A Winter's Day, In a Deep and Dark ... September?

On Friday, Sept. 10, we awoke in Jackson, Wyoming, to find that snow had fallen in the mountains nearby. While excited to head up to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone national parks and check it out, first we set out for breakfast. We wound up in the Bunnery, where we'd had a really good dinner (with reasonable prices, which isn't easy in Jackson) a night or two earlier. One tip for finding coffee or breakfast in the morning in Jackson, nothing opens before 7 a.m.

We walked to breakfast and I snapped a few photos of shops and residences along the way. This is strictly a tourists town, with lots of eateries, bars, and art galleries.

This sign caught my eye (near the Bunnery).

At the Town Square, the entrances all have these gates made of entwined antlers (elk?). I'm not sure how many animals died to make it possible. Maybe they just shed their antlers and someone gathered them all up. (A positive spin!)

Check out this fence on North Millward Street near our hotel.

Here's a closeup of the gate.

After we checked out of the hotel, we headed out of town to the north. (See my blog about the Tetons for photos taken on the 10th of that part of the journey.)

What a difference a day makes! When we arrived at Yellowstone, it was exciting to see the mountains covered in snow across the lake.

Soon we were in the snowy mountains ourselves.

The roadways were clear, so we could enjoy the snow and not worry about the driving.

We pulled off at the Lake Lodge in Yellowstone to mail some postcards and I snapped a quick photo of the back side of the lodge.

We drove around the lodge and on the side where the cabins are located, we found some bison grazing. These tourists didn't even have to leave their front porches to encounter wildlife up close and personal.

Near the entrance of the Lake Lodge, we found these rangers on horseback.

A little further down the road, we saw this elk buck grazing. Check out his rack!

One of the last sights I wanted to see in Yellowstone was Tower Falls. While Yellowstone Falls (the blog entry before this one) was powerful with lots of water, I love these tall ones with less water. Isn't it beautiful?

We then headed for the northeast entrance of the park, on our way to the Beartooth Scenic Highway and the pass that's almost 11,000 feet high (on the roadway). We had seen snow falling in the high mountains all day and wondered if they'd close the pass before we got there (or if we should just chose an alternate route). But, having lived in snowy conditions for many, many years, we decided to go for it when we saw signs that the pass was open. In my next blog, I'll share the experience of crossing the Beartooth in snow and high-wind (drifting snow) conditions.

But first, we saw another herd of bison as we headed for the exit to Yellowstone. With blue skies and those clouds, it's hard to believe what weather was awaiting us in Montana.

But this view of the same herd showing the road ahead hints at what is to come.