Lazy Days in "The Hole". Life is Grand!

A little rest after the ride

Since Monday, I have been without house guests and have had a valley playground at my fingertips.  While my friends in Sarasota have recently endured days of rain from tropical storm Debby, I have enjoyed beautiful weather here in Jackson Hole.  On Wednesday, I decided to load my road bike up on the bike rack and headed into the Grand Teton National Park.  The GTNP is not far from my house, in fact I believe the house actually sits at the base of the park.  Jackson Hole gets some pretty intense soutern winds in the afternoon, so it is best when riding to first head south on the path so you can return with the wind at your back.  It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  It was a beautiful day to remember how lucky I am.  It was a beautiful place and a beautiful day to say a prayer for a friend back in Sarasota facing tough health issues.  I took a few pictures on my ride.  Come along with me and enjoy the beauty and the view!

My starting point

Entrance to GTNP

   

Along the path

More along the path

Every day in Jackson Hole is a great day.  The start to some of these days can be just a bit different than others.  My alarm rudely woke me up this morning and reminded me that it was time to hit the floor moving.  As most of you know, morning is not my best or favorite time of any day, but it is an unneccessary evil to every day.....even in Jackson Hole.  So out of bed I climbed and off to the kitchen for breakfast I walked.  After mixing up my usual greek yogurt, berries and flax seed (Dr. Oz would be pleased), I headed to my favorite big blue chair in the family room.  As I watched Good Morning America and ate my breakfast, something caught my attention in my backyard.  At this point of the story, you need to remember that my backyard is basically part of the Grand Teton National Park.  It took a while for me to figure out that what I was looking at was a bunch of antlers about 30 yards off my back deck.

The antlers that first caught my eye

Zoomed in pic of the antlers


It seems that a group of male elk had enjoyed a bit of a slumber party in my backyard.  During this time of year it is quite common to see male elk without any female elk.  That is because the females are busy taking care of the baby elk who have been born in the late spring.  Have no worries, because by the middle of September, the males will be "bugleing" their little hearts out to call the females back into their space so they can enjoy a bit of making elk babies!

Starting to wake up

Very slowly and one by one, the elk decided they had slept enough and were ready to move on down to the Snake River where they spend most of the afternoon.  In "elk world" the day time tempatures of Jackson Hole are considered warm, so they leave the open fields and head to the cooler area near the river.

Part of the herd now standing and ready to head to the Snake River

Moving on out to the river

Seeing the wildlife in the yard is always a highlight of the day.  At this time last year, I had more visits from different bison herds but have seen none of those guys yet.

Determined to make it to the river