Sun,. May 18, 2008--Driving West

The trails are frozen at Grand Teton NP. The only trail semi-open has people using snowshoes and cross country skis to get around! Sunday was a sightseeing day!
We drove through Antelope Flats (area to see animals) and Mormon Row. The first Mormon settlers crossed Menor Ferry to stake claim to the land. Five houses remain on Mormon Row, and one of them is still a private residence. No they did not have indoor plumbing--the only house without a privy is the one that is occupied.

After leaving Mormon Row, we stopped to get a geocache at one of the park turnouts. To claim the cache, we had to take a picture of the sign with the mountains in the background.
Our next stop was a staircase we saw while driving. Many people were parked there and were hiking. We hiked a small portion of the trail, but since we didn't know where it went, we turned around and headed for Menor Ferry. While at the top of the staircase we had a great view of the road and the surrounding area.

Menor Ferry is an historical site. Menor was the first to build a cabin along this portion of the Snake River. He built a store and ferry on the site.

As we were walking toward the ferry, I heard a woman shout to Bob and say, "Those things can kill you, be careful!" Bob started walking away from the ferry! He whispered to me in a stage whisper, "There's a moose!" Sure enough, resting between the restored ferry and the bank was a huge moose!

She watched us as we walked by going to the transportation building. We hope the next people who came along had someone to warn them!

The transportation building houses some of the carriages used when dude ranches became the rage before Grand Teton was a national park.

From the transportation building we walked to Maude Noble's cabin. She purchased the ferry from Menor and doubled the prices hoping to make her fortune. Her cabin has historical information inside. We were lucky enough to be there when a ranger was escorting a man who repairs wood through the cabin. We were able to go inside and look around. Maude's cabin is famous for the meeting that took place among the politicians and locals who wanted the area to be a national park.

From Menor Ferry we decided to drive to Teton Village and check out the ski area. Along WY 22 there is a great bike path. The ski area looks like most areas with condos and hotels. There was not much going on there so we drove to Idaho. The drive took us over the Tetons. The state line was at a pass about 7000 feet in elevation. We took advantage of the location and took pictures of both state signs.

Near the turnout for the state line there was a rushing creek.
There was information at a wooden kiosk about Idaho scenic drives. We left the car at the state line to go view the sign and choose a different route back to Wyoming.

We drove through Victor, ID to Swan Lake, ID and back to Alpine, WY which is south of Jackson. The scenery was gorgeous and we both thought the area would be a nice place to live. No, Jennifer, we aren't selling the house and moving just yet!

As we drove along the Snake River back to Jackson, we saw a few people taking advantage of the warm, sunny day as they floated down the river.

We decided to give the trails at Grand Teton NP another day to warm up (hopefully the snow would melt), We planned to drive to Yellowstone NP on Monday.