The Grand Teton National Park offers ample rewards of scenery and adventure for visitors who are willing to hike away from the main highway or at least drive down a dirt road. But sometimes, intrepid adventurers can find endearing cuteness and awesome beauty by… pulling into a turnout and walking a little bit, as my grandparents and I did at the Elk Ranch Flats Turnout when we returned to the park in 2018.
We saw no elk at the Elk Ranch this time or any other time, nor did we see bison as we had our previous visit a couple years before in 2016. But the herd of horses we (and lots of other tourists) found was plenty to satisfy our animals-in-the-mountains quota. The horses with the Grand Teton mountain range in the background formed the quintessential Western scene.
And these horses knew how to mug for the camera:
