Grand Teton trip 2018

Baby bears were among the animals watched on the 2018 Grand Teton trip.

We had gone out to the usual places we have seen bears before, and found signs the Rangers put up warning people to not get too close, keep their food safe, etc.

sign says black bear with cubs frequenting this beach

and at another location:

sign that says entering sensitive wildlife area, follow the direction of park staff. Do not stop in the road

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But it was not until our last morning that the bears came to us, very near the Colter Bay Village cabins.

two baby bears among some trees

We got a chance to watch them for quite awhile.

The two cubs played and wrestled with each other. One climbed part way up a tree and when the other one tried to climb it slid down. Then they went to a second tree and both tried again. We were wondering where their mama was, as it is not good for people to get between a mama bear and her cubs, so watching from a good distance was in order.

(We were up a hill across a road from them.)

two bears cubs starting to try to climb trees

two bear cubs, one trying to climb a tree

A park Ranger stayed near them in his vehicle. He spoke sharply on the vehicle public address system (loud) to a guy who drove up in a pickup truck and started to open his door

STAY in the TRUCK !!!”

as the mama bear joined the two cubs and led them off.

park service vehicle and bears

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Yes, we were so busy enjoying them that we only took a few pictures with the cell phone. We were worried we would miss some of the fun they were having if we looked around for the better camera / telephoto.

Next year you will get better pictures, okay?

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On an earlier morning a scrawny coyote ran alongside the road past a pile of tree branches prepared for burning later in the season:

coyote and tall pile of tree trunks, branches

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We were surprised to see a fox (with a beautiful long tail) in the middle of the day, running from the marina area towards the Colter Bay cabins/restaurants. It ran right by a picnic table where we were grilling salmon and marinated chicken, and I barely got the cell phone out in time to catch a photo of it on the far side of the parking lot:

fox and parked cars

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A pair of deer near our cabin never did pose for a classic/perfect picture,

two deer lying down after eating grasses

male and female deer on slope above cabin, one almost peeking from behind a small tree

but we were able to point them out to new neighbors moving into their cabins next to us. (They wanted to know if they were deer or elk and I explained that elk are much larger, with much bigger antlers). I got the families set up for a group photo on their cell phone with the deer beyond them (just before the deer decided to wander off).

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We did not get classic pictures of the bison, elk or pronghorns we watched, usually because they were in part blocked by trees, and/or we had pictures we liked from previous years and decided to not take any.

We did cause a small “animal jam” one morning as we watched a big male elk munching below the side of the road.

woman standing in cartop skylight to take photo of elk

and we got stuck in a loooong line of cars, mostly not moving, in Yellowstone National Park for about 20 minutes when sooooo many people wanted to catch a glimpse of, or a long look at, a female elk in the river.

line of cars in one lane of a two lane road

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Each morning we were out early we heard Sandhill Cranes, but did not see them dancing this year.

Many sunrises included dark clouds and a bit of mist from them:

sunrise over a line of tree tops with massive dark clouds above

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As usual, the eggs Benedict with a bit of floral decorations at Jenny Lake lodge were picture perfect, (with or without the crab cakes):

But in 2019 they did not offer crab cakes eggs Benedict, or the Monte Cristo, and offered many fewer choices in the omelet, so we ate elsewhere. For future trips we will check out the menus again before we go to decide where our big group breakfast will be.

Grand Tetons restaurants

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The main website page about De Anza College Outdoor Club Grand Teton National Park trips is:

Grand Tetons

See also:

Colter Bay cabins

Cascade Canyon, Grand Teton National Park

Grand Tetons kayaking

Grand Tetons sightseeing

Grand Tetons trip pages index