Grand Teton & Yellowstone

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Grand Teton National Park

Day 31 – Aug 9

We left Antelope Island in Utah around 1:30 p.m. and headed toward Grand Teton National Park. We couldn’t find available lodging in Jackson, Wyoming at a reasonable price so we reserved a one room primitive cabin with heat at the Teton Valley RV Park and Cabins in Victor, Idaho, about 1 hour from Jackson, and 90 minutes from Grand Teton. The cabin shared facilities with RV campers. We met and chatted a long time with Jonathan and Sue, managers of the place. Sue’s sister was from our hometown! Great stay for $60, but I forgot my brand new “Glacier” baseball cap at the pool…damn!

Jenny Lake Trail & Inspiration Point Trail

Day 32 – Aug 10

Arrived at Grand Teton National Park around 8:30 am.  The jagged mountain skyline greeting us at the park was truly majestic and inspiring. We showed our America the Beautiful Pass, got a park map, and proceeded to first figure out where we were going to stay since we had no reservations.

We pulled into Jenny Lake Campground, the most popular campground in the park. The sign said “Full”, and nobody was at the registration booth. On Em’s suggestion we drove through the campground anyway, just to see what we might find…and miraculously found an empty site with a note on the site post from the prior occupant who abandoned the site with one night left on his reservation!! We lucked out again and squatted right there.

In the shadow of pine trees and the Tetons, Em set up the tent by herself as I went to find the campground host to secure the site officially.

 

I couldn’t find the campground host so we went on and hiked part of Jenny Lake Trail and branched off to Hidden Falls Trail, and Inspiration Point Trail; we did 6 miles in total. This Jenny Lake area is very popular, and Inspiration Point was very crowded but it did provide great views of the lake and the mountainous skyline. We hiked a little bit with a family from The Netherlands. This was a great introduction to the Grand Tetons.

We took a tour boat back to the boat dock near the Jenny Lake Campground so we could get the view from the water. The ride cost $18. We then caught up with the campground hosts and secured our campsite for 3 nights. What a huge score!

I spoke with our campsite neighbors to get some tips as they were regulars at Grand Teton. We have found that we get the best information by just talking to people.  Most people are very happy to share experiences and information.  We drove around the Teton Road to stop at some truly breathtaking overlooks. The jagged skyline of the Tetons was majestic and magnificent to behold.

We went on to Ox Bow Bend and Cattlemans’s Bridge to look for wildlife. We didn’t find any there, but at Cattleman’s Bridge we put our hands in the Snake River.  It is not recommended to swim in it. We had a late lunch on the veranda of the beautiful, posh Jackson Lake Lodge with a breathtaking panoramic overlook of the Teton range. We sat next to and chatted with two friendly young women from Boston. After lunch we went to Colter Bay and hiked the 2 mile Lakeshore Trail around a small wooded peninsula on Jackson Lake. This was not such a great hike but it did fit the time we had left before it got dark.

We then drove to the summit of Signal Mountain to watch the sunset. Signal Mountain Road is a long narrow road that took about 15 minutes to drive up. Along the way up we saw a black bear foraging right next to the road so we stopped to watch it for several minutes.  It was our closest bear encounter of the trip.

At the summit there were only about 20 other people. We barely caught the tail end of the sunset over the Tetons, and saw an elk in the woods just below us. The views of the Teton Range and the Snake River from the summit were terrific.

Back to the campground for a fire, and then off to bed around 11:00 pm. It was a very cold night with a low of 31 degrees.

Paintbrush Canyon trails & Mormon Row

Day 33 – Aug 11

Up around 7:30 am. We took our time with breakfast and went to Paintbrush Canyon / Holly Lake trailhead at String Lake, not far from our campsite. We chose this after referencing our Chimani app and Trip Advisor. We had to stop along the way though since the pullouts are just so breathtaking.

We started hiking around 10:30 a.m. We hiked 8.8 miles of gorgeous Teton range toward Holly Lake. There were not many other hikers here and we did not make it to Holly Lake. We were about 2 miles shy of it, which would have meant 4 miles more roundtrip.  The hike provided dramatic, close up views of the towering, jagged Tetons, and terrific vistas, but it was a strenuous hike, parts of which were pretty rocky. We learned that the good hikes in Grand Teton National Park are mostly long and difficult. There were few hikes under 5 miles, and at this point we were beginning to feel a little tired after 4 weeks on the road.  Nevertheless, this was an awesome hike, and we have sworn to make it all the way to Holly Lake next time. On this hike we saw a huge bull moose eating at about 25 feet off the trail. That was our best (and scariest) moose encounter of the trip.

After the hike, at about 4:00 p.m. we staked out a spot, and laid on the shore of String Lake, near the trailhead. We had a small piece of shore to ourselves just off the beginning of the trail that we just hiked, and underneath pine trees dwarfed by the towering Tetons overhead. I swam in the warm, shallow lake. Em waded.  Then we rested on our blanket for about 20 minutes. A well earned respite in a remarkably beautiful spot.

We dried off in the sun and got back in the car to explore more of the Tetons at around 5:00 pm.

We looked for wildlife and found a herd of bison off of the very bumpy Mormon Row, (very bumpy rock road…did I mention it was bumpy?). This was a true find.  It is an abandoned Mormon settlement in the southern part of the park and just north of Jackson Hole. We got out of our car and walked with dozens of other people to get about 30 yards from the roaming herd. The ambient lighting from the low sun, and the picturesque pasture around the old settlement buildings with the Tetons in the near background made for postcard perfect viewing of the roaming herd. While there, we marveled at the sunset over the Tetons.  This was a highlight of the trip.

Then we went to Teton Village, the premier skiing location in Jackson Hole. Em was still in hiking clothes and I was in my swimsuit so we found what appeared to be the only casual place, Malakas, and got pizza to go. (This place is no longer in business, unfortunately). There were only two other people there. We each had a beer at the bar and chatted with the bartender while we waited for the pizza. We finished the excellent pizza at the campsite with a fire, and watched some of the Persieids meteor shower. I saw a fireball! Then off to bed around 11:30 pm. Another chilly night. Low of 39 degrees.

This was our final day touring Grand Teton, but we still used our campsite at Jenny Lake Campground as our base for visiting Yellowstone the next day.

Yellowstone National Park

Day 34 – Aug 12

Drove 255 miles

Up at 6:00 am to go to Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was at the Old Faithful area. It is about 60 miles to Yellowstone from the Jenny Lake Campground in Grand Teton NP, but predicting how long it takes to drive any stretch to, and in Yellowstone is difficult because of potential traffic congestion due to bison in the road, and other wildlife events.  We were fortunate and got there without traffic event early enough to beat the crowds in the parking lot. We first went to the Visitor’s Center to get oriented and to get the latest estimate on the next Old Faithful eruption. We just missed the last one, catching just the steam shooting up at the end. We walked the main mile-long boardwalk trail a bit before coming back an hour later to get a seat at the small grandstand for the next Old Faithful eruption. At about 10 minutes past the estimated time we watched as Old Faithful erupted. Wow!!  A true bucket list item that is actually worth the effort. Just so inspiring and fun.

After the requisite photo ops of the Old Faithful we continued along the boardwalk trail called the Old Faithful Geyser Loop Trail which passed several other less faithful geysers, and colorful gaseous pools. We joined a tour group in the middle of its tour just to learn some things about Yellowstone’s geysers. The timing could not have been better because amazingly, about 15 minutes into the guided tour, Lion Geyser began to erupt right in front of us. We got sprayed by the geyser. That was more fun than seeing Old Faithful just because it was unexpected.  Even the tour guide was giddy.

 

On the tail end of the boardwalk trail hike we headed toward Old Faithful again as its next estimated eruption was imminent. Unfortunately, Em just then got a really bad stomach and needed to hit the restroom…desperately. I saw the next Old Faithful eruption, while Em just caught the tail end of it, being preoccupied. We met up and took a short tour of the remarkable, cavernous, and very busy rustic post & beam Old Faithful Inn. This certainly looks like a great (expensive) place to lodge.

 

We had a quick peanut butter/jelly and crackers lunch out of the back of the car and then left the now very crowded Old Faithful parking lot and began our drive of the loop around Yellowstone.

We stopped at many pullouts and vistas. A highlight was Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces which are just south of the northern entrance to the park. These wildly colorful limestone terrace formations were like frozen waterfalls, and were just stunning. We’ve never seen anything like this.  There are several boardwalks between the upper and lower terraces but none are very long, or difficult to access. This is a must for anybody going to Yellowstone. We had a quick dinner at The Mammoth Terrace Grill. Bad cafeteria style food, but quick and somewhat nourishing, with a view of the Terraces through the window. We chatted with a nice older couple, but the guy was really just trying to sell us an RV. After dinner we continued back on the loop drive. We stopped at the very cool Artist Paint Pots. This is a large group of springs, geysers, and mud pots on display from a boardwalk and it all resembles a very large artists pallet with the array of colors on display.  All of the stops offered something wildly unique. Bubbling mud, chrome springs, boiling lakes with steam that made you feel like you were in a sauna, audibly roaring caves, assorted colors of water and landscape around the geysers and springs, etc. It was very much like a different planet.

 

We headed back toward Grand Teton along Hayden Valley to find wildlife. We hit a bad traffic jam, and we were unsure of what was causing it. Fortunately we hit it at a place we wanted to stop anyway, Mud Volcano. There was a .5 mile boardwalk loop here to view some strange pits of bubbling mud and springs.  So we pulled in just as we hit the tail end of the traffic. While on the boardwalk we saw an elk in the woods about 30 yards away.  Half way through the trail we saw some bison on the inside of the boardwalk loop, maybe 25 yards from us, which was pretty cool. We just kept viewing the springs and pits. Then about 2/3 through we could go no further because the bison were blocking the boardwalk, and it was not safe to leave the boardwalk for fear of getting scolded by the hot springs and bubbling ooze. We couldn’t go back either because by now the bison had blocked both sides of the loop, thereby trapping us, and about a dozen other people on the boardwalk. Turns out this was the herd of bison that had crossed the road below causing the traffic jam we hit before pulling into the lot. The herd is now all around us and very close. We even saw a bison in the parking lot below us. The park rangers managing the traffic below then came to observe and guide us trapped people on the boardwalk. The rangers insisted that we all wait until the herd passed through, and for us not to try to get through the bison gauntlet on the boardwalk. So we waited and made no sudden movements.  After about 40 minutes the bison had cleared enough space for us all to get down the rest of the way. This was a scary adventure but also very cool and exciting.

 

We then proceeded toward the Grand Tetons to our campsite. Along the way we saw several large elk in the dusk along the road.  We got to the campsite around 10:15 pm., past the start of quiet hours. We didn’t light a fire and went to bed around 11:00.

Yellowstone National Park

Day 35 – Aug 13

Woke up and packed up the campsite. We went to the Jenny Lake Store for a portable breakfast and headed north through Grand Teton and Yellowstone to head to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana.

We went toward the northeast entrance/exit out of Yellowstone (we entered from the south from Grand Teton) so we could drive through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone, where wildlife is said to be abundant. We saw more bison herds and a pronghorn. Before Lamar Valley though, we stopped so Em could see her first trumpeter swans which were swimming in the Yellowstone River.

We also made a stop to take in the gorgeous vistas of Upper and Lower Falls viewpoints along the Yellowstone River. We weren’t going to go see the falls but somebody overheard us sarcastically saying something like, “Oh, wow…another waterfall”. He told us we really needed to see these. He was right…spectacular falls and view of the river winding through a gorge. The Lower Falls viewpoint was better, but both were spectacular.

Next: Little Big Horn and Rocky Mtn. National Park