Montana Vacation, 2001

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Part 2:   Grand Teton National Park

   Tetons

Following our initial tour through Yellowstone National Park, we continued south into neighboring Grand Teton National Park, the "park of Matterhorns". We spent two nights at Jackson Lake Lodge and on the full day in between, went on a scenic dayhike. Our dayhike was a 10-mile round-trip climb to Ampitheater Lake, located in a basin at 9700 ft. just east of the Grand Teton. While there, we climbed a pinnacle beside nearby Surprise Lake for a wild, spectacular view of the massive Tetons and down below to the valley floor. "Surprise Lake Pinnacle" is a little-known, but recommended side trip for anyone travelling to Ampitheater Lake.
Trailhead
Trailhead for Ampitheater Lake.		 Trail
Climbing.		 Lake
Ampitheater Lake
After arriving at Ampitheater Lake, we enjoyed a much needed rest and then climbed to a scenic saddle at the Lake's northwest edge. After a restful hour, we returned to Surprise Lake and scrambled up the pinnacle for a super-scenic view.
South Teton
South Teton.		 Surprise
Surprise Lake.		 Dave
Dave enjoys the view.

Following our rewarding dayhike to Ampitheater Lake, we cleaned up and went moose hunting, sort of. The dusk hour is a special time for wildlife watching in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and we drove to popular areas to see what we could see. Usually, all one needs to do is to find cars stopped alongside the road and people scurrying about, and there will likely be some form of wildlife present. We found and watched two moose mothers and their calves this way.

The next morning, we headed back north and toured the west side of Yellowstone before arriving in Bozeman for our visit with the Macurs.


Yellowstone   Yellowstone         Montana   Montana

Yellowstone     Tetons     Montana    

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