Yellowstone Day 4

After just a day at Old Faithful, we moved to Colter Bay in Grand Teton. Just past Kepler Falls on the way south, we came across a moose just off the road. We were excited because there are only about 130 moose left in Yellowstone. We watched her for a while and then drove down to West Thumb. We don’t love this area, but we hadn’t walked through in long enough that the boys couldn’t remember it. We also decided to hike Duck Lake since we were there at the trailhead. This is an old favorite, and it is short. Finally, we drove south through the thick timber to the Grand Tetons, Dad reading LOTR all the way.

The moose was a good sighting.

We also saw some sandhill cranes and their babies.

We love the blues at West Thumb.

Duck Lake

It was still too early to check into the hotel, so we made lunch in the parking lot of the Visitor Center. Then we decided to try a hike out to Emma Matilda Lake. This hike was really nice, but as we approached the lake, the mosquitos seemed to get thicker. We were slapping and swatting and final Seth let out a yell and turned around and stalked up the path. Mom gave him the van keys, and the rest of us trudged on. Eventually, though, we were all turned back by the swarming cloud. It was the worst!

We got in the car and continued out the road. There were a lot of pretty flowers, and we finally spotted a grizzly bear. He was running through the sagebrush, moving fast. It was pretty exciting.

The flowers were pretty on this trail despite the bugs.

Mom spotted these two butterflies.

The grizzly bear is running through the field. Hard to catch a pic.

We got checked into the cabin, which we are sharing with the Webbs, and then cooked up dinner down by the lake. Mom made pasta on the stove, and though the rain threatened, it held off and we enjoyed a nice meal. 

The boys played pinecone baseball while Mom cooked.

After dinner we decided to do the Heron Pond/Swan Lake hike. It always has good wildlife, and sure enough, we spotted a beaver and a muskrat. There were other things, too, including deer, elk, and pelicans.

Hiking with the Webbs.

Seth and Charlie climbed around everywhere.

The beaver was hauling plants back to his hutch.

We love the Tetons.

It is one of our favorite trails.

Swan Lake 

Every evening that we are in the Tetons ends at Oxbow Bend. We always see a lot of animals. We started with an eagle on the dirt road. There were also baby geese. Then we saw a beaver across on the other shore. Around on the other side, we watched a muskrat and a mother beaver who was obviously nursing pups. Nesting high above in the pine trees, we even saw a pair of herons, with their two babies poking their heads up for food. It was really beautiful, and we went to bed happy.

We always stop at Oxbow bend.

We watched this beaver for awhile.

It even climbed out of the water. 

And sat on the shore for a while.

Cutest goslings.

This is the beaver we thought was clearly a mother.

There were lots of pelicans.

It was a beautiful sunset!

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