Outpost Jackson Hole

Vacation Rentals in Jackson Hole

Wildlife

Wildlife, Up Close & Personal

“There is a subtle magnetism in nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.” – Henry David Thoreau

While there’s nothing wrong with being that person on the side of the highway, blocking traffic while you snap a grainy photo of a moose two hundred yards away — why not get the real Jackson wildlife experience up close and personal?

After asking myself this same question, I booked myself a spot in a converted van with Ecotour Adventures for a half-day winter tour around Grand Teton National Park (they offer tours in Yellowstone as well). I chose to go at sunset, but if you’re a morning person you can opt for the sunrise tour. Both are equally as wonderful for wildlife viewing, and both are the most gorgeous times of day to get out for some sights.

Result: I’ll be treating myself to at least one of these a year, but more likely one a season. 

They’ve ripped out the seats in the vans and put in captain’s chairs which, not only is this way better for viewing (everyone gets a window seat and a roof hatch to pop out of), but the comfort meter goes straight to a 10. Before my stomach could even start to rumble, our amazing guide, Shaun, was handing me locally-made jerky and a cup of tea. Fully content, I settled back into a glorious, post-work relaxation coma for the rest of the commute. 

When we got to the park, there was no shortage of our guide’s expert knowledge about where to find wildlife. We found plenty of moose, including mother cow moose and their calves nibbling on branches close by. Who’s to say they don’t know how to love up the camera? A little further along, we watched herds of elk moving across the massive landscape, bald eagles close enough to see the detail of their tail feathers, trumpeter swans, and mule deer. When we came upon dozens of sage grouse (I learned Jackson’s population is a genetically isolated species), I was floored at how camouflaged and unique a species we have right here at home. 

Did I mention the van had roof hatches for us to poke up out of so I never even had to leave the warmth of the interior? I think I did, but I want it to sink in. And I doubt I’m the only person who didn’t realize high quality binoculars make a serious difference; I spent the whole tour glued to the world-class specs they gave us from Wyoming-based company Maven Optics.  

Riding back near dusk, we heard owls hooting back and forth across some distance to each other (and Shaun extended the tour for us to search them out). I closed my eyes and let that comfy captain’s chair engulf me, drifting off for a quick cat nap filled with sage grouse and porcupines, and some elk jerky on the side. 

Photos by Lindley Rust

Wildlife Safari in Jackson Hole

It’s a warm summer night, and the airy, comfortable van has come to a full stop along an irrigation ditch in the sage flats. Dust whirls around the tires and Taylor Phillips, owner of EcoTour Adventures, raises a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

“Anybody know if it’s a female or a male?” he asks, quietly, without turning his head.

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He’s looking out across the sage flats by Mormon Row, an aptly named area just east of Blacktail Butte in Grand Teton National Park, and the first settling place of the area’s early Mormon farmers. In the distance, four pronghorn graze majestically, illuminated by the golden rays of the long evening light.   

Taylor has the passengers guess the gender of the elegant ungulates, pointing out territorial and behavioral clues that allow the guests to draw a portrait of what’s happening in front of them.

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“Essentially, these guys are bachelors, and this is their bachelor pad,” Taylor explains. “See all that dead grass and dust? They don’t have the status within the herd to graze in more desirable territory, so here they are.” 

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The pronghorn, seemingly impervious to the EcoTours van parked by their pad, continue to graze. The light shifts, subtly, moment by moment, and the ridgeline of the Tetons cast lengthy shadows across the flat valley floor, creating a two-dimensional outline of the range. At Schwabacher’s Landing, the next stop on the tour, the sun dips behind Mount Owen in a final, flaring, brilliant farewell.

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In between Taylor’s discussion of the earth’s stretching crust and scraping glaciers we wander trails by the twisting Snake River and giggle as beaver heads plow through the still water, creating ripples in the fly-strewn calm. The bison, elk, and moose, not visible now, but present, wander the plains and among the willow banks, sharing the cooling mountain air with the small group.

“I want people to think about how landscape and wild interact.”

While its glaring beauty never fails to arrest, this frequently crossed Antelope Flats area of Jackson Hole can lose its novelty as an exciting part of our local wilderness in its own right. Yet even here the captivating connections Taylor draws between species, plants, geology, and people shed new perspective on this giant ecosystem many call home. For him, the EcoTours experience is “to go ‘beyond pretty.’ Everyone is impressed with the beauty of this place. But I want people to think about how landscape and wild interact. How can people interact? How can a deeper understanding of this place make a visitor’s trip to the Tetons more memorable?”

The mountains have healing powers for us humans, and land holds the power to heal itself. For visitor or local, those stories of wilderness, nature, and history are etched across the valley, sprinkled across the high moraines, and sunken into the riverbeds. Those stories are written again every day at the hatch of a caddisfly, the unfurling of a scarlet gilia flower, or the brush of an elk’s leg against the silverleaf. EcoTours helps bring those stories to life.   

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To book a wildlife safari in Jackson Hole or Yellowstone with Taylor Phillips or his other naturalists click here.

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Images © Taylor Glenn