We had a fabulous 2week vacation with a family group of 8. I had been planning the trip since last Nov. using Tons of info from past posts. We flew in from NY & CT to Salt Lake City on 8/10 and picked up 2 rental cars. We then drove to Temple Square and enjoyed a meal overlooking the city at the Garden Restaurant. , touring as much of the Square we could that night. Wonderful visit and glad we did the little we could. Left for Layton Utah and had 3 rms at LAQuinta in a great area. Super Target near by and tons of places to eat. We toured Antelope Island that morning and then made our way to Garden City, Bear Lake that night. Beautiful drive thru Logan Canyon and did not really get stuck in any major construction. Stayed at Bear Lake Motor Lodge, which was slightly outdated, but very clean. Being on the main strip though made traffic a bit loud for sleeping. Ate dinner at a cute little yellow food stand & had famous raspberry shakes.

Left for Jackson WY., but part of the group opted stay & tour a museum about the Oregon trail, in Monticello. Enjoyed our ride thru the Star valley and saw 3 bald eagles along the river. Arrived in Jackson late afternoon,with 3 rooms booked for 2 nights at the Wagon Wheel. GREAT SUITES on the creek way in the back of the property! Large rooms with a lovely view from the deck. The rest of the group finally arrived and we had a pleasant meal on-site and then walked into town that night. My husband had been trying to call the BAR J for Chuckwagon reservations and finally scored some seats for the next night. On Sat. we toured the Visitor Center right across the street (saw 2 rare trumpeter swans) and decided afterwards to take the advice of one of the volunteers & ride the Snow King chair lift to the top for the view. It was a truly great one, but clouds rolled in quickly that day & the lift was closed till the storm went by. …making our visit to the top 2hrs long.! Got down, cleaned up & headed over to the BAR J for dinner and songs. We had a great time!

We checked out Sun.and drove into Grand Teton. We toured several historical buildings/famous locations before we made our way to Mormon Row, where we came upon a huge herd of bison on both sides of the road. The ranger told us it was “frisky season”, so we were able to see some of the courtship that takes place. An exciting afternoon, with lots of bison bellowing. Off to our new lodgings…

Our next 3 days would be spent at Signal Mtn Lodge. We had stayed there twice before, yrs ago. We had picked out 3 connected 2rm cabins along the shore. Beautiful spot as always. Had a great meal at the Trapper Grill and the went looking for wildlife that night. It was getting late, but up Signal Mtn we went & saw a “blondie”black bear enjoying the berries! On Mon. 8am we took the boat across Jenny Lake for a hike to Inspiration Point. Getting there early made for “no crowds” and a warning that a bear had been seen on the trail earlier. Did not get to see him, just a pile of his scat and the odor of very strong urine. Great hike! We passed tons of folks on the way down, making us so happy we did it early. Back to the cabin for R &R . Explored our own area and saw another bear on the road, a fox, 3 deer in the complex. Not to be forgotten was the mouse in our cabin. Tried to catch it/shoo it out, but he hid in one of the many “rustic cabin holes” Reported it to the desk, and the said they would set traps. Back to Trapper Grill (hmm,now wonder why they chose THAT for the name?)for dinner and then back up the Signal Mtn. By the pond we saw a group of 6 buck mule deer ,with pretty big racks already. Further up, we saw a parked car, got out to see another black bear with 2cubs scampering behind her. They are just berry vacuums! Also saw lots of sage grouse. Came down and drove over to the old RKO road in search of Wapiti (elk). Not to be disappointed , less than 2 miles in we came upon a group of 6 bulls, 2 of which had very heavy racks with 6pts each. Watched them graze till dark. Went back to our cabin and found mouse trap with its victim. My husband reset it 5more times that night, for a grand total of 6 dead mice. Not a happy camper that night! Next day found us visiting some historical sights again and a hike along Leigh Lake..very nice little hike. The weather had changed and was drizzling now. Made our way over to Jackson Lake Lodge for dinner. Afterward we headed up to the Oxbow Bend for photos when we passed a wildlife traffic jam watching a big bull moose sit in the willows. After talking to man with a large camera who had been there awhile, we found out there had been 2 more moose there earlier….So my husband made a bee line down a little dirt road not far from the bull, and we came upon a mother moose and her good-sized calf basically eating right on the road next to us! She was literally just swooshing tons of willow leaves off the shrubs. It was stripped down basically before we left. The calf was more interested in trying to get milk, and mom kept moving away and being vocal about not wanting to. It was a truly amazing 15-20min. we got to enjoy them. The calf was just wanting to be frisky, jumping scratching etc. After watching them , we went back down the RKO Rd. to see if we could spot the Wapiti bulls again, and sure enough, we came upon them. They were more skitterish that night and took off running up the ridge. What a sight to see. You could see how awkward it was for them to run with the giant racks even. We kept driving as far as we could and as we got closer to the river came upon another group of 7 bulls. It was just an amazing sight. We had passed only one car on this road and they did not get to see the bulls, only some pronghorn in the distance. It was a great 3 days in Teton.
Part 2 -Yellowstone

Great report, Nan.

Hey disneynan--sounds like we were in Teton at the exact same time. We hiked around Jenny Lake and went to Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point on Monday the 16th, but we didn't start out until late--3:00 in the afternoon. Everyone else seemed to be headed back at that point, so it worked out well for us too in terms of the crowds.

We also saw the cinnamon black bear munching berries on Signal Mountain Road. That was Monday morning, I think. I'm betting it was the same bear--the ranger said he'd been hanging around for several days. What a coincidence! We saw lots of moose in Teton too (although none in Yellowstone).

Glad to hear your trip was as great as ours!

HI JULIE304:I went back, found & read your Great report. Wow, we were in the same spot Tetons hiking the same day. That was one of our absolutley perfect days. We had only wished afterward that we had kept hiking up the Cascade trail into the meadows above! We were blown away by how crowded the trail was as we came down. Just one long non-stop line. It was an amazing trip. We were so thrilled to see so much wildlife. We were in Alaska last summer and did not see much at all. We also were disappointed we could not do the Beartooth Hwy. Had done it in 87 and swore we would return. Maybe next time!

Wow--we must really be shadowing each other on our vacations! We were in Alaska last July. Saw lots of wildlife in and around Denali, but I'd have to say we saw even more in Yellowstone and Teton.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!