Jenny Lake is a smaller, glacial lake, south of the much larger Jackson Lake. It can be accessed by the Teton Park Road that runs near the base of the Teton Range.
This hike included taking the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake, hiking south and west to Hidden Falls, the back north along the western shore of Jenny Lake.
Huge amounts of snow melt caused these little creeks to become raging and swollen.
Hiking on this side of Jenny Lake brings you right to the base of the Teton mountain range.
Wildflowers mixed in with leftover snow banks at the end of May.
Hidden Falls just barely visible behind thick trees.
Hiking up a steep rocky trail to great views all around.
The crystal clear water of the snow melt runs down this tiny creek in to the lake.
The marmots are shy but still friendly!
A little creek running straight out of a steep, rocky valley of the Tetons.
A much larger creek looks like prime fly fishing territory.
Now that the road to Two Ocean Lake is open for the season, I drove up to check out the fishing. It was freezing cold and windy, but it looked like some fish were eating off the surface when the wind calmed down. I’ll definitely be going back when it’s warmer!
I’ve now been living and working in Grand Teton National Park for a full month, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences so far. After this post, I’d like to post something every few days. Now that the weather is warming up, and the rivers are clearing up, I’ll be able to get out and do a lot more! Sometimes, however, words just aren’t enough, so make sure you’re following Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook to see all my best photos.
The drive to get here from North Carolina took three full days, and was pretty uneventful. It was cool to see other parts of the country, but it just didn’t compare to arriving in Yellowstone National Park. The views are like nothing else and almost immediately upon getting over the first mountain pass, I got to see my first grizzly bear, bison, and thermal features all in the same spot.
Yellowstone Day 1 – May 13
River just outside of Yellowstone east entrance
I saw these between Cody, Wyoming and the entrance to Yellowstone. I’m thinking they may be female bighorn sheep, but they may just be mountain goats.
Mountain goats or Bighorn Sheep?
Back in May, everything was still covered in feet of snow. This was one of my first sights inside the park.
Inside Yellowstone National Park
Driving through Yellowstone was something else, because the snow was piled up higher than the car in most spots around the mountains.
Driving over the mountain pass
This huge grizzly was eating on something between the road and part of the lake. On the other side of the road was a bison munching grass on the hillside.
Grizzly in YellowstoneGrizzly in Yellowstone with frozen lake in the background
Before driving down to Grand Teton National Park, where I’m living now, I camped one night in Yellowstone. I didn’t even scrape the surface of seeing the entire park, but I was able to see quite a lot before and after the night of camping in Madison campground.
The smell of sulfur gases from this boiling mud pit below was nearly overwhelming.
The two photos below are the view of the lower falls of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point. This is an excellent spot to get a perspective of the size of the entire Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The walls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are covered in these bright yellowish rocks, called Rhyolite, a type of volcanic rock.
This is looking up close at a little stream that carries water from thermal feature down to the river. The colors come from bacteria that is able to grow in these extreme conditions. Different colors represent different temperatures, with blues being the hottest. This particular one was probably between 125-150 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also extremely acidic, and you definitely shouldn’t be touching it. Many tourists get serious injured because of their curiosity.
This “waterfall” of boiling water is coming out of Excelsior Geyser crater and in to the Firehole River. This once active geyser still expels 4,000-4,500 gallons of 199 degree water every minute.
This is the huge crater left by the last violent eruption of Excelsior Geyser.
Here, the still snow covered mountains reflect in the many colors of the edge of Grand Prismatic Spring.
An up close view of the outside of the hot spring called Grand Prismatic Spring.
Here’s another look at the outflow from Excelsior Geyser Crater with a dramatic sunset.
The steam, the smells, the colors, and the sounds all add together to create an out of this world experience in each of the many geyser basin areas.
This small, but very active feature is Shell Spring, which would boil up every few minutes, then all the water would sink back down in to the unknown before rising up once again.
A single geyser steaming up with a great sunset.
Last photo of the day, showing a large field of geysers all steaming up in to the cold air.
Yellowstone Day 2 -May 14
After waking up VERY early to the freezing cold, howling wolves, and elk grazing outside my tent, I went out to the see the park in a way most people will never see it, completely alone. For hours, I never saw more than one or two other visitors, even in the most popular areas.
These two bison were munching some grass with a steaming thermal feature behind them. They seek refuge from the cold in these warmer areas.
Only the Gibbon River separated me from this frost covered bison. These animals are very large, and much more dangerous than most people assume.
The early morning cold makes the steam from the hot springs much thicker and travel much farther, creating an awesome landscape. During the summer, the warm temperatures don’t allow for as much steam because the temperature is closer to that of the hot features.
Another photographer exploring the area by himself. It’s scary to walk through that steam, not being able to see what’s beyond, and the screaming geysers beside you throwing up boiling water.
A far off view of Excelsior Geyser Crater shows just how big it really is.
This deep blue pool seemed to go on forever.
Up close and personal with another bison. (No, I wasn’t too close)
After exploring Yellowstone, I drove south to Grand Teton National Park to get settled in my dorm and get orientated with the area and the lodge that I’m working at. I’ll have a separate blog post with some pictures from this park.
