We headed out from West Yellowstone, Montana once the sun rose to drive to Jackson, Wyoming via Idaho due to the roads in Yellowstone being closed a day earlier than scheduled. We made good time and were able to visit Grand Teton National Park after getting lunch in downtown Jackson.
Teton Pass
The quickest way to get into Jackson from the west is via Teton Pass. This mountain pass features steep 10% grades and beautiful scenery, particularly after it has snowed!
Grand Teton National Park
While we saw snow up in the mountains, the ground was clear at road elevation. We did see a few flakes of snow falling though.
Our first intended stop was Schwabacher Landing. Unfortunately, the road down was closed. It is too bad as this location right next to the Snake River offers incredible views of the Tetons!
Most of the road inside of Grand Teton National Park is closed for winter. We ended up visiting the viewpoints along US 26/89/191 (all three share the same physical road here), the highway that runs parallel to the park road.
We went as far as the boat ramp by the Signal Mountain Lodge. The water level on Jackson Lake was incredibly low. The end of the concrete boat ramp just touched the water’s surface!
We took quite a few telephoto images of the Tetons!
We stopped at the Elk Ranch Flats Turnout as we saw some horses with the Tetons in the background.
We were surprised to come across this creature – a badger! It walked quickly towards the road and ran across it through a culvert.
Another surprise – a coyote was in the field by the horses! The horses were aware of the coyote but didn’t seem to care at all.
After walking to the south a bit, the coyote turned and started moving towards the road, getting closer to us while doing so.
It then proceeded to cross the road. It was still in the field beyond when we left.
We spotted this raven perched atop a pole at the Snake River Overlook.
We’ve encountered ravens at both Yellowstone and Grand Teton on this trip. They all seemed to be very comfortable with humans and appear to have learned that we are a source of food. They watch for people entering cars and will fly over and land next to the driver’s window! They do not seem to go to cars that are empty.