We woke to a bright morning and enjoyed a big breakfast of pancakes before starting out on an driving tour of the Grand Teton Range. The weather prediction called for rain, so we decided to postpone more hiking in Yellowstone until Saturday, when the weather would be clear. As it turned out, it did rain, but not on us. We saw it passing over the Teton range (they call them the Cathedrals – and they named them correctly), and we got a sprinkling, but the weather out here moves and changes fast.
We endured a 30 minute delay through another gauntlet of road work on the road south from our campsite, and then stopped first at Colter Bay. The Teton range, even on this hazy day, took our breath away. A film at the Colter Bay visitor center explained the geological fireworks responsible for heaving the mountain range 13,000 feet above sea level and far above the sinking valley floor, where the Snake River winds its way slowly through the plain. The mountain range, Jackson Lake (named after a famous fur trapper), and the endless plain at the foot of the mountains drew our attention from many vantage points throughout the day.
We spent a lot of time at Colter Bay, where we bought a slew of souvenirs (including a Stetson for me!), saw an orientation film, and toured the fascinating Indian Arts Museum. The highlight of the latter exhibit was watching a woman weave a cloth on a loom. We watched entranced for nearly half an hour as her weathered hands worked their magic, asked a few questions, and imagined what it would have been like growing up in her tribe, watching and learning as she weaved, and listening to the stories she would have told us while she worked.
After a picnic lunch at one of the many roadside views, we drove up to the top of Signal Mountain for a 360 degree view of the Teton range and the valley below. Joy and Eli were getting a little tired of the picture and viewing fest, so the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful – though we did see a herd of bison and pronghorn deer en route back home. The road work wasn’t difficult to navigate, though the van got a new coat of dirt and grime (we followed a truck spraying water on a dirt road for 10 miles), and we got back for supper around 6 pm.
Tomorrow, we plan an ambitious day of touring over 200 miles in Yellowstone, including a swim at mammoth Hot Springs, 100 miles to the north. This has been a different kind of day on the road – beautiful, but not very interactive. We are surrounded on all sides by beauty that defies our ability to describe.
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