Bob's Rocky Mountain Blog

Life from God's Country

The National Museum of Military Vehicles Trip: Day Two/Part Two

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After leaving the National Museum of Military Vehicles I drove back through Dubois before heading up the Dubois Gateway Scenic Byway to Moran Junction, the eastern entrance to Grand Teton National Park. In Laurent Parent’s Scenic Driving WYOMING this is Scenic Drive #6: Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (North): Moran Junction to Dubois.

It’s about an hour from Dubois to Moran Junction, the eastern entrance to Grand Teton National Park. From Moran, heading south by way of US Highway 191/US 287/US 89 it is a little over thirty miles to Jackson, Wyoming. In my opinion the Teton Mountains are the most spectacular place anywhere on the face of the earth. If you follow the same highway north, however, you will be in Yellowstone National Park in a little over thirty minutes and sitting at Old Faithful Geyser in around an hour and a half. Old Faithful is probably the most iconic spot in Yellowstone, the first national park, although I like the view of the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone much better.

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Dubois, home of the National Museum of Military Vehicles

Day Two/Part Two: Onward to the Tetons!

The journey home, from Dubois, would see me visit my favorite place, the Grand Tetons and then Yellowstone National Park before retreating to my home in Billings, Montana. Along the way, I saw some new territory as well as many old friends. The view was marred, however, by the smokey haze brought forward on prevailing winds from California.

I entered the Shoshoni National Forest, about ten to fifteen miles from Dubois. The scenery started to get nicer the further I went into the National Forest.

Just inside Shoshoni National Forest, Wyoming.

Down in the valleys, the smoky haze wasn’t so bad, but as you can see it is getting worse in the distance.

You can really tell the difference when I zoomed in. I wanted to show how some of the aspen had already started to turn. But as you can see, it is quite hazy. This is the gift that keeps on giving. Years of poor management by government officials along the west coast created a breeding ground for massive wild fires this summer.

The drive from Dubois, along US 26/US 287, to Moran Junction, the eastern entrance into Grand Teton National Park, would take the average driver approximately one hour to drive the fifty-five miles. It took me a little longer, however, as I stopped from time to time to take photographs. It was my first time over this stretch of highway. Laurent Parent, in his book Scenic Driving WYOMING, calls it the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (North). Driving through the Absaroka Mountain Range, I crossed over the continental divide at the Togwotee Pass, elevation 9,655 feet, about halfway through my drive.

Pinnacle Buttes along the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (North) about halfway between Dubois and the Grand Tetons. I was crossing the continental divide over Togwotee Pass.

As the primary purpose of this trip was to see the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, I did not linger overly-long in the Tetons or Yellowstone National Parks. After leaving Dubois in mid-afternoon on the 15th of September, there was time for a few hours of sight-seeing in Grand Teton National Park before nightfall. Now, I love the Tetons. I get goosebumps every time I visit this iconic part of western Wyoming. Just thinking about it, raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Since the first time, I visited this place in 1997, I never tire of the views of those titanic mountains. This time, however, the views were not so good. The many forest fires that have raged in California, and in fact the entire west coast, put a damper on my sojourn. Coastal winds, coming in off the Pacific Ocean, have been blowing across the west since early summer. There were many days back home in Billings, Montana, when everything would be covered by the smoky haze.

The Grand Tetons

That’s Grand Teton Peak, in the center. At 13,776 feet, it is the tallest mountain in the Tetons and second only to the Wind River Range’s Gannett Peak (13,809) in Wyoming. Grand Teton, along with Mount Owen, 12,928 feet, and Teewinot, 12,325 feet, are referred to as the Cathedral Group. As you can see, it is very hazy, due to the smoke.

I took some pictures while in Grand Teton National Park, but not as many as I normally would. I was somewhat bummed out by the smoke. There just weren’t many good photo ops during my short stay.

Again, the smoke in the distance was problematic. Though the in-close views, in the valleys, were pretty nice.

The Sign says it all. The National Museum of Wildlife Art was a few miles to the north of Jackson, Wyoming, just before entering Grand Teton National Park. It was closed, but I was able to snap a few photos of some very impressive sculptures outside the building.

Bart Walter’s Wapiti Trail was just one of many magnificent bronze sculptures.

Notice the detail on these two bison.

A full grown moose. Those are the Gros Ventre Mountains behind it. They are to the east of the Tetons.

Entering Grand Teton National Park.

There were a lot more visitors to these great national parks than I thought there would be after Labor Day, but then I remembered the 2020 pandemic had pushed everything back. There is only one two-lane highway going into the city of Jackson, and I did not want to fight the traffic jam around the town square, so I stopped at the Dairy Queen and made my way to the drive-through window to purchase my night’s nourishment. After finishing supper, I drove back into the park and spent the twilight hours looking for good vantage points from which to take photographs. As I stated before, there were no great photos due to the smoky haze in the air, but I still managed a few shots. 

It’s almost sunset. During the summer, sunset doesn’t come until well after 9 PM. During the middle of September, however, the days are much shorter. This was somewhere around 7 to 7:30 PM.

Another shot of the Cathedral Group, this time from the east side of the highway. This was the first time that I ever took photos from this location.

Not bad, but as I said before, the smoky haze kind of took the fun out of this journey to the Tetons.

My favorite spot in the park, the Snake River Overlook. The sun is well down behind the mountains.
Another view from the Snake River Overlook.

Since I wanted to be at the Oxbow Bend area of Grand Teton National Park at first light, I spent the night in one of the many pullouts inside the park and waited for the sun to start its rise in the eastern sky. When I pulled into the parking area of that iconic spot in this park, there were only two automobiles waiting for the sun to come up. In the next hour, however, that parking lot started to fill up, and before I left, there were vehicles lining the side of the road for hundreds of feet. Unfortunately, the smoky haze was still there, and opportunities for good photos of this great view of Mt. Moran across the river just weren’t there. I took several photos, but nothing really stood out.

I was hoping that the smoke would not be as bad at first light. Unfortunately, that was not the case, so I did not linger at the Oxbow Bend!

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