Yellowstone and the Tetons

We had the inflatable kayaks on this trip, and they changed how the whole thing felt.

Carrying an inflatable kayak along a forest trail between lakes — Grand Teton National Park

Paddle all day, camp, do it again. There was one stretch where we had to haul out, carry the boats a few minutes overland and put back in on the other side. How fun is that.

View from an inflatable kayak with the Tetons above the water and a second kayak ahead — Grand Teton National Park

Being on the water gives you an angle on a place you cannot get from a road or a trail. This was our best Tetons and Yellowstone visit and the kayaks are most of the reason why.

Bison and their calves grazing in a green valley in Yellowstone — Yellowstone National Park

We went to the far side of Yellowstone this time and found bison everywhere, a whole herd of them with babies running around.

The bison

One of our most memorable mornings in the van happened on a park road.

I was driving. We came up over a little hill where the road curved to the right, and we both saw it at the same time. A bison, running, on a line for the road.

Everything slowed down. Like the Matrix.

I felt like he and I made eye contact, and we both decided the other one was not a threat, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

It was the craziest thing.

The fox

Jesse

This one is mine. Karlee was in the van and missed the whole thing.

Sunset at Jenny Lake, the whole Teton range lit up behind the water, and I was out there by myself. Then a fox walked up. Not past me. Up to me. And he stopped.

He looked at me. I looked at him. Neither of us moved. I honestly don’t know how long it went on, but it was long enough that I stopped thinking “wild animal, be careful” and started thinking “okay, so what are we doing here?”

Then he answered that. There was a hat lying on the ground, and he grabbed it and started flinging it around in his teeth, and every toss landed a little closer to me. Then he dropped it and looked right at me. If you have ever had a dog, you know exactly what that look means.

So I walked over, picked up the hat, and threw it.

And he went and got it!

We played fetch. A fox and a guy on the shore of Jenny Lake, at sunset, playing fetch. A few rounds, until he was done and I was done, and then we just sat down near each other and watched the mountains and the water.

That doesn’t happen. Wild animals leave, and they should. But for a few minutes neither of us was afraid and neither of us wanted anything. I will never forget it.

Camp

We filled our bottles straight out of the river through the MSR MiniWorks, and we found one of the prettiest river campsites we have ever had, out on BLM land. I would have stayed extra days there just for the campsite.

We drove home to Denver through the parks instead of the highways. We always will.

Yellowstone and the Tetons, season by season, in our mountain west guide

Trace this trip on the map

Karlee & Jesse