With a reservation for a "frontier cabin" at Mammoth Hot Springs at the very north end of Yellowstone, over 100 miles away, our group set out for an overview driving tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. But first we had to take the longest ski resort tram ride in the USA up 4200 vertical feet, riding for over 12 minutes, to the top of Rendevous Mountain.
Once down, we piled in the van and I proceeded to drive the boys north on a tour of Grand Teton, stopping first at Jenny Lake, then String Lake then Jackson Lake. After an Elk Chili lunch at the lovely Jackson Lake Lodge, we drove on to... Yellowstone!!
The highlight of this voyage to me was the half dozen base jumpers "flying" off the mountain. They unloaded the parachutes from their packs, put on their helmets, straightened the cords, pulled until the parachute caught in the wind, quickly turned around and jumped off the 10,500 foot mountain. Here's a pic of Steve beginning his flight and two actual flyers in flight.
The views of the surrounding mountains were awe-inspiring. The Tetons could be seen to the north but sharp peaks and ridge-lines extended all around. This being the top of the ski resort, if this was winter, we would've skied down--not. The double blacks at the top were beyond my ski ability. We did take a great group shot and a great jump shot before descending on the tram.
A competition to guess the number of wildlife groups we would pass on the road was won easily by Lanny with his high guess of 20-- we passed over 25 groups, mostly bison. We also passed some interesting mud pots and hot springs before arriving to Mammoth. We settled in, had a late dinner and then enjoyed a late night walk to the Travertine Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.
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