We drove up to Jackson Hole for the last weekend before they close the park road. The weather did not disappoint. Daytime temperatures were in the high 50s and not a single cloud ventured over northwest Wyoming all weekend. Most of the trees had already lost their leaves, but the blanket of white covering the peaks provided a nice contrast to the still-dry valley floor.
The weather in the Tetons this weekend could not have been more perfect (and the valley could not have been more green).
Instead of camping, we stayed at Spring Creek Ranch, which sits atop the East Gros Ventre Butte near Jackson, Wyoming. The views of the Tetons from the property are amazing. Aside from spending the night, the easiest way to enjoy its views is to grab a drink at The Granary Restaurant’s lounge.
We didn’t plan a particularly action-packed weekend, for once. On Saturday, we explored the Spring Creek Ranch area and drove into town for dinner at the Gun Barrel Steak House (also highly recommended). On Sunday, we did a short hike to Cascade Canyon from Jenny Lake to get some exercise before heading back home.
A simple, uncomplicated and relaxing trip—perfect.
Despite a cold forecast for Friday night (temps were to drop down to the 20s overnight), Mindy and I went ahead with our plan to go camping in the Tetons for the weekend. We were prepared for the cold night on Friday. We were not prepared for the entire weekend to be rainy/snowy/cold, however, because the forecast called for mostly sunny weather and temperatures in the 60s for Saturday and Sunday. Instead, the weather was blustery cold in the 40s with scattered rain/snow showers.
Our main purpose for this trip was to use our new cameras to re-take (i.e., improve upon) a lot of the same photos we’ve taken on prior trips. We planned to photograph all available sunrises and sunsets, at least. To start, Friday night’s sunset wasn’t very good. Saturday morning’s sunrise turned out to be a complete waste. We gave up on Saturday’s sunset to spend time with some friends we met up with in West Yellowstone. Sunday’s sunrise actually revealed the peaks of the Tetons to us for the first time, but cloud cover made it a mostly monochromatic affair.
The weekend was enjoyable nonetheless. The weather was annoying, but it was great to meet up with some friends, and we still managed to get some good shots, despite the weather.
Check out the time lapse video I made of Sunday’s sunrise. And I will be posting many more photos (for better or worse) in the coming days/weeks. Enjoy!