The Grand Tetons and Beyond!

After narrowly escaping with our lives from the aliens we left Yellowstone National Park and headed towards the South Entrance and the Grand Tetons.  This entrance had been closed for more than a week due to forest fires but it was reportedly supposed to open the day we were leaving. As luck would have it, it had just opened before we got down there!

The smoky haze that covered most of Yellowstone intensified the further south we drove. Soon we were driving through the remnants of the fire and observed first hand what had kept this road closed.  Fire crews were still out in force hitting hotspots and several uncontained fires were still visible in the distance.

Fire fighters lined the roadway

Our destination for the day was one of two boondocking spots that we had received from a fellow fulltimer that was recently in the area. The first one was in mostly open terrain and close enough to the fires to keep us moving. A few miles down the road just outside the boundary of the National Park we found the second spot we had been directed to and were not disappointed. The views from this spot were incredible!

Our boondocking spot

Sunset from our campsite

You will notice that most of the pictures in this post are of the Teton Range itself, but with mountains this incredible it is really hard to focus on anything else. Instead we embraced them looking for different areas to photograph them from and playing with our camera settings to see what we could create. The smoke played havoc and created an almost constant haze but we made the best of it. Some of the pictures worked out, some didn't.

The brown grasses and the yellowing of some of the trees showed the first signs of fall. At one point we came across a herd of horses with the mountain as a backdrop that we just could not pass up.

The next morning we got up early to take advantage of the clearer skies and headed to a nearby historic Mormon community with barns and homes from the late 1800's/early 1900's. Again we experimented with various views, angles and settings on our cameras. As we were taking pictures of the barn below we noticed a coyote walking through the grass searching for its next meal.

Our photography appetite satisfied we continued on to Jackson where we stopped at the Snake River Brewing Company for a sample of each of their home brews!

89 miles to the west of Jackson is the city of Idaho Falls. We had never been to this city before and really liked it. It is a fairly big city but has a small town charm to it. We spent two nights in the Cabela's parking and as luck would have it, the state fair was in town! It has been a while since we have been to a fair, for us the highlight was walking through the livestock area and watching the sheepherding trials.

Look what we found!!!!!!

The Midway, we didn't do any rides

Who wouldn't want to win a pile of crap?!

No fair is complete without hitting the craft shed!

Having our fill of the hustle and bustle of the city we drove another 87 miles west to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This volcanic rift in the middle of the vast desert-like terrain is just bizarre. The 618 square mile lava covered area contains lava rivers, scattered islands of cinder cones and also a number of caves that the public can explore after getting a free permit.

A cinder cone island

The cone itself could fit a school bus!

Only one more adventure before we return to Salt Lake where we started this journey last April. Next up we are headed near Idaho City where are meeting our daughter Jessica and her family to work their mining claim for a few days and spend time with the grandkids!