Teton National Park

along the way out of Teton Village,

we spotted this hot air balloon about to go up. 

imagine the view - cruising gently and silently through the crisp morning air.

    

 

on the north side of Jackson we ran into the usual string of cars,

randomly parked along the roadside gawking at some wild animal.

so we pulled over as well, and were elated to see

two massive wolves bounding across the road and into the fields.

my mouth was agape in awe.

by the time I gathered myself enough to grab the camera,

this was the only blurry, out of range, shot I could manage:

  

 

and yes, if you look closely, the wolf is wearing a collar. 

I learned that there is one black wolf and 4 grey wolves in the Pinnacle Peak pack,

which roam the area just north of Jackson and the Elk Refuge.

what an INCREDIBLE moment.

I was miffed about my less than stellar camera skills,

so i followed the black wolf down onto a private road full of beautiful homes. 

I ended up in a driveway a mile out of view of anything,

just searching for that beautiful animal,

standing on the roof of my car to find it.

after 1/2 an hour - no luck with the wolf,

but once I turned around, saw this view.

 that works.

 

 

driving up through Teton National Park is awesome,

in every sense of the word.

its such a striking and inspiring setting.

I couldn’t help but snap a ton of photos of these magnificent peaks.

from land,

 

 

and from sea.

just kidding… that’s Jenny Lake.

 

 

after taking all those pics, I started to grow weary,

so I stopped to ask one of the locals

‘which way to starbucks?’ 

she looked at me, laughed, and I swear I heard her mumble..

‘ha. out of towner.’ 

 

 

heading north through the park we stopped on the shores of Jackson Lake

to contemplate life in the reflection of Mount Moran.

  

 

then hiked around the grounds of Jackson Lake Lodge,

it was very ‘The Shining’-esque having been closed up for winter.

my favorite kind of tourist spot…

one without tourists!

and just when I thought I couldn’t possibly take one more photo of the vast Teton expanse,

I turned around and looked up at the mirrored Lodge windows

and shot a little self portrait,

as a reminder of the moment.

   

 

BLISS.