Bonus Park- Grand Tetons

We didn't have Grand Teton's on the original list, but once Yellowstone closed we decided to take the trip down for the day. The fastest way to get to Grand Teton from where we were staying was through Yellowstone National Park. That obviously wasn't happening, so it would take us 3 hours. We woke up at 3am Saturday so that we could beat the rush, see some animals early on, and have as much time as we could since we were driving back the same day. We drove through country roads and watched the sunrise over the mountains as we were getting into Jackson, WY. It was a beautiful drive in. We weren't really sure what to expect with this park, but we were impressed. Driving in and seeing those Teton peaks was very cool. Our first stop was Jenny Lake. We made it in early enough that we were on the very first shuttle of the day going across to the trails and scenic views. The lake was still enough that I was able to get some pretty cool reflective shots of the mountains off the water.

We hiked through the mountain trail up to inspiration point and beautiful views of Jenny Lake. We also went through an area to see Hidden Falls. Along the way we met a family from North Carolina and met a sweet couple, Sally and Elijah from Clemson. We asked if they wanted us to take their picture, and all the sudden Sally got out a sonogram photo! I was able to take their pregnancy announcement photo! 😍 Congrats again, guys!

After the boat ride back across Jenny Lake we drove around the loop to look for wildlife. We drove up to the top of Signal Mountain for amazing views where Dean spotted a herd of elk way down in the valley, The other people on the top of the mountain with us were excited to have Dean show them where they were.

We did a couple other view points to see Jackson Lake and then spent the rest of the time watching elk, antelope, and bison. We saw more wildlife than we were expecting, for sure. After we made our way around the park we started heading back up to West Yellowstone. It was a great day, and I would say the early wake up and drive was definitely worth it!