The advantage of spending the summer in one area, is getting to watch the seasons changing. This year, I made a point of taking a picture of Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend, every few weeks while we were here in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It’s interesting to see how the mountain changes. I took these photos with the same camera, and did not edit them. Our first view this year was on May 14, 2018. The mountains are still snow-covered and the Aspen trees are starting to bloom.
May 14, 2018
By June 6, the mountains still have snow, but everything has greened up nicely.
June 6, 2018
By the end of June, the snow has continued to melt, and the wildflowers are starting to bloom. The trees seemed to have turned a darker shade of green.
June 28, 1018
By the end of July, a small amount of snow remains on the peaks. The skillet glacier on Mount Moran is more in view. The locals refer to it as the Jimmy Hendrix guitar.
July 25, 2018
The fires from California started to bring a haze over the mountains in August. The view is not as “sharp” as July, as a result of the haze.
August 14, 2018
We had our first winter storm watch of the season on August 28, at altitudes above 9,000 feet. So the next day, we ventured into the park to see the tops of the mountains with a fresh coat of snow! The snow cleared out a lot of the haze, which brought the mountains back into focus.
August 29, 2018 after our first snowfall of the season
On September 8, the leaves were starting to change in the park, but not yet in the Oxbow Bend area. The bushes on the right have started to turn, however. It was a late afternoon photo, with haze over the mountains, from a new fire 60 miles south of the park.
September 8, 2018
By September 19, the leaves on the Aspen trees were turning yellow, and the haze was not too visible.
September 19, 2018
Fall has arrived in the Tetons, and the park is bursting with visitors for the wildlife and colors. On September 25, the color in the bushes on the right has faded, but more trees are showing color, and with the cool nights, the mountains are clear.
September 25, 2018
On our last day of work, October 3, we made one last quick trip through the park. The final “green” trees, have turned yellow and orange. The leaves on the trees to the right, have mostly fallen off. The ducks and geese are migrating through on the way south.
Good-bye Wyoming! See you next year….
Quote for the Day: “You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you.” – John Muir
A short drive north of Jackson Lake brought us to the Berry Creek Fire area. It was sad to see acres of burned forest land, but it will be interesting to watch this area rejuvenate over time.
During our drive through the park, we spotted a lone female moose.
Along with a large heard of pronghorns, including a mama with two hungry babies!
After our hike, we starting driving around and noticed a number of cars pulled off the road, but we could not see what they were looking at, so we pulled over and walked about 100 yards to where the crowd was standing. And we were glad we did! At first, we just saw a head of a moose pop out of the willows. But then mama came into full view, followed by a pretty good sized baby. We watched them for a while until they walked back out of view.
Since all the barstools are saddles, Doug opted to recreate the cowboy on the bar’s roof!
The next day we went on another hike with our co-worker Jane, and literally ran into a fox crossing our path. Fortunately, he/she ignored us, but it did startle us.
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