September 2019

Grand Teton National Park provides stunning views of mountains, glaciers, valleys, rivers and lakes, in addition to many varieties of wildlife. Since it is connected to Yellowstone National Park via the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Highway it is a must see if you are visiting Yellowstone. Make sure you allow ample time to see all that Grand Teton has to offer.

On our first day in the park we entered via the south Craig Thomas Visitor Center where we stopped to get a map and find out where the animals were.

We entered the park and taking a left at Moose Junction, headed towards Jenny Lake.

We parked at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center and then walked down to catch the water shuttle that takes passengers across the lake for the hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. Richard took the boat ride with me and then took a short hike before turning around.

I proceeded on 1/2 mile to Hidden Falls…

And then another steep 1/2 mile climb to Inspiration Point. So beautiful!

About half way up the hike I spotted this bear working its way down to the lake.

I rode the boat back to join up with Richard and we proceeded northward into the park past Jackson Lake and Colter Bay Village before looping back towards home. We decided to venture off the paved road a bit on the Pacific Creek dirt road where we were rewarded by spotting this magnificent bull moose.

Further along we spotted a herd of bison and stopped to watch them for a while before heading home. We even saw two of them jump a fence! We didn’t know they could jump that high. What a fun day!

Later in the week, on our next venture into the park, we went for a Solitude scenic float trip on the Snake River. There were 12 of us in the raft, plus our guide Mike, who was very knowledgeable after guiding rafts for 18 years. We saw beautiful scenery and quite a few bald eagles along the 2 1/2 hour, 10-mile float. I would highly recommend taking this trip if you are in the park for more than one day.

On our final day in the park we got an early morning start and headed to Moose Wilson Road to hopefully see some moose. Unfortunately just past Teton Village the road was closed due to grizzly bear activity. Bummer! But we did get to see this beautiful hot air balloon.

We circled back around through Jackson and headed up Gross Venture Road, past the town of Kelly, and spotted this moose and her calf. So special!

Next we traveled to the Mormon Row Historic District to tour some iconic historic barns and homesteads from the turn of the 19th century.

After that we went back to the campground to get our bikes loaded on the bike rack and then drove them up to Moose to take the 7 mile bike ride from there to Jenny Lake. It’s a beautiful bike path and it was a perfect day for a ride. Our first stop was the Menor’s Ferry Historic District, with a replica of the ferry that crossed the Snake River, plus old Bill Menor’s cabin. Also at this location is the Chapel of the Transfiguration where the alter window frames the tallest Teton Peaks. Absolutely stunning!

As we continued on our bikes to Jenny Lake we passed Teton Glacier and these happy mules. Such a good life : )

We finally made it to Jenny Lake and enjoyed our lunch at a quiet spot by the water and then rode our bikes back to the car. What a perfect day!

When we drove through the park in the motor home, heading up from Jackson to the Colter Bay Campground for our last two nights, we stopped a couple of times to watch the bison and a small herd of Pronghorn.

Grand Teton National Park is a wonderful place to visit if you like beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife!