23rd May 2025

So we were up and out by 5.30 a.m. for our early morning trip to Schwabacher Landing (SL) for sunrise shots. 🌅 It was rather chilly at 34ºF (1.1ºC) with ice on the car’s windscreen 🧊 but the day warmed up beautifully and ended up at 64ºF (18ºC).

When we first came to the Tetons five years ago and went to SL for sunrise shots there were about 12 people, including us, to experience the event. What a difference five years makes!

We were flabbergasted when we arrived to find the parking area was full and people were parking in every available nook and cranny and when we left, about an hour later, the cars were parked right back to the main highway with more cars trying to get in! We counted at least 80 cars and that was a rough count, so there could have been more. There must have been between 200-300 people all vying for the best spots and SL is not exactly a huge area. It was crazy! 🤷‍♀️

So, how have things changed so dramatically in such a short time? I think we all know the answer to that ………………. the curse of the Internet that’s what! The Grand Tetons are being mentioned everywhere and once people see how beautiful it is well, enough said. Things will never be the same again. 😔

It was a beautiful morning so we were well rewarded for our early start.

After the shoot we went for breakfast in Jackson at The Bunnery Bakery and Restaurant. It’s a very popular restaurant but as we were so early, just after 7.00 p.m. we got a table with no trouble at all. The food was delicious. I had huckleberry pancakes and Si had ‘The Glory Bowl’ consisting of Swiss cheese melted over two fried eggs, mushrooms and hash browns garnished with sour cream. A healthy dish indeed!! 😂 We won’t mention the cakes we purchased on the way out for a snack later! 😉

We stopped off quickly at Mormon Row the historic district that showcases the settlement patterns and architecture of Mormon families who settled the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Si’s always hopeful that he will find slightly different photographs to the ones he’s taken there before.

We decided to dedicate the rest of the day looking for wildlife. Alas, we were not exactly successful on that front. The first animal we saw was a deer hoovering up someone’s front lawn but we were not able to stop for a photo opportunity and the second was a Coyote but again, we were unable to get a photograph.

So, you can imagine how we felt when we stopped at an area called Colter Bay and a lady told us that yesterday, a famous bear called Blondie (for regular followers of the blog you may remember we photographed her and her three clubs two years ago and then the cubs were killed by a grizzly bear?) had spent all day around the commercial area with her current cub.

Blondie had three cubs again this year but again, two of them were killed by a male grizzly bear. That girl does not have a lot of luck! 😔

There was also another famous bear in the Tetons called Grizzly 399. She was world-famous and there are official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for her too. Sadly on 22nd October 2024, aged 28, she was knocked down by a car and killed.

She was the oldest documented grizzly bear to reproduce in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Grand Tetons is part of that). Her last cub was born in 2023 when she was 27 years old. She had at least 22 cubs and was followed by as many as 40 professional wildlife photographers and millions of tourists came to the area to see her.

Most of her ashes were scattered in Grand Teton National Park and Static Peak was renamed to Peak 399 in her honour on 1st May 2025.

Her eldest surviving daughter Grizzly 610, often referred to as “Princess 610” or “the Princess of the Tetons,” was also in the Colter Bay area yesterday so we are hoping to see her or Blondie when we hike the area in the next couple of days.

We had lunch today in the Mural Room at Jackson Lake Lodge and were lucky enough to sit at a window table that affords magnificent views of the Grand Tetons. Si had the turkey club with fruit (much healthier!) and I had salmon croquettes with roasted red pepper remoulade and grilled lemon.

While we were out driving today we came across this sign. Not one we are familiar with in the U.K.

When we arrived back at the cabin this little guy was waiting for us. We’ve named him ‘Gordon the Ground Squirrel’. I guess that’s actually three wild animals we’ve seen today!

Tomorrow looks like being another early start as we plan to take a drive to Yellowstone National Park. We have been there a few times so instead of re-visiting the areas we have already seen our plan is to visit Hayden Valley instead.

It has abundant wildlife including bison, elk, grizzly bears, wolves and various bird species so, fingers crossed, we may have more luck tomorrow. 🤞

As always, thanks for reading.