Monday, June 21, 2010

Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park

Though I'm behind on the posting, we had a wonderful day in Jackson Hole a few days ago... the town is super cute and we really liked Grand Teton National Park. A friend of ours lived in Jackson Hole for six months and gave us some great suggestions, including the first hike of the day: Taggart Lake.
Taggart Lake Trail
How gorgeous is the view?!

We followed the loop trail around, and halfway through enjoyed some time along the beautiful Taggart Lake:
Taggart Lake

Next we headed over to Jenny Lake, where we took a ferry across the lake. From there it was just a short hike up to see Hidden Falls:
Hidden Falls

Rather than riding the ferry back, we decided to take the path around the lake back to our starting point. The craziest part of the trip is when we crossed paths with a man who warned us that there was a moose on the trail up ahead. Though a bit scared ~ we had heard that they're very protective of their space ~ we were also excited, since we hadn't seen a moose yet. We were looking around as we walked, thinking it might be in the woods, but we turned a corner and HOLY COW there was an enormous moose head in the middle of the trail. Bigger than I would have imagined it would be: as a sense of scale, according to Wikipedia, a male moose stands 6-7 feet tall at the shoulder. Unfortunately, the only picture we got was of its backside as it walked into the woods while we passed, so sorry we have nothing to share!
Jenny Lake
Jenny Lake

The full set of Grand Teton National Park pictures are below:
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Thursday, June 17, 2010

On to Jackson Hole

We're now in Jackson Hole, a 3-hour drive from West Yellowstone, where we had been staying. As seems to be the norm lately, the drive was gorgeous... now we're looking forward to seeing Grand Teton National Park and exploring the town!
On the Road Again

Grand Tetons
First View of the Tetons

My Photo Audience
Photographer's Audience

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Yellowstone - Hiking and Elk Sightings

On Sunday, our second day in Yellowstone National Park, we started the day off with another Geyser Loop, the Fountain Paint Pot Nature Trail. While many of the Geysers and Springs look the same after a while, this path had some cool bubbling mud pots, which we hadn't seen before.

Fountain Paint Pot Loop
A bubbling Mud Pot

The main roads of Yellowstone form a figure eight, so are commonly referred to as the Upper and Lower Loops. On Sunday we drove around the entire Lower Loop, which really gives you a sense of just how big the park is - the Lower Loop road alone is 105 miles long! We got great views of Yellowstone Lake and even stopped off for a picnic lunch with a view.

Enjoying Lunch with a View
Lunch with a View
We hiked the Elephant Back Trail, a 3.5 mile path with an 800 foot increase in elevation. Though the trail was muddy from recent rains and very steep in places, we took our time and enjoyed the gorgeous view from the top.
View at the top of Elephant Back Trail
Jason and Nicki at the top of Elephant Back

View at the top of Elephant Back Trail
View from the Top, Elephant Back Trail

We continued our drive around the loop and finally spotted some Elk!

Male Elk Sighting

Then off to Artist's Point overlooking the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Here you have an amazing view of the Lower Yellowstone Falls.

Lower Yellowstone Falls
Yellowstone Lower Falls, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We were also amused by the 'No Hiking' signs, since 2 feet behind the sign is a rocky cliff into the canyon. Seems as though no hiking would go without saying...

Obvious Sign - Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

The rest of our shots from Sunday are below:
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer


We really just scratched the surface of this enormous park, so we already know we'll be back some day!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Yellowstone - land of Geysers and Buffalo

We spent the last few days exploring Yelowstone National Park, which was truly gorgeous. One of the first things you notice when you enter the park are the BUFFALO!
Buffalo

They are everywhere and are so close to the road... they seem to have no fear of cars and even caused a couple of traffic jams during our visit.
Buffalo Crossing
A buffalo takes a stroll in the road

On Saturday we started our visit at the famous Old Faithful Geyser, then walked the closeby Upper Geyser Basin path to see several other Geysers and Springs. The smell of sulfur is in the air and its just incredible how the heat of the earth creates these amazing displays. My favorites are the Springs, which look like little pools and are these gorgeous shades of blue and green. Everywhere you look the earth is giving off steam and water is boiling - its just amazing!
Old Faithful
Old Faithful Erupting

Next we headed out on a hike to Fairy Falls... there was a forest fire in 1988 and you can still see the effects everywhere you look in this area.
Fairy Falls
Jason and Nicki at Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls
Remnants of the 1988 Forest Fire, Fairy Falls Trail

On Monday we took a quick visit to the Norris Geyser Basin and the surrounding spots before heading out of town to Jackson Hole. Though our cool weather contributed, we were constantly amazed by how the earth is literally giving off steam everywhere you look!
Steam as far as you can see

Cistern Spring - Norris Geyser Basin
Cistern Spring on the Norris Geyser Basin Loop

If you're interested, see all the pictures below:
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Big Sky Country

Yesterday we left Boise and drove to West Yellowstone, Montana. Some Boise locals advised that we take a route through Stanley, Idaho rather than the all-highway path and promised beautiful scenery... and they were right - the drive was gorgeous!
Somewhere in Idaho

Somewhere in Idaho

Today we're off to explore Yellowstone National Park for the first of a few days... pictures of course to come!
Somewhere in Idaho

Friday, June 11, 2010

Best of Boise

Before we leave town, we of course need to share our favorite Boise spots!

Red Feather Lounge
The Red Feather Lounge (obviously!)

Bittercreek Ale House
Red Feather sister restaurant/ bar, the Bittercreek Alehouse

Capitol Park
Capitol Park - we often walked through here on our way to 8th street

Idaho Indie Works
Idaho Indie Works, a co-op of local artistans selling their handmade work

8th Street
8th Street

Grape Escape
Grape Escape, a favorite spot to enjoy wine and cheese outside

Street Mural
There are murals and great signage all over the town

The Flying M Coffee House
Above and below, The Flying M, a really cool local coffee shop

The Flying M Coffee House

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Eating Local in Boise

For one of our final nights in Boise we walked over to 8th street, where many of the popular places to eat and drink are located. We ended up at the fabulous Red Feather Lounge, a restaurant whose focus is on eating locally. It was such an inspiring place - all the ingredients are grown locally- they even helped to fund local livestock farms when they couldn't find them. Their goal is to produce no waste, so they limit the products that come in packaging, ensuring that just about everything is created in-house (including all condiments!). They have two enormous composting bins on the roof for all food and paper waste and their glasses are made from old wine bottles.

Jason at the Red Feather Lounge

On top of feeling good about where we were eating, it was super yummy. Its probably a good thing we didn't find this place earlier, or we would have been over there way too much!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Table Rock

Boise is relatively flat, but is surrounded by mountains, so there are lots of paths up and around the foothills. Yesterday we went out to experience one of the most famous local hikes, Table Rock, one of the highest points in the city. The path up to the Table Rock itself was pretty steep in places, climbing 900 feet in 1.6 miles... while we just walked (slowly!), there were many people out jogging up and down the path and there were several mountain biking paths.
Starting the Tablerock Hike
Jason at the start of the trail

Tablerock Hike
Partway up - look closely and you can see street level where we started!

Hiking to Tablerock

Tablerock Hike
We passed some gorgeous homes and this vineyard

The View
The View

The View
Looking down on Boise

Monday, June 7, 2010

Capital City Market

Boise has an active Farmer's Market, the cornerstone of which is the Capital City Market, held each Saturday morning. The Market covers over 4 blocks and is full of all sorts of food, locally-produced items and art. We visited this past weekend and it was pretty amazing how large it was and how many people were out wandering around.

Some shots of the scene:
Capital City Market

Capital City Market

I also realized that we havent been taking very many shots of the town, which we'll need to remedy in the next few days! In the meantime, a shot of the very pretty Idaho State Capitol Building:
Idaho State Capital

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Weekend Trip to Seattle

Over the Memorial Day weekend we took a quick trip to visit friends Mike and Marissa (and their cute daughter, Hazel) who live in Seattle. The weather didn't cooperate (though rainy in Seattle seemed appropriate!), but we still had a great time. A few highlights from the trip:

Nicki & Jason outside Pike Place Market
Outside Pike's Place Market

On Saturday we went to the famous Pikes Place Market and took in the displays of fresh seafood, flowers, and pretty much anything else you can think of! We saw the original Starbucks and had lunch downtown before heading back to Everett, WA where Mike and Marissa live.
Hazel & Marissa
Hazel and Marissa pretending to be tourists
(see the full album below for the N+J version)


Saturday night they had gotten a babysitter so we enjoyed a night out... dinner on the water at Ivan's, then a stop at McCabe's. Seriously. The bar had line dancing lessons going on, but we opted for a boys vs. girls game of darts. (Which the girls won!) The final stop of the night was a dueling piano bar, where we sang along very loudly.

Jason outside McCabe's
Jason outside McCabe's

Sunday we took the Ferry over to Whidbey Island and the town of Langley. Even in the not-so-wonderful weather we enjoyed exploring the adorable little town.


View back at the Mainland
The view from the Ferry

Thanks to Mike, Marissa, and Hazel for such a fun weekend!

The full set of pictures from the trip is below:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer