Our Trip West 2016

[Bartman44]

For our 30th wedding anniversary, the wife and I decided on the Jackson Hole area in Wyoming.   We spent about a week in and around Grand Teton, spent some time exploring Yellowstone and also spent a few days in Idaho. We hiked, dined, relaxed, did a ton of wildlife viewing and I got a smattering of fishing in on some  famous waterways. Weather is fairly consistent in this area but not during the time we were there.  Temps ranged from low 30s to 40s  in the AM and from high 50s to 80 during the PM. Evidence of wildfires, past and present, were everywhere.  September is a great time to go if you don’t’ mind a little bite in the air when you get up.  Although there were plenty of people about, most were retirees or young couples so we had no trouble getting a table at any of the restaurants in the area. 

Scenery– Spectacular.  Because of the daily weather changes, the mountains gave us a different look every day. We even got a little snow in the mountains and hills.  We never got tired of  looking.  In Yellowstone, the geo-thermic landscape  was most interesting. While the major attractions were cool, I liked the random puffs of steam all about that were close to the rivers. Nothing like standing on a volcano.

























Wildlife–Abundant. While Yellowstone gets the big billing for wildlife, Teton is no slouch.  The critters were just about everywhere we went in Jackson Hole.  Deer, elk, moose, bear, bobcat, raptors, porcupine, pronghorns and of course the bison that went pretty much wherever they wanted. Bears came off a ridge each day to eat berries by the road.  One night I went out to my car to get some fishing stuff and I turned the corner and was face to face with a moose so I slowly backed around and backed into the house. We watched from our bedroom and a few minutes later the moose bedded down and decided to spend the night with us.  We also found a quiet spot at dusk and listened to all the elk having their nightly bugling contest. It was a full moon week so we could see their shadows, nothing like it.





















Fishing – Very good.  Because of my limited opportunities, I stuck with some well know pull offs on the Snake River.  Cutthroat trout have been on my bucket list and they didn’t disappoint. The Snake is a big, powerful river, even in the fall and the key was finding river bends or eddies out of the main current. In those areas, fish were abundant, in others areas, nothing. I fully expected to be throwing large hopper flies but that was not the case – small flies dominated. I caught a Trico spinner fall and had 100 fish (no joke) sipping right in front of me. I also had the privilege of spending a little time on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake in Idaho. Classic spring creek type fishing with lots of bugs and fish. On a tip from a local at a bar the night before, I found a long dirt road  that came out at the  river bend and with a quick look with the binoculars, found dozens of rainbows rising to small mayflies. They cooperated as well.

















We had a great time, and I love the Wild West!!!!

[hunts2long]

WOW! A trip of a lifetime. Glad you had a good, make that GREAT time and Thanks for sharing your pictures. You have some VERY good shots there....h2l

[hunts2long]

I forgot to add..Happy 30th....h2l

[westernmas]

Wow that is amazing. Congrats on a great trip.

[fishshack]

Awesome!!!  Thx for sharing

[rgfixit]

Drive in liquor........just like North Carolina......except.......a bit different.


Great looking trip.

 

[Deadeyez]

Awesome pics!

[gotabig1]

Wow!! What a cool trip!! Great job on the pictures too. Congratulations on the 30

[filetandrelease]

Those pics are outstanding , thanks for sharing

[wallyworld]

Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Raquettedacker]

Congratulations on 30 years Bart...
That looks like a great trip from those incredible pictures....

[RIVERRAT2]

Congratulations on 30 years Bart...
That looks like a great trip from those incredible pictures....

2X that also some nice trout
 
RAT

[trapper2000]

very nice indeed and congrats

[lowaccord66]

Love the photography!

[TT]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. The wife and I were there 5 years ago in June and we woke up to snow and sleet one morning.