During late June – early July 2010, my good friend (and amazing photographer) Josh Dayton went to Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks and were blessed with great weather (especially for photography) and great company during the trip. This post will be on the longer side, so if you just want to see pretty pictures go ahead and scroll down.

My journey began on a Sunday after church as I departed Gunnison for Breckenridge where Josh lives, and upon meeting him we left to drive 8 hours to Jackson Hole, WY. I have lived in the beautiful state of Colorado for my entire life (save for a 3 month stint in Alaska), and I have never seen many of the northern areas of the state. This was my first time driving over Rabbit Ears Pass and into Steamboat Springs, which of course now I want to spend a few days in that area and photograph. Stopping for a quick bit of artery killing food in Craig, we leave Colorado and journey northward. I have traveled many many miles with Josh and I’m always surprised that we actually get along quite fine when in a car together for many hours at a time. I’ll admit, I’m not the easiest to get along with so it’s really more of a compliment toward him and his gracious spirit.

A few sketchy gas stations, beef jerky, and some Brian Regan later we arrive in Jackson Hole at 1am. It’s a gorgeous night sky and we are quickly out on the flats of Grand Teton National Park in a parking lot (that will become our nights accommodations) taking long exposures of Grand Teton bathing in the full moon’s light. I remember being awed at the Tetons, this was the first time I had ever seen them in person and they are some majestic mountains!

Settling back into the Taurasauras (Josh’s Ford Taurus), we sleep for a few hours until just before sunrise we speed over to Oxbow Bend on the Snake River for some sunrise shots. Now, Oxbow Bend is a very photographed area of the park because the still morning waters of the Snake provide an epic reflections of the Tetons, specifically Mt. Moran. Though the clear sky isn’t as “dramatic” as I would prefer, the crystal clear reflection on the brisk morning is again, awe inspiring. We then head toward Mormon Row which is home to perhaps the most photographed barns in the world. The John Moulton Barns are an amazing scene with the dilapidated and worn barns in front of a glacier covered Grand Teton. There are MANY photographers here, and getting “prime real estate” is somewhat tough. Knowing that we probably weren’t going to get anything super original, we had no problem getting the classic (if a little cliche) photos. After getting into a staring contest with a buffalo, we decide that it’s time for some breakfast. That has already been the most productive morning of photography that I’ve ever had, and it’s not even 8am.

After some breakfast in Jackson, we head back out and hike walk to Leigh Lake back in the park. Again we are greeted by clear reflections of Mt. Moran and surrounding mountains. In fact, we would have stayed longer but the mutant sized mosquitoes were having a field day on our exposed skin. We then ventured to Jenny Lake and wade into the water to cool off and get more photos, seriously the productiveness of this day is kinda ridiculous. We were definitely blessed. Have some lunch and it’s on the road for Bozeman, MT where Josh knows a family that is going put us up for the night before we journey to Glacier National Park.

Ok, so I’m going to say this and get it over with. We went through Yellowstone National Park and while it had some beautiful sights for sure…I fail to see the reason why it is so visited. Seeing a grizzly bear was pretty cool, and so was NOT being burned by boiling hot mud (I had to throw that in there, you know who you are ) But honestly, I had more fun psyching out the other tourists by point out of the car at nothing and basically causing a traffic jam while people looked for whatever I was pointing at. I don’t know, but we didn’t stay very long in Yellowstone. I’ll probably go back some day and find it really cool, but it’s not on my list of places to photograph right now.

Onward through Yellowstone and through southern Montana on our way to Bozeman we went, and I found Montana to be a very gorgeous state. I had heard from my friend Jamie that Bozeman reminded her of a larger version of Gunnison, and I would have to agree, it’s nestled in a valley (albeit much larger than the Upper Gunnison valley) with large mountains surrounding it. The Galatin Valley and Bridger mountains are beautiful! We stayed with an amazing family, who treated us incredibly well. They were having a friend of the family’s over for dinner who had just got done climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and let me tell you, this family knows how to do a barbeque! After dinner, one of our gracious hosts took us for a bike ride around the area recalling stories and adventures of yesteryear in the fading light of the beautiful sunset. A few games of pool, and a shower later we went to sleep capping one of best days in recent memory.

Part 2 will be posted soon, telling about our Glacier National Park experience. For now, here are some photos of the gorgeous landscapes in Grand Teton National Park. For more photos, visit my website Ryan Wright Photography or my Flickr account.

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