A Wandering Weekend: Part Four, Grand Tetons

July 30, 2018

My next destination was the trailhead for Taggart Lake in Grand Tetons National Park.  I had to drive right through Mormon Row, so  stopped and took a few pictures. 

A few of the buildings in the early morning fog

The famous barn - I think the Tetons had more snow on them the last time I visited

I couldn't pass up Schwabachers Landing, so turned down to visit it.  That is a MOST beautiful place.  I missed seeing two moose by seconds.

The iconic picture from Schwabachers Landing

I took this from further down the trail

I enjoyed mother duck and babies

Soon I started on towards the trailhead. I was the third car in the parking lot and had the trail mostly to my self, although I met or passed a couple of groups.

Some of the trail was through dense woods

I crossed a very rowdy stream

And of course, had to take several pictures of it

I was enjoying the early signs of late summer

A second stream view

I like this one because the people show how much landscape is  in the picture

When I arrived at  Taggart Lake, I met a couple who were taking turns taking pictures. I offered to take one of them both. Since we had to be in the shade, standing on a rock in the water, I asked them if they edited their pictures.  They said no, and I said I would also edit their picture, since they would be horribly underexposed or the Tetons would be horribly overexposed. They asked for lessons on both their i-phones, from different years.  That was a fun break.  And they took a picture of me.

Enjoying the view at Taggert Lake

This view was from the bottom of the lake where the trail crossed it

Another lake view

The trail climbed even more after I left the lake

I enjoyed a few instances of these flowers

By the time, I got off the trail, the day was super bright.  I decided to do a quick drive all the way around the park.  I finally found a few bison on the far side.

Grand Teton bison

I also stopped in the now harsh light to photograph the spot where Ansel Adams took his picture. Obviously I don't have the light, the large format, tilt able camera, or shorter vegetation in the foreground. 

Here is a picture of a print of the original picture.  Lists for $138.00

After that it was back to  real life.  I drove a couple of hours to Idaho Falls and got a haircut before getting groceries and a headlight for my car. I got home late in the evening, put up my perishables and went to bed.

Guided Hike to Inspiration Point

While in Grand Teton National Park, Bob and I decided a hike with a ranger would be fun - especially since we could continue on a longer hike into Cascade Canyon.  So we showed up at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station before 8:00 A.M. on Saturday to claim a spot.  Our ranger was the park geologist so we got to learn a lot about how the Teton range came to be.

The day was cloudy and foggy at first, but most of the fog lifted before the afternoon clouds moved back in and reattached themselves to the mountains. But the overcast skies made for a lovely, cool hike.

View of Jenny Lake taken the day before

Our hike included a boat ride across Jenny Lake to save two miles of mundane hiking and get everyone to the beautiful Cascade Creek, the Cascade Creek Falls, and then finally up to Inspiration Point. The trail was pretty easy, except for the last climb to Inspiration Point. And we had three or four rest stops to listen to the ranger and ask questions.

Boat trip

Trail

Ranger Erica at one of the talking stops

Cascade Creek

Me on the trail - picture by Bob

Hikers

Hikers

Narrow portion of the trail

Taking pictures of the view from Inspiration Point

Enjoying Inspiration Point

 After the tour ended with the ranger leaving us at Inspiration Point, Bob and I continued our hike down Cascade Canyon, sometimes walking along the creek and always having at least parts of mountains in view.  The tops of most of them were covered in clouds for the first part of the trip.  There were still a few clouds clinging to the mountains when we finished our hike. But I thought the cloud-draped mountains were beautiful.

Dead but still beautiful tree and roots

Sumac berries

Mountains wrapped in clouds

Trail view

Cloud Cradle

Bob walking across Cascade Creek

Mountains in the fog

After the hike, Bob and I went back up north and explored the northern part of the park, before spending some time at Jackson Lodge to use their wireless.  We ended up eating supper there when a rain storm lasted through the early evening.

The Road Trip Begins

Bob S. had barely gotten back to Houston when Bob G. arrived to share my adventures for a few weeks.  Our first stop along the way was the Grand Tetons where we spent a few fun days.

Our day started with a beautiful dawn over  the Mission Mountains.

Mission Mountain Sunrise

Soon we were headed east and then south.  We were going to get to Grand Teton National Park by first going south along the back side, then coming in via the town of Jackson.  On the way we  stopped at Camp Fortunate, the Lewis and Clark camp where they were able to get horses.  Bob and I took turns taking each other's pictures in the dugout before eating our lunch there. 

Me in a model of a Lewis and Clark dugout

By late afternoon, we had arrived in Jackson. We stopped for a few minutes and took pictures under a set of the piled up antlers, 

First view of the back of the Tetons before we reached Jackson

Bob in one of the elk antler archers in Jackson

Jackson street scene

Our next stop was the Moose Visitor Center in Teton National Park. I loved this quilt. We didn't have time to do the center justice, so planned to come back another day.

Bob wanted to camp at Jenny Lake campground but that one fills up early. We checked it out and decided that it wasn't that  pretty and we would go to Signal Mountain Campground the next day.  I already had two free sites in mind.  Bob didn't believe my GPS so we ended up going the long way, through the Gros Ventre Valley, to a forest service camp.  We found a mundane campsite with several people in it, but followed the directions to continue up the forest road.  We were rewarded with a beautiful camp site directly across from the Tetons.

View of the Gros Ventre River near sunset

We got our camp set up and ate supper, then sat out to watch the full moon rise.

Moon rising behind our free campsite

 The Tetons were dark by the time we got to the site, so I was up early the next morning to catch the first light on them. From our vantage point, we could also enjoy Mt. Moran.

Grand Tetons

Mt. Moran in the morning

 We decided to go back to Jenny Lake and check out the area before heading on north to the Signal Mountain Campground. The shortest way back was across Antelope Flats, where the bison hang out and where the Mormon homesteads are located. We stopped to take the picture of the famous barn with the Tetons as a backdrop.  And then we were stopped again by bison crossing the road. We both took lots of pictures but I got the biggest kick out of the momma bison butting here baby across the road.  No lollygagging allowed.

Barn and Tetons

Get along, son

Closeup view of the gneiss rock that makes up much of the mountains in the Grand Tetons

Bob and I had a few more days of fun and adventure in the Tetons, then spent yesterday afternoon, night, and early morning at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  I met my boss for next summer and enjoyed one of the primitive camp sites there. Currently, we are visiting friends in Bozeman and will drive the Beartooth Highway tomorrow, before leaving the following day for Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

So I have lots of stories and pictures with more to come.