Day 9: Yellowstone to Grand Tetons to Salt Lake City

During the night it snowed. John cleaned the car off and started packing it. We actually made it out of the hotel at a decent hour this morning because we planned to drive through Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons and then Salt Lake City. Even with no stops it is a 9 hour drive.
As we headed south out of Yellowstone we took photos at Lewis Falls, but they didn’t do it justice. Ezi took pictures of the frozen Lewis Lake.
The winding drive through southern Yellowstone was snowy and gorgeous. It ran along a river and snow-capped mountains and pine trees surrounded us on all sides.
Our first stop in Grand Tetons was Coulter Bay, where we did a little bit of the trail along Jackson Lake. Then we briefly stopped at the Willow Creek Overlook and Oxbow Bend Overlook.
1.8 mile round trip easy Leigh Lake Trail. It passed a lake with the majestic Tetons behind it.
The next trail we did was the Lake Creek-Woodland Trail. It followed a fast-moving creek with amazingly clear water that appeared a very light bluish/green color. We made it to Phelps Lake, spent a few minutes taking in the views, then tried to to head back to the car via a new trail. I got mixed up, but we eventually found the trail and our way back. When we got back to the car someone told us the wildlife photographer we passed on the way down had just been photographing a grizzly bear. The bear must have passed us as we were going down.
We passed out of the mountain-surrounded valley at the southern end of Grand Tetons into Jackson, WY. We thought it would be a good idea to go back there sometime for biking, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing. These are all things we would probably enjoy on a vacation even though we haven’t tried them out on a trip yet.
From there we drove to Salt Lake City where John will be taking a flight home in the morning.