Wyoming – The Grand Tetons – Overwhelming beauty! 

Oh my goodness – I felt like singing – “the hills are alive, with the sound of music”.  These mountains take your breath away! 

On the way to our day of hiking, we stopped at the Episcopal Chapel of the Transfiguration.  This little chapel had the most magnificent view of the mountain range!

We then headed to Jenny Lake  to catch a boat shuttle over to the Cascade Canyon to do some hiking.  The weather forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms so we decided to get over to the trails before the weather turned on us.  See those clouds starting to build?

Cascade Canyon offers a variety of trails and plenty of vistas and wildlife to see.  We hiked past Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, and up the Cascade Creek Trail.  A bull moose decided to take the same trail we were on so we got some great shots of him.  We also saw a marmot which is similar in appearance to a badger.

We hiked 6 miles and then headed off to see more of the national park.

We came upon another chapel – The Chapel of the Sacred Heart. The stained glass window was just gorgeous!

We then headed back to Jackson Hole to check into the inn we were staying at for the night – Oh so delightfully quaint and charming!

More photos to come of this wonderful state!

 I am linking to Blue Monday over at Sally’s and Mosaic Monday over at Mary’s

Day two and we are off to Wyoming through Yellowstone National Park.  We have quite the drive today and so much to see!  Here is what we saw:

We headed from the North Entrance on our way to the South Entrance of Yellowstone.  To get there, we had to go over Dunraven Pass.  There was still snow over the pass – brisk and beautiful!

On the other side of the pass we came to Canyon Village.  This is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and offers a magnificent view of the Lower and Upper Falls.  WOW!

Sorry for the interruption – some Bison decided to cross the road and stop traffic!  This is in the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone.  They call this and the Lamar Valley the Serengeti of Yellowstone because of all the wild animals roaming around.  The best time to see them is in the early morning and late afternoon/evening.

We then continued along the way through Lake Village which is the beginning of Yellowstone Lake.  This lake is huge!  We were running a bit short on time.  We had to move along so we could make our dinner reservations in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Here’s just a tease shot of our next adventure – The Grand Tetons!

Psalm 96

A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment

 ¹ Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
         Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
 ² Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
         Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
 ³ Declare His glory among the nations,
         His wonders among all peoples.
         
 ⁴ For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
         He is to be feared above all gods.
 ⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
         But the LORD made the heavens.
 ⁶ Honor and majesty are before Him;
         Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
         
 ⁷ Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
         Give to the LORD glory and strength.
 ⁸ Give to the LORD the glory due His name;
         Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
 ⁹ Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
         Tremble before Him, all the earth.
         
 ¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns;
         The world also is firmly established,
         It shall not be moved;
         He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
         
 ¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
         Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
 ¹² Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
         Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
 ¹³ before the LORD.
         For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
         He shall judge the world with righteousness,
         And the peoples with His truth.

 And the adventures begin…

Flying from Seattle into Bozeman, Montana

We had about 70 miles to drive to our first destination. The views along the way caused us to try to come up with adjectives that could appropriately express the wonder and beauty of it all other than amazing!  Even more appropriate was driving through Pray, Montana.  And that we did – offered prayers of praise and thanksgiving for this creation that we were allowed to gaze in awe at.

We arrived at our first stop in Gardiner, Montana just outside the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The proprietor of the inn we stayed at offered free roping lessons – oh yeah!  I am proud to say that I am quite handy with a rope!

Now that we were completely adjusted to the country life, off we went to see what wild animals we could find in Yellowstone.  We started at the North Entrance.  The words on the monument as you enter say “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people”.  Boy did we enjoy seeing the sites and of course the animals!

The park is HUGE – 63 miles long and 54 miles wide! So much beauty to behold so little time!

 

Then there is the Unusual Beauty of Yellowstone – Norris Geyser Basin.  Steaming, boiling earth – crazy amazing!

It was a long sensory overloaded day and we headed back to the inn as the sun was setting.  Our pillows were calling and a new day awaited us.  My camera batteries were quite happy – they needed a much deserved rest as well!!

I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures of the day…