2019: STARTING OVER AGAIN! The Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks Part 1

Part One:

When we first arrived in Montana, in October of 2018, my first, and most over-powering emotion, was to visit Glacier National Park before winter weather shut it down for the year. Through the Weather Channel, my brother had kept track with how the early snowstorms had affected the main road through the park, the famous Going-to-the-Sun Highway. A heavy snowfall in early October had shut down the eastern portion of the thoroughfare for most of its length. Going to the Wild Goose Island overlook, by automobile, was out of the question. By the time we arrived at the park, however, on October 24, the pavement had been cleared to well beyond that point, and as a result, I was able to visit the place that I refer to as “the Holy Grail” of Glacier National Park. It is probably the most photographed place in the park and my favorite. From the vantage point, just off the road, you can view a small island, in the middle of St. Mary’s Lake, framed by mountains on all sides. This is Wild Goose Island and rises a mere 14 feet above sea level so I would not want to be caught on the island in bad weather. I took a few pictures, but late in the day, and in October that means about 4 PM, is not the best time due to the setting sun. After that, winter set in, and I knew it would be many months before I would be going that far north again.

The same thing could be said for the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. During the long, cold, snowy winter months we stayed in our cozy Billings apartment. While the thermometer reached temperatures as low as 19 degrees below zero, I made plans for the following summer. The Grand Tetons are my favorite place in the entire world. They are in the upper northwest corner of Wyoming, about an hour south of Yellowstone National Park. Strangely enough, however, my first trip of the new year, 2019, would be to Glacier National Park. In Glacier, they like to have the Going-to-the-Sun Highway open by Memorial Day, which is now celebrated on the last Monday of May. Yet, as is often the case, they were still plowing the road in the higher, Logan Pass area, so I was unable to traverse the entire park. But my favorite place, the Wild Goose Island overlook was open, and I was able to get some great photos from there, starting at first light. The journey to Glacier, was in the middle of June, a couple weeks later, I was ready to travel to, for me, my promised land, the Grand Tetons.

On Thursday, June 27, 2019 I set forth to visit the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I was going by myself, as my brother was working on his writing, so I left shortly after sunrise and began my journey. The plan was basically to do a long loop and come home on the fourth day. I left my home in Billings, Montana and traveled west on I-90 until I reached Bozeman, a picturesque city of about 50,000, the fourth largest metropolitan in Montana. It is about a two- and one-half-hour drive. I then traveled south on U. S. Highway 191. This artery traverses the Gallatin Valley, and, is a beautiful scenic drive. In fact, in S. A. Snyder’s Scenic Driving Montana it is the Scenic drive #10: Gallatin Canyon: U.S. Highway 191. Just shy of West Yellowstone, the road merges with U.S. Highway 287 before the now combined, highway U.S. 191/287, made its way, to the western gateway of Yellowstone National Park. Although I did enter the park and travel a short distance, only because I knew I would not be going that way again, my destiny for that Thursday lay further south. And so, without too much delay, I continued my drive, this time on U.S. Highway 20 which took me across the border and into Idaho. Although this day’s journey would end in the small city of Rexburg, Idaho, my path was destined to take me to the brink of the Upper Mesa Falls of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. Turning left, off U.S. 20, onto the aptly named Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, otherwise known as Idaho State Highway 47, one takes a very leisurely drive through some forested hills. This little-known place off the beaten path makes for a very nice diversion from the main route that  links West Yellowstone with the Teton Valley, which is the back side of the Teton Mountains. This is the northern portion of what Bob Clark’s Scenic Driving Idaho calls Scenic drive #3: Palisades Reservoir to Henrys Lake. This drive actually starts, in the book, at the small town of Alpine, Wyoming, which is 37 miles southwest of Jackson, Wyoming. The drive ends 170 miles later at West Yellowstone. Along the way you see great views of Palisades Reservoir, the backside of the Grand Tetons, and the two waterfalls known as the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls.

I did not go to the lower falls, partially because I was hoping to reach Rexburg with time to spare after supper, so that I could get some good views of the Tetons from the Idaho side. And I had read that the Upper Falls were more spectacular. The book I read was correct. Although these falls do not match the Niagara Falls for sheer water volume (over 6 million cubic feet of water per minute), nor do they come close to the absolute spender of the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone which drops 308 feet in the blink of an eye, the view of this 114-foot high waterfall in the extreme eastern part of Idaho, was still very beautiful and breath-taking. By walking down, a series of steps, you can go to the very edge of the falls and look straight down. It is not for the squeamish or the faint-of-heart. I have a fear of heights, and since I cannot swim, I am, also, scared of the water. And yet, I loved it. There are several vantage points from which to take photographs of the falls and there are safety rails to keep one from falling over. Still, my stomach got a little queasy as I stood at the brink and looked down. But that didn’t stop me from taking my pictures. Forty-four miles later found me at the Motel 6 in Rexburg, Idaho.

After a quick supper at Wendy’s, I traveled east on Idaho State Highway 33, until I reached the town of Driggs. From there, it is just a short hop, skip and jump to the Grand Targhee Ski Resort just past the tiny town of Alta, Wyoming. Well, actually it is an 8-mile drive up a steep and winding road. I never did find the way to the Dreamcatcher Lift, or for that matter any lift that goes to the top of the ski runs, but from looking at a map of the resort, I would imagine there would be some spectacular views of the Grand Tetons. It was just as well, since the sun was rapidly going down, and I did not want to be caught on that road after nightfall. The drive, however, was well worth it, especially the sunset. I got a few very nice photos on my way down.