Grand Teton National Park, WY

 We are on the way to Grand Tetons NP, which requires a 4 hour drive through Yellowstone (YS) if you are coming from the north as we were. It was a beautiful, warm morning and we couldn't believe that the YS River was completely covered by a cloud for about one mile or so. The picture on the right shows the river after the cloud lifted.



I knew the Tetons were right below YS but totally forgot they literally fall right beneath. The parks are so close that to "enter" the park when leaving YS there is no Ranger gate. There are, however, 2 gates going north...one for the Tetons and one for YS. And yes, there are at least 5 large glaciers in the Tetons.






Our main objective for this trip was to find and photograph a moose. Wait until you see our picture! On this trip we gained a real appreciation for these mountains. Even though they flow southward from Yellowstone's mountain ranges, they are quite different.







 We chose a hike that would be about 7 miles, went up some elevation but was listed as easy and featured 2 different lakes. I like the easy ones, a lot! Here we have started up the slight incline and found this water cascading down the hill over these large boulders.













This is an Aspen forest with all young trees. Nice path, pleasant hike!

We made it to one of the ridges and had this picture snapped. Nice background, yes?









This is Taggart Lake, the first lake on our loop. The path to go to Bradley Lake bordered the entire side of Taggart. Lovely scenery.

It turns out, to go from one lake to the other, you must climb a nice sized ridge. Ahh, the 'easy' part of the hike just flew out the window! It really wasn't that bad, but quite a climb with some switch-backs and over the top we went.






This first look at Bradley Lake was pretty special. Note the mountains way in the background.









Here is one of the many rock outcroppings that just amaze us as we walk around the mountains. They are all around YS and here in the Tetons.









This is a pasture for rental horses. As we came down the path we noted that the horses were all corralled in a small area with only mud about. Quite an injustice for hard working animals!









We came upon this mom and her baby (hiding) while walking by Taggart Lake. This is a mule deer, so named for the large ears that mimic a mule.