Journeys: Grand Teton National Park

     After a backcountry photo shoot and a rock climbing trip did not pan out, I had a random idea to drive to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) to see what I could see. At a friend's suggestion I took the scenic route from Bozeman to West Yellowstone by driving through Ennis, MT. The Madison River valley is sweeping and beautiful. It was a good thing that Route 287 was flat and straight or I might have totaled my truck while craning my neck at the view. I am so used to seeing the Madison Range from the east and it was so drastically different from the west with the mountains rising straight up from the valley floor. I arrived in West Yellowstone and checked in at the Yellowstone visitor's center to find out whether or not the route to GTNP through Yellowstone was open. It was not. I would have to take the long way through Idaho then over Teton Pass at Jackson, WY.

     As I approached the Tetons from the west I was disappointed because the mountains were banked in with clouds. I crossed over from Idaho to Wyoming and drove north past the National Elk Refuge. The valley was not cloaked in poor weather and I enjoyed seeing buffalo, elk, and moose grazing on the golden grasses in the preserved bottom land. I had no plan of what to do once I arrived in GTNP. I just wanted to explore. The visitor's center was closed so I drove to the only place I had read about, Lupine Meadows Trailhead. The trailhead is the starting point to climb the Grand Teton. I sat on the tailgate of my truck eating food and staring at the clouded Tetons. I wondered what it would be like to be sitting here preparing for a one day attack on the Grand. Is it exposed and scary? How drop dead exhausted would I be at the end of 24 hours of hiking and climbing? How rewarding would it be to be standing on the summit at 13,755 feet? Would I want to come down?

     The shadows were lengthening and the sun was sinking behind the mountains and the clouds. I decided I would continue driving the park road and check the views from the scenic turnouts along the way. This was a photography trip and at least I could do some recon while the weather was poor. As I pulled into the Mount Moran turnout I had no idea that fate was about to slap me in the face in the form of two European photographers visiting the United States from Italy.

     I was sitting in my truck checking the map and watching the clouds gradually clear from the summit of Mount Moran. A silver sedan pulled up near me and two men leapt out with cameras and frantically set about taking photos. One man with longer hair seemed to be "in charge" and he was barking orders at the other man. I could hear their banter from the  closed cab of my truck grinned at their Odd Couple antics. The clouds cleared to a point where I felt compelled to take some photos. I had only snapped one or two when the bossy fellow approached me and let me know he was a Swedish photographer living in Italy visiting America to take photos in support of a foundation owned by the Moratti family, which owns Inter Milan Football Club. His name was Thomas Salme. His quieter assistant was Carsten Boelter, a German photographer also living in Milan, Italy. We spoke briefly of photography then Thomas invited me to camp with them not far away in the Bridger Teton National Forest. I accepted and shortly we were making camp at the foot of Shadow Mountain.

     As night fell at our campsite Carsten cooked potatoes and beans and Thomas started a grizzly bear dialogue that he would keep up for the next three days. Where the bears awake yet? Could they attack us at a moment's notice? Could they tear a door off a car? Could they claw their way into my truck? Would bear spray really work? Was that a bear just out there in the wood line? Needless to say, Thomas kept his bear spray close at hand all through the night.