Just for the sake of documenting the trip ...
9/1
We took the flight from EWR to SLC, arriving late night.
9/2
Although we hadn't made any plan in Salt Lake City, a flight-mate mentioned the famous temple square. As close as we were, we decided to take a look. Temple Square is the headquarter of Morman religion. They are rich. All those gorgeous buildings in and out the Square belong to them. Inside the conference center, an auditorium that could host 21,000 people has a pipe organ of 7667 pipes; the Tabernacle, where the choir used to perform, was in renovation; it was said that the pipe organ in there was even bigger, made of more than 11,000 pipes. While walking around in the square, you are very likely to be greeted by cordial Morman women, which may or may not be a good thing ;-)
The drive to Grand Teton was interesting. We took a detour, going through I80 -> 40 -> U-Turn -> 32 -> 150 -> I80 -> 189. At the intersection of 150 and I80, we stopped at a small town called Evanston. Before that stop, we had wasted quite a lot of time, marveling at the "majestic views" that we were not able to enjoy in NJ. Dinner was served in a Chinese buffet at Evanston, so we didn't leave there until after 7pm. Thinking we were not too far from Grand Teton, it came as a surprise that "Jackson is about 4 hrs away" when we stopped for gas after about 1 hr's drive. As our hotel was still more than 1 hr past Jackson, it looked kind of hopeless. Fortunately, we managed to Jackson in about 3 hrs while abiding to speed limits, mostly.
Driving in total darkness was not scary, not knowing when a deer or moose or bison would jump out was nerve wrecking. When there was a car following me, I slowed down to 10 mph below speed limit, forcing him/her to get into leading position; in less than 5 minutes, it was braking hard, and I saw a deer cut through in front of it. In the very next town, that car turned off into a motel.
We stayed at Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton. That was a pretty rustic but comfortable residence. The log cabin we lived in was built in 1922, and later moved to its current location in 1955 from Jackson Lake Lodge. It could comfortably sleep 5 and was complete with electricity and bath room, plus the location was quite convenient too.
9/3
As we arrived quite late the previous night, we slept through the whole morning. Throughout the day it was pretty foggy, making the view of the mountains dull. We walked around a short trail beside Jackson Lake, snapped some pictures. Water was crystal clear, luring me to dive into it; yet it was cold, so I just wet my feet and felt content.
Hiked to hidden falls in the afternoon. That was an ok place, not much difference than, say, Delaware Water Gap. However, it seemed the trails would get more interesting beyond that fall; unfortunately we didn't have time to explore further.
There were quite a few nice turnouts along the side-road from North Jenny Lake Junction to South Jenny Lake Junction; Jenny Lake Lodge was on this side road. The scenic turnouts here gave unobstructed close view of the mountains and the lake lying below.
On the way back from Jenny Lake Lodge, we spotted a moose cow near Jackson Lake Lodge, in a large patch of wetland. Quite ugly an animal.
9/4
Nothing too interesting, hiked on the trail along Jackson Lake again. As relaxed as we were, we went back to the cabin, and wife took a nap while I played with the camera.
After lunch, we drove down to Signal Mountain Marina and kayaked for 1 hour.
Before sunset, we went to Antelop Flats Drive outside the park, where you could easily see bisons. There really were many, so many that we thought they must be farm raised bulls. Those were cute, but probably not worth the dedicated drive, as it turned out there were way too many of those almost everywhere in Yellowstone.
9/5
Left Colter Bay area by around 10:00, then drove all the way up to Yellowstone. As close as it is, the geological features are so different from those in Teton. Teton feels pretty flat, while Yellowstone is immerced in mountains. On the road, we stopped by at Lewis Falls, West Thumbs Geyser Basin, Old Faithful, and a bunch of geothermal features. When entering the park, everything seemed so idyllic, so colorful, so desolate; we stopped at almost every place to cherish what we could never enjoy in NJ. When we drove through the same places several days later, things looked quite "ordinary" that we laughed at ourselves for being so excited over such "petty stimuli".
In summary, Old Faithful is probably the most famous, but it's far from the prettiest. With a crowd around it for every erruption, the beauty of solitude is lost. There're places satuated with color, with steam, with surprise, with formation, while Old Faithful is only faithful.
9/6
Cloudy with T-Storm possible; thus the decision of swimming in Boiling River. That is the only place in the park where you could swim in geothermal water. Driving past Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs etc, we stopped here and there to take a peek. To be honest, we grew a little bit tired of all those similar-looking geothermal stuff. The Upper and Lower Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs used to be spectacular, however they have dried up in recent years and lost its charm.
Close to the north entrance, the landscape was so different that we decided to drive all the way to the entrance, and spend some time lingering around on the slopes. As we strolled around on in the midst of cactus fields, cars stopped on the road to peek at us ---- the wild animals.
Boiling River boasts over 200 visitors daily, though we were quite lucky to strike a light-traffic day. The scenic trail from the parking lot to the bathing area was about half a mile long, and was a very enjoyable walk. As we submerged ourselves in hot water, suddenly a pack of elks emerged from nowhere, stepping into the creek downstream. The setting sun cast an even golden glow on the slopes, the elks, and the creek; sitting in heart-thumping natural hot tub, life couldn't get better. When we were leaving, the elks were still lingering along the trail, sort of blocking our way out. The lead male was such a magnificent animal with a set of 12 point antler. As I got closer to him, I could feel his smell, his strut, and his nervousness from his responsibility of the whole family. With 12 sharp points on his head, I had no plan to even slightly tease him. Finally the family left.
Yellowstone is really the heaven of wild animals; and there're so many of them, which makes driving in the dark quite dangerous. Neverthless, we rarely got back to hotel before the sky was soaked in darkness. By doing that, we were blessed to see quite some interesting stuff in the coming days ...
9/7
Today Mr He was supposed to join us. In previous day's phone call, everything was confirmed as scheduled.
Before heading to the airport, we drove through Firehole Canyon Drive, walked around Midway Geyser Basin, and hiked to Fairy Falls.
Firehole Canyon Drive used to be part of the main loop road; nowadays it is just a 2 mile detour along which there are several falls and cascades. It is also where one of the two places in the park where swimming is allowed, though this spot is icy cold, unlike in Boiling River. When we arrived, a Russian man was swimming, and his comment of the temperature was "it's ok, you'll survive". Yet I wasn't so sure.
Midway Geyser Basin hosts the grand Grand Prismatic Spring. Of course without elevation, you could only get half the picture. However, once you are on top of the nearby hill, that is what you would see. The hill is accessible from the Fairy Falls trail, but don't expect a trail to the hilltop ---- there is none. As there were 2 hills there, and I climbed both, this experience contributed a lot to Mr He's 2-hr wait at the airport.
Fairy Falls trail was fairly boring, except this herd of bison and this pair of shoes.
We were 2 hrs late for picking up Mr He, and he waited 2 hrs on the bench at Jackson Hole Airport.
On the way back, I got this cutie.
After finishing dinner at Signal Mountain Lodge, it was already 9 o'clock. The drive back to the hotel took us 2 hrs, along which we saw 1 car accident, 1 elk crossing the road in front of us, 1 bison walking along the road, and 1 bison walking right in front of us. Didn't I know night driving was fun?
9/8
Overcast. We went to Artist's Point, and the color was just right. It was quite crowded at the Point. However, when we hiked along the trail to Point Sublime, the view was spectacular and the crowd was all gone.
Bear encounters were the topic of this day, as there were 3; one grizzly, one black, and a black female named Rosey with 2 cubs.
We also tried to find a wolf pack in Larma Valley, but no luck; though the prey was there.
When driving back, a totally smashed SUV blocked the road between Madison Junction and West Entrance. The SUV hit a bison, quite likely at pretty high speed. To show our sympathy, no pictures were taken.
9/9
Upon Mr He's request, we went to Mammoth Hot Springs for the Terraces again; though not early in the morning, as he longed for, when temperature was low and overhanging steam was supposed to be thicker. This trip was not in vain, as we finally discovered some nice spots and live hot springs.
After learning that Mr He didn't bring his swim trunks with him, we decided to show him Boiling River. Obviously he regretted, complained, and voyeured ...
On the way back, there was a "yesterday-she-was-with-a-baby" moose cow, along with her baby. Also wife got scared by a sneezing bison. Some of the animals were really permanent residents, as we saw Rosey and her two cubs at the very same spot, chewing pine cones again.
9/10
Grand Finale.
Despite tight schedule, we had a delicious breakfast, visited Midway Geyser Basin again, and arrived at Jackson Hole Airport just 40 min before Mr He's flight was to take off. With that experience, we drove non-stop to the capital of Morman; well, almost non-stop.
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