Day 8 (Grand Tetons / Jackson Hole)

Here are some pics of our trip in the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole (copy and paste the link)...

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Day 8 (June 17) greeted us with snow flurries and temperatures in the upper 20s. Julie and I walked to the park office to use the pay phone (we didn’t have cell service) to call the KOA in Jackson about setting up shop there for the night. After making our reservations and getting our refund from Flagg Ranch, we headed out to the Jenny Lake portion of the Grand Tetons for a short hike. After getting on the main road, we were immediately slowed by road construction (another reason we didn’t want to have to come back up to Flagg Ranch after a day in the Tetons and Jackson Hole). Finally making it through the minor delay and cruising along, we were slowed once again by an apparent car wreck. After several minutes had passed without moving, a park ranger came flying by. I incorrectly surmised that someone had hit wildlife. Once the ranger got traffic moving again, I was excited to learn that I was dead wrong. There, about 50 feet from the side of the road, was a grizzly bear feasting off a carcass. I managed to get one snap of the camera before the ranger shooed us on our way—but we were all pumped that we got to see a bear in action without being in harm’s way!!! On our way again, and following an unintentional detour, we were approaching Jenny Lake. Just a few miles from the visitors’ center, we joined a group of spectators who were admiring a cow moose and her offspring in a forest along the river’s edge. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any discernable pictures since the moose were relaxing in the shade. Resigned that the pair was settled in, we left for Jenny Lake. Upon our arrival at the visitors’ center, Julie, Collin, and I headed in to talk to a ranger to get advice for our hike around the lake and up to Inspiration Point (a hike which was suggested by Brian Cannon). Loaded with a trail map and a new toboggan for Collin (it was in the upper 40s-lower 50s and very windy), we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the RV, donned weather-appropriate clothing (with more layers in our backpacks) and hit the trail. The 4-mile hike around the lake gave some stunning views of the Tetons. We saw several marmots meandering around the rocks of the mountain—we even had one show us the way on the trail for a short time! We made it to the Angel Falls area and continued the rather strenuous last ½-mile up to Inspiration Point. There, we took in even more magnificent views of the Tetons and even played with some chipmunks. We then made our descent back to view Angel Falls and took a group photo before heading to the dock for a 10-minute boat ride back to the trail head (I was all for continuing the loop around the lake, but we had walked a lot the last few days!!). Once we arrived at the trailhead, we piled back in the RV and headed south to Jackson. We stopped at our earlier pull-off spot to watch mamma moose relaxing in the shade again, then hit the road again. ***[Unfortunately, we weren’t able to spend more time in the Grand Tetons. This area really is something awesome not only to see, but experience. It really is quite impressive how the entire mountain range rises from the basin, making this range geologically quite different from the mountains in Yellowstone. This definitely is an area in which I would like to spend more time—yes, I’m already looking forward to our next trip out here!]*** The ride down to Jackson was fairly short, but still, we were glad we weren’t going to have to drive all the way back up to Flagg Ranch later in the evening, then back down the next day. We surprised Bryce and Collin with a little diversion at the Snow King Resort where we all took in the Alpine Slide. After the boys had a couple runs down the mountain, we headed to the Gun Barrel restaurant for “Wyoming food”. Julie enjoyed a buffalo sirloin, Collin had elk chops, and Bryce and I feasted on a combo platter with elk chops, venison bratwurst, and buffalo prime rib. With full bellies (and empty wallets), we set out for the short 10-minute drive to our KOA for the night. We camped along the Snake River, caught up on our e-mail and blog updating, and called it a night…