trail is well traveled so bears would avoid it, is just plain dumb! Anyway, we managed to get our pictures and you never saw me hike faster than I did getting out of there.

Okay, who ate that and where are they now?

Debris from the flood

Miles and Miles of Debris!

Once we were safely back in the truck, I relaxed and got some lovely shots of the Red Hills. Then, wonder of wonders, as we were driving I spotted some wolves crossing the road quite a ways ahead of us. Lee was able to stop the truck and we got some pretty decent pictures of them. There were two of them and as they were crossing Antelope Flats, they were chasing and playing. It was just something I never thought we would see. The other times we have seen wolves it was almost pitch black and getting a picture was impossible.

Slide Lake

The Red Hills

All in all, it was a terrific day!