Wyoming

So today was spent mostly just gunning it through eastern Wyoming and northern Utah to get from Yellowstone National Park to Salt Lake City. The journey would take us through the Grand Teton National Park and my only real aim for this stretch was to ogle out the Tetons and maybe get a decent picture of it.

In fact, I had mentioned before that the picture by Ansel Adams that has for so long inspired me might have been a factor in the deciding of a route for the road trip. So through the Grand Teton National Park it was but what a disappointment. No, it's not that the Tetons and the Snake river aren't as magnificent as the books claim and no, it's not that Ansel Adams fudged his photo to make it look like something it wasn't.

I don't know, maybe it's the fact that the skies were pregnant with snow clouds, to the extent that virtually none of the mountains were visible. Maybe it's the fact that the trees has grown quite significantly since Messr Adams took his picture in 1942. Maybe it's the fact that I am not half the photographer that he was. Or maybe it's a generous serving of all the above. Here follows his picture with mine directly beneath it. I'll let you decide which is the better one :-)

The Tetons and the Snake River (1942) Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Ansel Adams

The Tetons and the Snake River (2012) Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Déwald Swanepoel

Oh well, we enjoyed what could be seen of the lovely scenery. At least the mountains aren't the only scenic elements of the area and we had seen the Tetons earlier, but from the other side as we drove through Idaho. We passed through the delightful town of Jackson, Wyoming. A pity we couldn't sleep over a night as it really is a charming little spot.

Smoot, WY

The rest of the day was spent driving through eastern Wyoming, encountering all sorts of tiny little towns like Smoot, Wyoming, with its population of 100 and total area of 1.7 square miles. Don't bother looking for it on Google Earth, it's probably hidden under a tree.

Wyoming, very much a mountain state, is a quite a pleasant state to drive through and, while the scenery changed rather abrubtly as we left Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, it remained very scenic throughout.

We're now in Salt Lake City, UT. We hadn't planned on spending any real time here and will head off towards Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar City tomorrow.