Thursday, May 28, 2020
Jackson, Wyoming to Lander, Wyoming
Highlights: Grand Teton National Park, Centennial Scenic Byway through the Wind River Mountain Range, Sacajawea Cemetery, and Sinks Canyon State Park
The Grand Tetons are beautiful - beautiful from the road, from the Chapel of the Transfiguration, along Jenny Lake Scenic Drive, from the Jackson Lake Dam, and again beautiful from the Jackson Lake Overlook. Everywhere you looked, there was another gorgeous view - it was almost obnoxious! There was a mama grizzly with two cubs alongside the road near Jackson Lake Junction, causing a massive traffic jam. It was a crazy scene, so we moved on without stopping.
A moose in Moose, Wyoming
Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park
Jenny Lake and the Tetons
Jackson Lake and the Tetons
Oxbow Bend Overlook
Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (Highway 287/26) southwest of Moran Junction is spectacular, winding between the Gros Ventre and Wind River Mountain Ranges through Togwottee Pass, past the Pinnacle Buttes, and then entering Wyoming's Badlands near Dubois.
Pinnacle Buttes
Mule deer in Dubois
Wyoming Badlands
On the Wind River Indian Reservation
Curious pronghorn
In the town of Fort Washakie, on the Wind River Indian Reservation, we sought out Sacajawea Cemetery to visit the final resting place of the famous Lemhi Shoshone woman who served as guide and interpreter to Lewis and Clark. The quiet and colorful cemetery is found down a remote and unmarked road.
In the town of Fort Washakie
Sacajawea's grave, flanked by her sons Jean Baptiste and Bazil
Overgrown but not forgotten
Chief Washakie, leader of the Eastern Shoshone
Sinks Canyon State Park in Lander is a rugged canyon with an interesting geological phenomenon in which the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River flows out of the Wind River Mountains and rushes into a large cavern, “The Sinks,” where the water disappears from sight and then reemerges a quarter mile further down the canyon in a large, calm pool called “The Rise.” It's unknown where the water goes while it's underground, but dye tests have proven it takes over two hours for the water flowing into the Sinks to reappear in the nearby Rise.
Tom at the Sinks
The Popo Agie River rushes into the Sinks
Spring flowers, Sinks Canyon State Park
Lodging: An awesome $52 deal on a crazy huge room with a kitchenette at the Rodeway Inn Pronghorn Lodge in Lander, Wyoming.
Driving distance: 244 miles
Tom
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