After all the flooding craziness we were thrilled to learn that the park had reopened most of the roads and was removing the every other day restrictions. The National Park Service has done a fantastic job of gathering resources, but I have to admit I was surprised they could fix all the road damage in a three week period. Turns out the roads aren’t all fixed, but they are all passable and they did an excellent job of balancing pressure to fully reopen and public safety. Here is a map someone made. The roads in red are still closed.
With the exception of Lee’s one night time visit to the park we had not been in at all, so were both excited. Since we thought most people would be heading north (and we always try to go the opposite way of crowds) we headed south. There was no line to get into the park at 7am and the roads were pretty free of people. It was also a beautifully clear morning and we could see the steam rising from the various geysers. I would love to be able to capture what that looks like in a picture, but below is the closest I could get. On a clear, cool day you can see the steam rising from miles away and its really very beautiful.
We also stopped at the Continental Divide sign when we were going over a pass, and this was nice because this area has been pretty snowy. We made the trip short though because we got dive bombed by mosquitos (a first since we have been here) and Jack started making snarling noises towards the woods. To the best of our recollection neither of us have ever heard him snarl like that so we figured it was a good idea to get back in the truck 🙂
Finally we arrived at Lewis Falls and grabbed a great parking spot. We passed these falls once when it was still really snowy but all the paths and parking areas were closed in. This stop was really beautiful and the falls are much nicer than they looked from a quick glance. There is also a path (pretty rough) going up to an observation area which I would have missed. Lee found it though and we got several nice views of the falls. Here are my favorite pics.
If you do get a chance to go don’t forget to walk across the road because those views are gorgeous as well.
After Lewis Falls we headed into Grand Teton, but I am going to save that for another post. I did want to mention though that when we came out of the park that same evening the wind had kicked up and there were clouds (not an exaggeration) of pollen coming from the trees. I personally have never seen anything like it and unfortunately couldn’t capture it well in a pic, but the visibility was less than 100 yards and people immediately turned their lights on. So far I am doing ok with allergies but if you are a person who struggles keep that in mind when you decide what month to come in.
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Camper Chronicles 