MAMA MIA! A MOOSE!

Out to the Grand Teton National Park for the second day in a row...we're moose hunting for the second day in a row....We heard that heading into the southern end of the park we might have some luck with the Gros Ventre route along the Gros Ventre River, along Antelope Flats, up to the Moran Junction, check out Jackson Lake Lodge for the fantastic views through the windows, then back through Moose Wilson Road back out of the park....Not sure how many miles that is, but we have discovered it's a lot less miles than driving through Yellowstone! The views are fantastic at the Jackson Lake Lodge. The lodge itself is decorated in the "lodge look"--heavy on the wood beams, moose fabric on the huge open lounge area, and even the fireplaces have moose end-irons. The view through the large picture windows looks like this:

View of the Tetons and the meadows from the Jackson Lake Lodge outdoor back patio

Here is the view from the Oxbow Bend Turnout in the northeast corner of our drive today...between Moran Junction and the Jackson Lake Lodge. This is one of the most photographed areas of the park. Unfortunately, we had big cloud cover and thundertstorms threatening, so not so great a shot today...you should see the one they have in the Oh, Ranger Grand Tetons National Park book!

Oxbow Bend Turnout--another great place to look for moose! But none today.....

We saw a few cars pulled over on a ridge over the Gros Ventre River so we stopped to take a look. VOILA! A mama moose AND her baby calf, munching the willows along the river! The baby was hidden, but you could see his ears twitching so we knew where he was. Mama Moose was keeping a VERY vigilant eye on her baby. She was feeding, but watching us, and watching her baby very very closely. We were quite high up looking down, so we weren't worried. She doesn't look very big, does she? She SEEMED very docile...But we found out later, that moose are more dangerous than grizzly bears. More people are more seriously hurt  more often from moose attacks, according to more than one ranger. Moose can be lethal with their front hoofs and take off like a shot after you in seconds flat.  When the ranger told us more people get hurt from moose attacks than bear attacks, I could see Eldy nodding his head and shaking his finger out of the corner of my eye. But I will still get my moose photos, you know, like a Mountie always gets his man! And I did! 

And I got her nose poking through the willows as she was munching...

She looks kinda coy here....like, "I see you!"

At the spot where you'd think you would see moose, we didn't! On Moose-Wilson Road at an overlook with the most beautiful grasses and marshes....

At this prime location, all we saw was a beaver (?) swimming along.....

Back out the park we went, along highway 390, past a meadow where we saw elk our first time coming out of the park. They were there again, and this time, instead of three males, there was only one. And he was BUGLING!  The females were running around, but nothing was happening just yet. We heard LOTS of bugling which sounds like chirps and sort of squeaks and loud squeals. The bull elk was just starting to get into things, we think...another couple of days and there ought to be quite a bit of action in the meadow, if the elk are still there....we'll see on our next time out through the park....It was a great day in the Grand Tetons National Park today!

See you later......Eldo and Sparky....