...And Bears?! Oh My!

Dana's Father's Day wish was to take a floating tour of Snake River. We all got the best gift imaginable when a black bear (who looked awfully brown to us) showed up not 50 feet from us. The shot above was taken after we floated past him; he then proceeded to run alongside us for the next several minutes. I took a few more photos, which I'll include below, but none of them do him justice, as our float was bobbing around, and Maddie and I were trying hard to get good shots without falling into the freezing water. It was absolutely thrilling. The Dana pointing pose is a belated Father's Day gift to Clay (and Mark) :-)

The floating tour was from 5:30 - 7:30 this evening, so you'll notice the sun is setting behind the mountains in most of the shots. We also saw an eagle, his nest, a beaver and a slew of Canadian geese. The river provided yet one more vantage point from which to view animals in their natural habitat, which has provided the most awesome moments of a seemingly unending list of awe-inspiring moments on this trip. Bear sightings are rare in these parts. Most locals have never seen one, and the diehards in Yellowstone were set up with mega-telescopes aimed at the distant woods in the hope of catching sight of Smoky. To happen to float by at the exact instant our bear was hanging by the riverbank... well, I told Maddie that stepping in elk poop would bring her luck.

We spent the early part of the day walking around Jackson Hole so much that even Daniel was actually eager to get back into the car. We walked up to Snow King Resort, which is where the alpine slide is located. The ride up the ski lift was as much fun as the slide down. The drive to the river launch took us once more through Teton National Forest and gave us a chance to narrow down the location of Harrison Ford's 800 acre ranch.

We absolutely adore Jackson Hole; it will be bittersweet to leave tomorrow. The surrounding Tetons are breathtaking, and the town itself is as charming as it could be. We have called another audible, deciding to save Bryce and Zion for another trip. The idea of pulling two 9 hour drives in the next four days was more than we could "bear." Instead, we'll head to Park City, Utah tomorrow (a far more manageable 4 hour drive), then to Moab, Utah for a couple of days before returning to Colorado. This way, we'll take advantage of the cooler temperatures (Zion hit 100 the other day) and have more time to enjoy Moab and Aspen.

What does all that mean? Tomorrow we dine with Robert Redford :-)