I was really surprised at how quickly we saw wildlife when we arrived at Grand Teton National Park this last September. We ran into this deer eating the leaves of bushes by the side of the road on our very first drive in the park. He kept an eye on me as I tried to get a few photos that weren't blocked by tree branches or leaves, but he never backed away from me.
Of course, you can tell he's a "he" by his antlers. Notice how they look red. That's because they're covered in drying blood, but there was no gruesome murder. Rather, as you can see in the photo below, the "felt" that covers the antlers when they first grow is peeling off. The felt is the gross stuff hanging down between his ear and his eye. It's like a skin that has peeled back off of the new grown antlers and is hanging by a thread, soon to fall off.
It was only when I saw so many of these deer on this trip that I finally looked up the difference between antlers and horns. Horns are more solid bone that grows a little each year, whereas antlers are made of a honeycomb of bone. Antlers are shed each year, only to grow back the next year.
Caught him mid-chew in this photo. Pretty funny. You can see the bright blood on the antlers, and the peeling "felt", in this one too.
Cascade Canyon, which extends behind the area of Hidden Falls away from Jenny Lake along the bottom of a valley, was our first hike. Even though it's a valley, it's around 7500' and there's over a thousand feet of elevation gain on the hike. This photo was taken early in the morning, like around 7AM. We had to get to the parking lots early for our hikes, as the park was pretty busy.
The very early part of our hike up Cascade Canyon passed these falls, called Hidden Falls. There weren't too many people there at that time of day. By the time we were on our way back from the top of Cascade Canyon, this place was a mob scene, with crowds of people gathered all around, including some who had climbed up the lower part of the falls seen here.
Part way up the valley, a woman coming down the trail from the head of the valley told us there was a bull moose near the trail up ahead. We'd already seen one, but he'd been walking away from us, so we only saw his butt as he went into the bushes. We were a little worried and excited to see what we would encounter ahead.
As we hiked further up the trail, we saw two people stopped and staring at something we couldn't see. It turned out to be this guy. All of us knew we were way closer than we were supposed to be, but he had decided to camp out only fifteen feet from the hiking trail. We finally decided to walk past him quietly, while pausing for a couple of photos along the way. We were relieved he didn't seem too interested in us. We couldn't have outrun him if he decided he was annoyed with us.
On the way back down from the head of the valley. we came upon this young doe crossing the trail.
Here is a typical view looking up Cascade Canyon - soaring rocky mountains on all sides, with a beautiful stream along the valley floor, fed by occasional long, thin waterfalls snaking down the canyon sides.
And then we ran into a group of people murmuring about a bear just ahead on the trail. We couldn't see him at first, then we saw him leaving. The only photos I could get were of his butt as he ambled away.
This is a panoramic view of Jenny Lake, with all of the main peaks in the background.
The next day, we got up around 6:15 to do the hike to Amphitheater Lake. The hike is quite demanding, at around 10 miles round trip, with a steady climb the entire time, ending up with a 3000' altitude gain. There were other hikers around for the first hour or so of this hike, but most others turned onto a side trail to a lower lake, leaving us with more peace and quiet.
In between two switchbacks of the trail, we saw this guy eating some of his favorite leaves. We passed below him just before a switchback, and then passed just above him shortly after the switchback. The felt is clearly visible on his antlers.
The great thing about the Amphitheater Lake hike is that you get an extra lake thrown in with the deal, named Surprise Lake. Shortly before arriving at Amphitheater Lake, you come to this lake, which is fed by a small outlet stream of the lake just above. We had this lake to ourselves most of the twenty or so minutes we spent there. Two other couples came by, but didn't stay long. We walked all the way to the low point you see in the photo - on the far side of the lake, and looked over the edge there, where this lake drains into a steep valley with cliffs on one side.
Finally, after constant climbing for over two hours, we reached our destination. This photo was taken by Jennifer. I know because I'm visible in the lower right side, fiddling with my camera while sitting on a boulder. This was an amazing view and we had it all to ourselves for a short time before a few others came through. It was never even a little crowded though. We sat on that boulder you see me on while we ate our lunch, watching the wind create ripples in the lake, and seeing mountain peaks all around. That was a high point, physically and metaphorically. I'll never forget it.
Below is a closeup of the mountain in the top center of the panorama above. That looks pretty tough to climb.
Later that day, we took a drive and found this view of the Grand Tetons from the north looking south. This was a surreal landscape, as there is normally a lake here, but it had receded by miles due to the severe multi-year drought the region has been suffering from. The haze in the air comes from all the wildfires in Oregon, California, and other states. Several people told us we were lucky, as the smoke has been so thick that there was no view of the mountains at all for days on end just before we arrived.
The last day in the park, we drove over to Schwabacher Landing, which is a good place to see the mountains reflected in a small part of Snake River. This is pretty far off the beaten track, so there weren't too many people there. At first, there was really nothing to see but three real-life beaver dams blocking up the fifty foot-wide river. We took a walk along the river to check out these beaver dams, and then turned around to go back to the car. Just as I turned around, I saw a huge bull moose come walking out of the woods only fifteen feet in front of me.
I was shocked, and I think he may have been surprised as well. He looked at me, but then continued down to the water, which was right there, as we'd been walking along the water's edge. In the photo above, you can see one of the beaver dams in the background. Those beavers are strong! Look at the size of the logs they dragged onto the dam.
Jennifer and I backed up and watched as he drank from the stream. We couldn't get back to our car without passing right behind him, so we stayed and watched. He stopped drinking and looked up at us every once in a while. It was clear he knew we were there. I was really nervous, since we had nowhere to run, as the water was only a foot deep and there was nothing but flat land with tall grasses behind us.
As if one weren't enough of a shock, about two minutes later, another bull moose emerged from the same spot in the woods and joined the first in drinking from the river. This was an amazing situation, as this was one of the few times we were the only people around while in the presence of huge wild animals. It was thrilling.
After they were both done drinking, the slightly smaller one faced off in front of the first one, then they lowered their horns and started pushing against each other for several minutes. They didn't make any noises, and the movements were always slow and careful, not fast or aggressive. I still don't understand what they were thinking while doing all of this.
Here's a short video of their contest.
