Teton-Yellowstone Loop

July 17 –  Today was tourist day!  We decided to take the scenic loop down and around the Grand Tetons, through Jackson, WY and up through Tetons National Park, into Yellowstone and back out the West Yellowstone entrance.  It’s about 263 miles and took us about 9 ½ hours.

I enjoy the country drive part through potato fields, hay fields and no traffic.  Technically we are on the loop in Island Park and just head south and make a left in Ashton, ID.   We have the view of the Tetons most of the way, and up close and

Huge stack of hay bales

personal once we reach Driggs, ID.  In Driggs it was bathroom break and close to lunch time.  They have a really nice Broulim’s grocery where we decided to enjoy lunch from their various deli stations.  Bill went with a hot pressed ham sandwich and I had orange chicken and broccoli chicken with a bit of fried rice.  All so tasty and good prices.  They had some good sales in the store but we didn’t want to keep things in our cooler bag for hours on end, but before we left we each got a kid cup of ice cream and ate them in the car.

There was an ACE in the plaza that we made a quick stop in to get some tiny rubber caps for a connection on the car for towing.  Who knows what happened to last one but this time we got 2 so we’re good for a while, we hope.

View of the valley

The drive into Jackson includes a fabulous view of the

Stop at the top

valley in addition to miles of 10% grade (for us it was downhill), which we are glad we were not in the RV.  There were several motorhomes, travel trailers and 5^th wheels whom we passed coming up, but can’t say we saw any brave enough to go down it. 

Jackson Hole as it used to be called was a place we thoroughly enjoyed many years ago on

Looks like a golf course on the side
of the mountain

our first trip there.  Now it’s a major tourist destination with

Antler Arch

inadequate parking, crowded streets and sidewalks and shops out the ying yang!   You get a good view of the ski slopes as you pass by.  We turned towards the park at the town square.  The antler arches still adorn the four corners but we didn’t stop this time but I nabbed a photo while Bill slowed for traffic.

We stopped at the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center for a bathroom break and to look for a t-shirt for Bill.  We picked up a few tourist magazines we think will be helpful while we’re here, then headed up the pike to the park!

Starting to get dark

After passing the local airport and the National Elk Refuge we made a stop at the Craig Thomas Discovery VC and I got new passport stamps for my book and we picked up more literature.  The view of the mountains is fantastic from there as they have a huge window on that side and an outdoor area you can view from.  We didn’t take much time as the skies were churning and we knew we were in for some nasty weather.

At Moose Junction we had to show our Senior pass and as

we pulled way the skies got darker and the temperature gauge on the car plummeted from 72 to 54 in a minute.  I stepped out to get a quick photo and suddenly was pummeled by hail.  I found one later in my hair!  We drove through and past it and the rest of our time in

As some of the weather passed

The Grand Tetons NP was beautiful.  At times we could look back and see it still behind us.  Jackson Lake is both huge and beautifully serene.  We managed a stop or 2 for photos before our final stop at Colter Bay Village.  As soon as we saw the “shopping” area we both knew this was where Bill got his t-shirt 2 years ago.  He had trouble deciding on one as they had many to chose from as well as an assortment of colors.  I ordered us beverages from the “café”.  He loves the Java Chocolate Chip Frappuccinos and I went with a hot beverage, Caramel Macchiato.  That was to hold us over until we got home and it did.

Between Teton and Yellowstone is the John D Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.  It’s 8

Jackson Lake

miles of National Forest wilderness with a couple of trailheads and Snake River access. 

When entering Yellowstone from the south you get a different perspective of the park.  It’s more densely wooded and to your right you find the deep deep ravine of the Lewis

River with some nice falls but very little pull off space.  The spaces we found had trees blocking the view.  As you continue north the ravine becomes more shallow and fades away.  We crossed the Continental Divide twice.  Traffic picked up as soon as we approached Old Faithful and got worse, to stopping multiple times once we passed the geyser basins.  We thought for sure there were some elk or a buffalo causing the halt, but it

The down side of Yellowstone

did not appear to be the case.  We thought we’d never get out of the park!

The good news was we made it home safely, the bad news is there were no wild animal sightings!