PARK CLEAN-UP

Volunteering our time is one way for us to "give back" so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of Grand Teton National Park. We joined a group of employees on one of our days off for a park cleanup activity.  For safety, we had to wear florescent yellow vests, not really a fashion statement.

Our task was to stop at various turnouts along the roads in Grand Teton National Park and pick up trash. A turnout is an parking area provided for visitors to park their vehicles and view the mountains or other scenery. Often times there is an explanatory sign of the scenery you are viewing. We are "dressed" with vests and protective gloves and ready for our task.

Our task was to pick up anything that we found that doesn't grow in the park. Filthy cigarette butts were put into the trash bags along with discarded bottles, cans, wrappers from candy and granola bars, miscellaneous trash, etc. This was a disgusting task but necessary considering how inconsiderate some park visitors are.

There was a prize for the "most unusual" item found. The prize winner was a pair of light blue woman's panties found by one of the men. Wonder just what the circumstances were for their disposal and just how long they were lying there? Remember, this area is covered by snow until early April.

The classic "team photo" with the Teton Range in the background. This photo was taken at the end of our morning's work. Notice we all have partially filled trash bags in our hands.

After disposing of the trash and recyclables collected, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch provided by our employer, Grand Teton Lodge Company, in one of the picnic areas near String Lake in GTNP.

We even got to keep the green mesh bags as a souvenir.

BREAKFAST CRUISE ON JACKSON LAKE

The temperatures have warmed up considerably so it was time to take our annual breakfast cruise out to Elk Island on Jackson Lake. Even though we have taken this trip before, this is one of our favorite activities to participate in. As the sun rises in the east, it shines so beautifully on the Teton Range and the calm waters of Jackson Lake.

The Colter Bay Marina is so still and peaceful in the early morning. Notice the reflection of the mountains in the water as we wait to board the boat for our 7:30 am departure. 

We could see two waterfalls, center and right side of the canyon, as we journeyed out to Elk Island where our breakfast would be served. These fishermen were trying to catch their meal.

A close-up of Mt. Moran shows most of the five glaciers found on Mt. Moran. Skillet Glacier is the large guitar shaped white patch on the left.There are only 10 glaciers in the entire Teton Range.

We also got a close-up view of Paintbrush Canyon, a wilderness hiking area. If you look along the west side of Jackson Lake, you can see the burned trees from a bad forest fire in 2009.

The chefs were hard at work preparing our meal of fried trout, eggs, pancakes, and all the fixings. The cooks and their assistants go out to Elk Island in two small cook boats before sunrise to prepare the meal for our guests.

Paul was given a lesson in turning trout on the grill.

The view of the Grand Teton and Mt. Teewinot from Elk Island is spectacular. There are more burned trees from the 2009 fire visible on the lower left of this photo.

The two tour boats are shown below with the two smaller cook boats closer to shore. Everything, including the food, dishes, utensils, condiments, propane for the grill, etc., has to be taken out to Elk Island daily by boat and then returned after the meal. 

At the RV Park, we fill the Elk Island propane tanks about every 2nd or third day as this is the only source of heat to cook the food for the guests. Just the other day we put 37 gallons of propane in the Elk Island tanks. To give you a reference point, a regular BBQ tank holds about 4.5 gallons of propane. 

Paul is shown below just before our boat leaves Elk Island for the marina. Skillet Glacier is easily seen from this view. 

FLOAT TRIP DOWN THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER

We have taken several trips on the upper Snake River in past years but have never traveled on the lower Snake River starting in the town of Wilson west of Jackson.  So we scheduled our trip on that portion of the river, a 13 mile trip, on a warm and sunny day with the temperature in the mid 70's.

There were three rafts in our flotilla. Our pilot was Alex, who has been a river guide for 6 years. We were the lead raft and could sometimes look back and see the other two rafts behind us.

Our trip took us south past the most southern peak of the Tetons, Prospector's Mountain. The Grand Teton is shown below from a different angle than we have seen previously. 

One of the best parts about a scenic float trip is watching for wildlife. Evidence of beaver activity is shown in the photo below. This tree is over a foot in diameter. Imagine how long a beaver has been chewing on this tree trunk.  

Beavers are nocturnal animals and were most likely asleep in their den when we floated by.

We saw many species of birds including a large squadron of white pelicans,

an osprey,

about a dozen bald eagles, including this one,

a second one,

an eagle's nest with two chicks.

Our journey came to an end near Hoback Junction as the rafts were steered towards shore and then pulled up on the "beach" so we could climb out safely.

Even though we have taken other float trips in our previous visits to GTNP, this trip offered the most wildlife sightings.