Grand Teton
Grand Teton Quick Getaway
September 2-7, 2020
Grand Teton National Park is a lesser-known National Park compared to its neighbor, Yellowstone. Many people do not realize the proximity of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The distance between the two is less than two hours, with a few stops along the way; however, most of the drive is forest. The park still boasts a great amount of traffic every year; 2020 during COVID-19 was no exception.
Warning: There are A LOT of photos in this blog post!
Day 1: Grand Teton Adventures
- Snagging a Campground
- Jackson Lake Dam
- Jenny Lake
- Jackson Hole, WY
We drove in late at night and opted to rent a cabin for the night in preparation to sit in line in the morning to get a camping spot at Colter Bay Village Campground. The lines started to form around 5-6 am to get lucky enough for a camping spot, getting a site was based on a first-come, first-serve basis (Beginning January 2021, they will only accept reservations).
When we arrived, it was VERRRYY dark and slightly scary with all of the known bear and coyote sightings, so I threw my shoes on and booked it into the cabin. In the morning, we noticed how cute these old chinked cabins were. The two rooms were clean and spacious, along with the well-lit bathroom.
After securing a camping spot, we headed out for the day. The first stop was Jackson Lake Dam. Jackson Lake Dam was constructed in 1906 to help the storage of glacier water for nearby farms. There is a large step formation on the lakeside that makes it a great place to sit and relax while looking at Mt Moran and the bright blues and turquoises of the lake water. On the opposing side, water rushes out into the Snake River.
No matter where you are within the Grand Teton National Park, you will always find that “perfect” spot to take a picture. There is no shortage of views along the front range. This panoramic spot is located at Willow Flats Overlook just north of Jackson Lake Dam.
Another pull-off alongside the road was Jenny lake, with an unexpected hike that made for more serene and stunning views. Starting from the Jenny Lake overlook, we hiked north to String Lake. Jenny lake is on my top list of bluest lakes I have seen since it is glacier water. The lake's freezing cold temperature did not hold Stephen back from diving in (swimming is only allowed in certain parts of the lake). After a chilling dip, we trekked on to String Lake. String Lake is an exceptionally shallow and crystal clear lake that connects Jenny Lake and Leigh Lake; it is also the place where you can cross over to the other side of the lake by a wooden bridge to hike into the mountains.
Three pictures above: Hiking Jenny Lake Trail with a view of the Tetons ahead of us, Blue waters of Jenny Lake,
and Hiking the road back to the car from String Lake with Mt Moran's view behind us.
Before leaving Jenny Lake, we stopped at the Craig Thomas visitor center on our way into Jackson Hole for lunch. The visitors center had a lot of interesting facts and a good gift shop for all things local. Jackson Hole is approximately 35 minutes from Jenny Lake. Parking was tough to find around Jackson Hole's square, and for a pandemic, there were many people in the downtown area. We decided to eat lunch at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar since most places had a waiting list. It was a big mistake, the food was not noteworthy, and drinks were bland. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is the kind of place you go to for a cowboy drinking night. Their interior is overly cliche, and their banjo type of band setting was more than I could handle (sorry pictures did not turn out, but think of a cowboy bar overly decorated, this coming from a country girl).
There is a small park in the middle of the square called George Washington Memorial Park, and on all four corners, there are massive antler archways that took 20 years to complete with around 2,000 antlers each. The antler arches are a common spot to take pictures under the Jackson Hole sign surrounded by an antler arch.
On the way back to camp, we wanted to see how the lighting was at Mormon Row. Sad to say, it wasn’t great, and we would have to return early in the morning.
We had dinner back at camp consisting of hamburgers and hotdogs sitting next to a bonfire. Off to bed!
Day 2: Grand Teton Adventures
- Mormon Row
- Oxbow Bend
- Horseback riding
Since we knew where we wanted to be bright and early, we woke up, showered at the camp showers, bought breakfast at the camp store, and made our way to see the Mormon Row homes and barns (aka T.A. Moulton) with the sun on the front side and the range behind.
Driving up to the houses and barns, you are directed to one side of the property, but if you turn right instead of left, you will follow a gravel road that will take you to the real T.A. Moulton barn that is famous for its backdrop and lush field that it sits in. There were maps showing every building on the property, so you don’t get lost.
There were Mountain Bluebirds perched on the barns at Mormon Row flying low and high. It was fun to watch them with their bright blue bodies up against the barn's mute colors. If you look closely at the black and white photos above, you will see small bluebirds within the image.
I was expecting the Mormon Row barns to be fairly busy in the morning, but it was easy to get pictures with no one in them. The area is so beautiful that I could return to take more pictures of the property.
It was easy to spend a couple of hours at the T.A Moulton (Mormon Row) barns, take time out of your trip to stop and take some pictures.
Once we left Mormon Row, we went north to Moran towards Oxbow Bend on Highway 191. I am so glad we did, look at that view! There was a field of bison and horses running and eating together. The horses were from a nearby ranch, so they were not wild. Many cars were parked on the roadside, making it easy to find this location; you can find them located close to Elk Ranch Flats Turnout.
One of the biggest attractions in Grand Teton National Park is Oxbow Bend. We were on our way to go on a trail ride and had to pass through the area; it was perfect timing. Grizzly 399 and her four cubs were heading down the mountain (NP tracks them), everyone pulled off the road to get a close-up view. In the above photos, you can see the start of the traffic around Oxbow Bend and people beginning to get out of their cars. National Park workers held everyone back about 100 feet from the grizzly bears for safety until they started coming closer to the crowd; they then told everyone to get in their vehicles. As you can see, they were reasonably close, but they did not harm anyone (you can see two boy cubs in the photo above).
Stephen wanted to take a trail ride on horses and get an overlook of the mountain range. We opted to go with Swift Creek Outfitters. I highly DO NOT recommend this company; their flyer was convincing but not at all real. First off, we were so bored, we walked through a dusty open field with no view of anything for most of the ride, saw the Tetons for a split second, and were rushed continuously to stick nose to butt in a line. I am a long time rider, and Stephen is a new rider, and we were both equally bored.
Along with the boredom, the guide was rude and unwelcoming. I felt like the guide could have explained some history rather than telling people about his life and all of the medications he takes. If you plan on doing a trail ride, please do not choose this company; you will be let down, the mountain is really far away, and there is no view (we should have known this based on their proximity to the front range).
Glenn (Stephens Dad) on his appaloosa - Stephen on his Haflinger/draft mix - Me on my “wild mare” (so they said)
To end the day, Stephen found another lake to bask in (more like freeze in). Jackson Lake is a large lake that backs up to Colter Bay Village Campground and travels north towards Yellowstone. There is a small sand cliff to climb down, but it is a great spot to relax at the end of the day. There were many pretty rocks along the shoreline that I shuffled through while Stephen took his dip in nature’s giant glacier pool.
Back to camp for more hamburgers and hotdogs. What’s camping without great food to grill.
Funny (not so funny) quick story. Later that night, we were packing up our campsite; I was in the car getting clothes while Stephen was putting the food into the bear container when a coyote ran within five feet of him looking for food. I closed all of the doors in the car so fast when Stephen started yelling to stay in the car; I thought it was a bear (I didn’t see it)! The moral of the story, be bear aware and watch for wildlife.
Grand Tetons view from the docks at Colter Bay Village Campground.
Day 3: Grand Teton Adventures
- Hiking
On our last day in Grand Teton, we knew we needed to hike the Tetons, or it just wasn’t going to be a complete trip. There is a ferry on one side of Jenny lake that will take you to the other side. What a perfect way to travel across the lake without walking the two miles around it.
The water was vibrant blues and greens and so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom. To board the Jenny Lake ferry, you need to get a ticket at the Jenny Lake Visitors Center and then stand in line to board. The boat took about 15 minutes to reach the other side of the lake. The Yellowstone wildfire smoke was coming through the valley very heavily on our last day, making many pictures very foggy looking.
When you first get off the boat, you will see a trailhead sign that determines your direction; we went towards Hidden Falls and then onward to Inspiration Point. The Hidden Falls trail is a short easy walk, but it was also bustling with tourists (especially during COVID). We stayed a short time because it filled up fast and there was very little room to walk. The falls drop 100 feet over giant boulders, and many people were climbing the slippery boulders (including Stephen).
After Hidden Falls, we started to hike to Inspiration Point, an elevation of 7,200 feet. I was struggling to hike with the dense smoke, I wanted to give up so many times, but I kept going and made it to the top of Inspiration Point. The view from Inspiration Point overlooks Jenny Lake. The crowds did thin out once you reached the top, luckily.
After catching my breath, we followed the Cascade Canyon Trail back into the mountains. The trail was flat and relatively easy; it ran along Cascade Creek the entire walk making it a fun hike. The creek was so incredibly clear (I love clear blue water, it always gets me so excited). You can see Stephen cooling off in the creek in the picture above. Sadly, the smoke was so dense it made it hard to see clearly beyond a certain point and started to give us a headache.
The best part of the whole hike was when we were told there were moose spotted in the brush. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with moose, possibly one of my favorite animals. At first, we saw a bull moose bathing in the cool mud down on the side of the creek. We took a few pictures before a crowd started and then went further down the trail. On the way back, we saw a cow moose munching on trees within 50 feet of us, followed by another cow moose. It was MY day, to say the least!
Grand Teton from Jenny Lake boat launch.
Picture 1: Stephen holding up a photo of a family member in the same spot she took the picture when visiting Grand Teton.
Picture 2: Mt Moran from Oxbow Bend.
Picture 3: Grand Teton and Mt Moran with a view of Snake River.
Picture 4: Grand Teton sign, it’s not a trip to Grand Teton without a picture of the National Park sign.
Thank you for checking out my post on Grand Teton National Park. I hope you found something of interest or useful. Please use the comment section for more ideas, but please don’t be rude; as always, travel on and don’t get run over by a moose.