Dandelions & Bison -Enjoying a Beautiful Day in Grand Tetons National Park

Near Moran, WY (56 degrees, blue skies)

One of my friends at work, Marianne, while traveling out to a Forest Service locations saw some bison enjoying a huge meadow of dandelions.  It sounded like a perfect road trip after work - so off we went to explore.  

Along the way we saw this beautiful view of the mountains with a huge yellow dandelion field blooming below.  

We had no trouble finding the spot Marianne mentioned.  There were cars lined up along side the road all watching the bison enjoying a delicious snack of dandelions.

And many were napping

Look who else came to join in the fun

Elk

How cute it was to see a baby bison napping

And even more cool to see two baby bison napping

What a beautiful place

Afterwards we had a quick dinner at Signal Mountains and in addition, I enjoyed a delicious Blackberry Margarita which lots of people had recommended.  It was terrific.  We then headed up to the top of Signal Mountain (7,720 feet)  The road just recently opened the views are spectacular.

On the way down we saw this big bird crossing the road.  We were not sure what it was and watched her cross the street and she seemed to be enjoying the view too.  

A little farther down we saw this one.  We'd never seen a bird like this one and it started to perform quite an interesting display.  It turns out this is a Dusty Grouse.

It looks like it has a huge flower boutonniere on each side of its head.  They are actually air sacs and during his display this flower opened and closed due to him moving his feathers aside.  It was really amazing.  

His tail feathers fanned out and seemed to quiver as well.  Check out the bright yellow combs over his eyes.  This guy was looking for love in a big way.

What a cool road trip.  On the way home the mountains appeared to be blue.  It was magical.  Can you tell we are really loving the Tetons?  

Taggart Lake Hike With Beautiful Views of the Teton Mountain Range

Grand Teton National Park (62 degrees, blue skies)

Shortly after you enter the Grand Tetons National Park is a trailhead to a spectacular four mile (roundtrip) hike to Taggart Lake.  It was a beautiful afternoon for a hike and currently this is one of a few trails which are open. We've hiked quite often since fulltiming and this one rates 5 stars in our book. You can see wonderful views of the Tetons throughout the hike and it's relatively easy with little elevation change.  

Shortly after we left the parking lot we heard a roaring river and came upon this bridge and beautiful river. What a great start!

We lingered here for awhile and watched the river roar down the valley.  It was icy cold at this time of year but it might be very pleasant in the summer.  

Click on the video below to enjoy the river too!

After we left the river we came upon some  horses which had gotten out of their corral.  They ran back and forth on the trail for awhile happy to be free. Soon they settled down and someone called the owners to retrieve them.  This company offers trail rides on the same trail we were on.  

There were beautiful views around every corner

Trail riders

We did have to hike in two shady areas which still had a lot of snow on the trail.  It is melting and we found it difficult to hike along due to sinking sometimes up to our hips in snow.  I'm sure in a couple of weeks it will be all melted.

At last we came upon the beautiful Taggart Lake.  It appeared to be crystal clear.  We sat on a large warm rock and just enjoyed all the splendor around us.  There were not very many people on the trail and it was very peaceful.  

This is a loop trail but today we had to head back the same way due to all the snow pack.  Just as we were leaving the trial we spotted this deer laying down in the shade.  I'm sure she saw us too.  What a great way to spend an afternoon. There are several other hikes in this area we will be sure to check out soon