Very Grand Tetons

If Yellowstone stood out for its unique landscape and natural features, Grand Teton National Park and nearby Jackson Hole, WY stood out for their beauty. The tall, jagged, snowcapped peaks of the Grand Tetons are visible no matter where you go. The clear blue glacial lakes at the mountains' base are calm and serene. And the town of Jackson Hole, although definitely tourist-centered, was quaint and packed with charm.

After driving into the park and taking our obligatory road side pictures, we stopped by a park visitor's center to get our bearings of the park and then head to our lodging for the remainder of the week. We stayed in a ski-lodge style house in a ranch theme resort with a view of the mountains. It was a great place to set up my new hammock and even made waking up early to complete classwork bearable :) We spent our first full day in the park hiking from Jenny Lake to the popular Inspiration Point overlook. We walked the 2mi around the lake instead of taking the park ferry, which was a great choice. We had the chance to rest and take in the view on some overhanging rocks without any company. We walked through fields of wildflowers, took a detour to a waterfall, and even got to watch some climbers beginning their trek to summit the Grand Teton. Inspiration Point itself was pretty crowded, but the view was well spectacular.

Next up was a site that Chris read about online - Schwabanker's landing. It took a while to find the parking lot, but once we finally did we set off on the only trail. The path followed a creek created by a beaver dam and had a great view of the mountains. As we walked, the path became progressively narrower, until eventually we realized we were just on an animal path in the woods. Dad thought this might be a good place to spot animals shortly after dawn, so we returned early the following morning. Although we didn't see any animals early the next morning, the wind had died down so we could see the entire reflection of the Grand Tetons in the water. It was like something out of a postcard.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon biking in the park and visiting Morman row - an abandoned Morman settlement at the base of the mountains. I hear Wyoming winters are pretty rough, but I wouldn't mind waking up to a view like this!

 

A nearby ski resort offers gondola rides to the top of the slopes during the summer, which gave us a completely different point of view of the landscape.Turns out this site wasn't exactly a "hidden gem", as we shared our gondola ride with an entire busload of Japanese tourists.  We were sucking wind explored the high elevation, but stayed around ong enough to have a snowball fight and eat peanut butter and bacon waffles at the mountain top resturant.

 

Grand Teton National Park and the views from Jackson were by far my favorite part of this trip. I could spend a whole week reading on the porch and admiring the view. Next time I get a chance to head out this way - it'll be to summit peaks!