Away to the Tetons

All good things must come to an end.  On another snowy morning we packed up early for the long drive from Old Faithful to Salt Lake City via the Grand Tetons.  The early start gave us enough time to have a look at a few more of the wonders of Yellowstone on our way to the south park gate.

The Grand Tetons lie just south of Yellowstone.  Although physically not far away, the high peaks of the range provide a complete contrast to Yellowstone.  There was also a marked change in the weather with vivid blue sky replacing the mainly grey days we experienced in Yellowstone.  The yellow and red colours we had been seeing in the pools, creeks and springs in Yellowstone we could now see in some of the trees, bushes and grasses in the Tetons.  the effect was different but no less spectacular.

At every scenic overlook the roadside was crowded with tourists snapping selfies or (like us) searching for that perfect view and photo.  You didn't have to try hard to find it.  Although nominally late in the tourist season, fall is peak time for photographers in the Tetons.  One surprise was the large number of tourists from South East Asia, in some places even outnumbering residential tourists.

After spending the morning making short stops at every possible vantage point, we drove straight through the well known ski town of Jackson Hole.  We had received advice that, except for the scenery, this was a bit of a tourist "hole" and indeed it looked this way.  Time to put the pedal down and take an afternoon road trip through the south western corner of Wyoming before heading into Utah.  Around the Utah border we ran into some more fall foliage and rocky hills.

Eventually we rolled into Salt Lake City after dinner having negotiated a frustrating traffic jam on the highway on the outskirts of town.  What a long day!