Since leaving Moab, Utah in early May with temperatures pushing 100F I've been having a tough time of it. It snowed on me at the southern part of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah/Wyoming border. When I thought how pretty the Grand Tetons would be I went farther north.
The snow was pretty in Grand Teton National Park but the weather wasn't and I spent the next few weeks bouncing around between the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Flaming Gorge lookiing for a place with some decent weather. Most of the trails still had several feet of now on them so that was out. About all I could do was go sightseeing and clouds, rain, wind and cold didn't allow that. I wasn't a happy camper!
I had one decent day at Grand Teton National Park. With no real objective I started hiking around Jenny Lake. Some snow but passable. Spotted a moose on a slope above me and then an elk above the moose. Lots of marmots around too and they weren't shy.
A little ways past the moose I saw a good sized cinnamon (a blond black) bear just on the down side of the trail. I whipped out the ol' camera and started blasting away. I watched it tearing up rotted logs looking for bugs and such as it continued down the slope. Then I it came back up the slope and when it hit the trail it turned towards me. I was still blasting away with the camera as it got closer and closer. Just as I started thinking 'uh oh' it turned on up the slope. I got several pretty good photos especially with it coming towards me. I spotted a mama moose and a calf that couldn't have been more than a day or two old as I was leaving the park.
Lots of snow in the passes at Yellowstone National Park. 8-10 feet deep up slope of the roads. Not a snowflake to be seen down in the valley where the hot springs are. Buffalo herds everywhere, most with young calves less than a week old.
Saw one grizzly way off in the distance through a borrowed telescope. One black bear with at least one cub but the photos were out of focus. One moose, two wolves and some elk. And then the cold and wind and snow started again.
I finally ended up at the Green River Trailhead in the Wind River Range. It's around 7000 feet and didn't have any snow at all on the trail. Did the Clear Creek Trail, 6 miles round trip with just some ups and downs. Was not happy with the 5 1/2 hours it took to do that pretty easy hike. Did the same trail 3 more times in the next week. Finally got an acceptable time.