The Grand Tetons National Park

It seems that it is close to impossible to travel or hike all day, go through hundreds of pictures and write all night.  For some reason, we need to sleep to get ready for the next day’s adventure!  Add to that the lack of internet coverage and catching up is hard. So with that in mind, I’m going to fast forward to our time at the Grand Teton’s National Park and catch up on the rest later. 

We arrived in Grand Tetons National Park the evening of August 7th, http://www.nps.gov/grte/index.html .   The Tetons are very distinctive with very jagged mountain tops which still had some snow cover on the peaks.  The area was dryer than normal and hot.  In addition, smoke from area fires had settled in the valley and visibilty somewhat obsured by the haze. 

We stayed at the Colter Bay campground in the park.  When we first arrived, there were “Be Bear Aware” signs all over the place.  As we listened to the precautions delivered by the staff, we were told that coolers, food, and items with a fragrance could not remain outside; they had to be either in the camper or in your vehicle.    While we had a record setup time at our previous campsite, this setup quickly became one of our longest!  However, ninety minutes later we were bear proof.  In the Tetons, the park rangers and Xantera take the bear issue seriously.  As they say, “A fed bear is a dead bear”, once they become nuisances within the parks they are often destroyed.  Interestingly enough, the Park Service is constantly finding interesting ways to educate visitors and make everyone aware.

Tony and I have been infatuated with bears since first coming out west.  During our first trip in the early 90’s, bears were always elusive.  It took us going to Canada in ’97 before we saw our first bear in the wild.  So this trip was no different than any of our other western adventures, we are always on a bear hunt.  Of course we are always looking for other wildlife, but we really want to see a bear!  Knowing that we were going into bear country on this trip, Tony took precautions and ordered bear spray and an air horn before we left. 

On Wednesday, we hiked  a trail from Colter Bay to Hermitage Point on Jackson Lake.  We were disappointed that the Tetons were so hazy, evidently smoke for fires in Idaho were drifting into the area and hung between the mountains.  This really took its toll on my picture taking, but we still took lots.  Along our hike we were surprised by a bald eagle that flew eye level to our location on a bluff along the hike.  We would see a total of 3 during our visit, but none as close or at eye level as the first.

That evening we went to see Lake Jackson from Jackson Lodge and check out the area for moose.  Moose are scarce this time of year, but we saw lots of elk and deer.  We had a great waiter, Trent, who served us drinks and snacks on the outside terrace.  He told us about a road that was good for wildlife viewing and after we finished our food, we went on a bear hunt.  Trent also mentioned one of his favorite hikes was at Phelps Lake and Death Canyon, an area that we were considering for hiking the next day.

On our wildlife circuit, we saw elk, deer and yes, a bear.  There was a bear jam (the traffic jam that bear viewing creates) in a very narrow area of the road closer to Jackson Hole.  I was able to jump out and video his ears, the rest was out of sight, and then he was gone. 

The following day we took several hikes for a total of 18.7 miles, a new first for Jo Ann.  The first hike was fairly level, approximately 5 miles along String and Leigh Lake.  The glacial lakes are at the base of the Tetons and they provide a beautiful backdrop to the lake. 

At the start of our second hike to Phelps Lake we were met with bear warnings.  However, Tony was prepared and had his bear spray with us. 

The hike was 12 miles with considerable elevation changes.   It started at the Laurance Rockefeller Preserve Center, a beautiful platimum LEED facility which was just recently constructed, http://www.nps.gov/partnerships/snapshots_grandteton.html .  This newly acquired property has expanded the park towards Jackson Hole.   The area included new trails around Phelps Lake with a trail that winds along the lake and then goes up into Death Canyon between two peaks.  It was a great hike and we made our way up as far as the waterfall with the top of the divide not too far away. 

 As we returned and were approximately 4 miles from finishing the hike, we met a young woman with bear spray in her hand who was concernedabout finishing her hike in the direction we had just come, she had just seen a bear on the trail .  We assured her that the bear must have run off as we did not see the bear and that she should be fine.  Of course, it would be someone else to see the bear, not us!

We arrived back at our camper really tired.  I had gone to the restroom to freshen up while Tony was in the camper.  On my way back, I heard some commotion and looked up to see a large black bear coming right at me!  Concerned what to do, I beat feet back to the restroom, hoping I could out run the bear and shut the door before he got me!  However as I rounded the corner, the bear continued past me towards the woods passing within 10-15 feet . a little too close for comfort.  The most disappointing thing was, I had carried my  5 pound camera around with me all day long, just in case we see a bear.  Wouldn’t you know that the only time that stupid camera was not in my hand is when I finally see a bear!!!!!! 

As the bear moved on and the campground got back to normal, we contemplated our next day’s adventure in Yellowstone, Jo Ann’s favorite park.