The Tetons are grand.

Luckily the rest of the herd didn’t follow the bison who was grazing outside my tent last night. I wake up at 5:30am for a sunrise ride in Yellowstone. My thermometer tells me that its a brisk 45 degrees as I pull out of the campsite. The quality of the light the rising sun casts on the landscape makes the chilly, early morning well worth it.

[sunrise in Yellowstone]

[the light of sunrise]

I ride around the mostly quiet park counterclockwise toward the geysers. There are little ones along the sides of the road. I eventually make it to Old Faithful, which is swapped with tourists waiting for the geyser to erupt. Luckily I arrive twenty minutes before the next eruption, which happen every ninety  minutes or so. The water and steam spouting out of the ground is mildly impressive and it’s over in a little over a minute. It’s worth seeing once, but it’s definitely not the best facet of the park.

[geyser field]

[Old Faithful erupting]

I leave the tourists slowly making their way to the next attraction behind and continue with my ride. I decide to check out Grand Teton National Park, which is just south of Yellowstone. I figure if I get there early enough, I could get a campsite then explore from there. The ride south offers endless spectacular views.

[Lewis River]

[Yellowstone Lake]

Shortly after I ride into Grand Teton National Park, I get my first glimpse of the peaks. It’s hard to describe how dramatic this rugged, rocky, forty-mile long mountain range is. As I ride closer, the view is even more impressive. I can’t stop taking pictures of them.

[first view of the Tetons]

[Grand Teton peak – 13,770 feet]

After I claim the next to last campsite in the Signal Mountain Campground, I quickly unpack and jump back on the bike to explore. I head south to see the visitor center designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. They had some pretty nice scenery to take advantage of in the design of the heavy-timber building. On the floor of the center, they incorporated metal inlays which align with each peak and tell visitors the name of the mountain and the elevation. It’s a nice building, but there are a few too many moves given the scenery they had to feature and the procession into the building is lackluster.

[visitor center designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson]

[entry court]

[metal inlays align with each peak]

After checking out the visitor center and making a lap around the park, I head back to my campsite for dinner. Along the way, I can’t help pulling over to photograph the mountains every few miles. It’s a relaxing evening at the campsite with no visits from any wildlife.

[Teton Range]