our trip // the sights

Get your patient pants on because this post is going to be a tad long and full of photos and facts. Although, I'm proud of myself for cutting it down to under 20 photos of all the sights and "attractions" we saw and visited both in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. One thing you may notice is the lack of people/tourists in the pictures and that's not because I photoshopped them out. There just weren't that many people there. It was awesome! I had done a lot of research and reading about the best times to go and not be surrounded by crowds, and there seemed to be two very definitive answers: May and September. If you don't mind some chilly evening temps, I would HIGHLY recommend going in May - everything is very fresh, there's lots of new baby animals everywhere, and hardly any people. Also, if you're planning a trip to Yellowstone and/or the Tetons, this book was a crazy awesome resource. I read it for hours before our trip and always had it with me during the trip. It's full of tips, maps, hikes, restaurants, and reviews.

Now for the real reason we're here...

hello Wyoming! so glad I could finally add you to my list of "states I've been to."

we spent a night in the shadow of Devils Tower on the way to Yellowstone.

a photo op (thanks to this fence) with the Bighorn Mountains. also notice the lack of cars...on the interstate. so awesome.

lots of snow during a mountain pass through Montana.

my favorite feature at the Mammoth Hot Springs.

at the north entrance of the park before we went to explore Gardiner, MT.

an early morning walk around the boardwalks at the Norris Geyser Basin. this place was completely amazing and free of any other humans.

a hot-spring fed lake

a steaming stream in the Norris Geyser Basin

the breathtaking Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I was half expecting John Muir to be sitting on a rock in the distance.

one of many boiling hot springs around the Old Faithful area. the water in these things was so beautiful and clear...and stinky.

Old Faithful...not gonna lie, but sort of a let down.

the boardwalk leading to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which would have been more grand if there wasn't so much steam

Tim taking the most scenic off-road pee of his life with this view of the Tetons.

before our trip, I had been in contact with a ranger out at Grand Teton National Park and we were able to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Grand Teton Rescue Cache and see a bunch of Bob's (Tim's dad) equipment that was destroyed during his climb of the Tetons back in July 2010. Read more about the storm and the amazing rescue effort here. It's a long, but extremely good article about the events of the rescue.

the money shot taken from Mormon Row.

we ended the week by spending some time in the town of Jackson amidst the high-end shops, awesome restaurants, and elk antlers.

our trip // exploring

Well folks, we've made it to the last two "categories" of our trip - "exploring" and "sights" - which coincidently contain some of my very favorite photos from the week. We'll start with exploring, the things we found while off-roading or hiking. While there are so many main attractions of the Yellowstone/Teton area - Old Faithful, Hot Springs, Tetons - the entire area is one giant mess of beautiful scenery everywhere you turn. Here were some of our favorite moments spent exploring.

at the top of the pass through the Bighorn Mountains

the valley by our campsite near Mammoth Hot Springs, and the Absaroka Range in the background

crystal-clear Jenny Lake. Tim is demonstrating his "Life Straw" - a tube the filters water so that it is drinkable.

cooling off in the snow during a hike

Tim's summit attempt of Teewinot. This is a sort of "Where's Waldo Tim" type of photo. Hint: look for a big rock.

splashing in the river near the Tetons. this is where we saw the marmot.

our trip // animals

All my reading and research leading up to our trip to Yellowstone sure set my hopes high for amount of  birds and beasts we'd see. I was a little nervous that we'd get out there and see nothing but robins and one lone buffalo. That was not the case, thank goodness. Within the first 20 minutes of entering the park, there were animals galore.

We saw many creatures throughout the week, but by far the largest concentration of animals was in Lamar Valley. We got up early one morning, made some instant coffee, grabbed some muffins, and drove for 45 minutes in the sunrise to this valley that plays host to hundreds of buffalo, antelope, and elk. It was beautiful. And I can definitely see why people get attacked/gored - the animals are so close and there's hardly ever anything separating you from them. It's amazing.

Throughout the week, we saw:
buffalo (by the hundreds)
elk
antelope
wolf
coyote
black bears
sandhill cranes
marmot
moose
black billed magpie

But by far the most exciting animal spotting of the entire week was the mama grizzly bear we encountered on a hike. JUST KIDDING. We never spotted a grizzly bear, even from the car, which looking back I'm kind of disappointed, but I'm sure I would've been a little freaked out in the moment.

one of many buffalo

a moose chowing down

our lone bear sighting, which was sort of tainted by the fact that they were crossing a bridge

sandhill cranes

early morning elk

a nasty little marmot

memorial day & a baby bump

look what showed up this week!

 For the past few years, our Memorial Day Weekend tradition has been to hit the Superior Hiking Trail for a backpacking trip. But this year we had a sort of stay-cation spent with good friends. We kicked off  the weekend with getting a heck of a deal on a like-new Pack 'n' Play at a garage sale. I love a good deal! The rest of the weekend was spent going for walks, talking about all things baby, eating things like BBQ chicken+baked beans+BLTs, looking through baby name books, and starting the construction of our deck. It was the perfect balance of relaxation and productivity.

the frame work in place for our new deck. way to go, honey!

afternoon snack of toasted homemade bread (thanks Katie!) and ice cold raw milk. so delicious!

our trip // food

I have to admit that I haven't always been a hiker/backpacker/camper. My family would go on the occasional camping trip, but it was far from rugged. We're talking massive 4-room tent, 2-burner Coleman stove, pancakes for breakfast, and homemade casserole for supper. And then I met Tim. He introduced me to a whole new world of camping and being outside. The first backpacking trip I ever took was a long weekend on the Superior Hiking Trail. I carried everything I needed for the weekend on my back, so the luxuries for pretty minimal. And the food = dehydrated noodles, apples, peanut butter, and hard blocks of cheddar cheese; things that could withstand several days in a pack without refrigeration. It was all so exhilarating and uncomplicated. This is the type of camping we have fallen in love with.

So when it came to our trip out west, we were a little overwhelmed because this time, we would be "car camping," as we call it. We would always have access to our car which could house food and coolers. This meant we could actually have "real" food for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. And that's exactly what we did. I spent the week leading up to our trip planning and shopping and cooking and freezing what meals I could so that when we would get back to our camp site at night after a long day of exploring, all we had to do was light a fire and reheat the food. Lunches had to be easy and accessible since most of the time we would be in the middle of sight-seeing, i.e. tuna and cheese wraps, fruit, peanut butter sandwiches. And breakfasts needed to be more than a granola bar, i.e. corned beef hash, sausage, fried egg and cheese sandwiches. I'm happy to say that all the prep was worth it and we ate good.

Lunch on the road (Murdo, SD) - chicken salad and cherry tomatoes.

Supper in the shadow of Devils Tower - Pad Thai and fruit.

Lunch break at our camp site in Mammoth - cold roast sandwiches, pickled veggies, and salt and vinegar chips.

Supper on a cool evening - chicken corn chili and banana muffins.

I also owe a huge thank you to both of moms who contributed things like meatballs, mashed potatoes, spaghetti pie, and muffins to our food cause of the week. It was all so delicious!