Tour of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

Day 2 : Drive from Colter Bay Village to Grant Village

Horseback riding at Colter Bay VillageWe had trouble sleeping that night, probably from a combination of the altitude and the 2 hour jet lag.  When we woke up on Tuesday, June 20th, the skies were clear but there was ice melting off of our car.  It promised to be a beautiful day, however.  After breakfast we drove down to Jackson to see the town.  We saw some bison along the side of the road on the way, and visited the town park where they have a large arch made of elk antlers.  We drove back to Colter Bay Village for the horseback trail ride at 2pm.  The day ended up sunny and warm (by mountain standards, anyway... I had a jacket on most of the afternoon) and the trail ride had breathtaking views of the Grand Tetons around every turn.  
     After the ride we headed off to Grant Village.  The elevation gain going into Yellowstone was significant, as the road twisted up and down past rocky canyons and rushing streams.  I was beginning to be really glad we had decided not to try to ride this on our second day in the mountains.  
     Once we were settled in to our second floor hotel room at Grant Village we assembled the bike.  All the parts were there!  Other than the plane not crashing, this was our first victory over bad luck in the whole saga.
     Grant Village is at about 7,800 feet above sea level, more than 1,000 feet above Colter Bay Village.  Just walking up a hill to dinner made us short of breath.  I was now certain that going with our original plan to ride straight out of the airport would have been a recipe for disaster.