Grand Teton: Picturesque and Wild
Our 7th National Park of the year and 17th overall, Grand Teton was an anticipated stop on our 2023 travel itinerary. We had high expectations. Having spent quite some time around its national park neighbor, Yellowstone, we had seen the rocky peaks in the distance and knew that adventure, wildlife, and beauty awaited us on the other side.
But first, we had to get over there. While we were familiar with Teton Pass - many RVers describe it as their worst towing nightmare - for some reason it didn't dawn on us that we'd be towing over the pass. We set out to cross the border from Idaho to Wyoming, enjoyed a podcast along the way, viewed the distant Tetons over vast green farmland, when suddenly, warning signs started popping up: "Teton pass is open only to vehicles under 60,000GVW." "Dangerous road. Closed to trucks and trailers Nov. 15-Apr. 1." I checked the map and realized that as soon as we crossed into Wyoming, we had a daunting experience awaiting us. 10% grades, curves with steep drop-offs, and risks of rockfall. Going around would have added hours to our day, and having towed tens of thousands of miles, we knew we could handle it, as long as our emotions could. And so, up up up we went.
The photos tell a lot:
It was slow moving up those mountains. At times, Anthony had the gas pedal to the floor and we couldn't go beyond 25mph. Probably a blessing, because we wouldn't have wanted to go any faster. Then, on the descent, warnings letting us know our brakes were getting hot, despite trying diligently to not lay on the brake. The good thing is, we trust our rig wholeheartedly. Clyde is a gas truck, but he handled that pass like a champ, and Buggy's brakes and weight distribution are exactly as they should be. As long as nothing actually goes wrong and the vehicle doesn't break down, the pass was manageable. It's more the mental component that really trips people up. And now that we've done what is deemed one of the most dangerous roads in the country, we feel a lot more confident!
Once over the pass, our Teton adventure could begin. If you read our last post, we got our bearings by scenic driving all around the park with an audio tour. This helped us choose our plans for our 10-day stay in the park.
We really wanted to prioritize three activities in the park: Photography, wildlife viewing, and hiking. The landscape is extraordinary, so there was no shortage of photographic inspiration, but there are a few places in the park that are known for drawing photographers from all over the world.
Mormon Row:
This street is filled with homes and barns that the Mormon settlers built in the 1890s. They chose to build their dwellings near one another as a way to share resources and have a close community, as the Mormons prioritize to this day. The backdrop for their homes is none other than Teton Range itself, and one barn in particular that belonged to T.A. Moulton is known as the most photographed barn in the world. The story gets more complicated and a bit satirical, as novelist Don DeLillo used this barn as the inspiration for his depiction of a trending schema in American tourism in his book White Noise: That people want to photograph the barn simply because it's so often photographed. How true it is that in society? We're way more followers and copycats than we like to think we are, and typically I avoid these trends at all costs...except when I'm traveling and want my own photographs of famous places. I do try to put my own spin on my photos, though, because I really don't want my pictures to look like everyone else's. What's worse is, in my research on this most famous barn, I discovered that people get confused as to which specific barn is actually the famous one! I actually made the mistake too at one point, because so many photos come up of this barn, The John Moulton Barn:
In reality, the most photographed barn, the T.A. Moulton Barn, is this one:
But who knows? The John Moulton Barn might be photographed so much in error that it could now actually be the most photographed barn!
Nevertheless, this historic row really is incredible to see in person, and being on a road that was a convenient cut-through for us between two major routes in the park, we became well-acquainted with it. I took two opportunities to photograph the row, once at sunset and the other in the mid-morning daylight.
Most of the places we went, we were searching for wildlife, but unfortunately we kept striking out. We did see some elk, bison, and one deer, but they were far away and we didn't have good opportunities to photograph them. We saw plenty of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots, and while cute, they weren't exactly what we had our eyes peeled for.
We were on the search for a moose. We still hadn't seen one all year and it was a major void in our RV travels wildlife BINGO card. We tried searching in all the popular wildlife viewing areas, going in the morning or evening with hopes one would emerge during feeding or bathing time, during a less crowded part of the day. We kept coming up short, but at least those times of day are also great lighting for landscape photography, so it was never a total bust.
Oxbow Bend:
Named for the area where the Snake River takes a sharp bend, many animals, birds, and waterfowl make this their habitat. We went twice and barely saw anything. One Great Blue Heron flying by and a couple other birds and ducks. We hear that river otters are common sights here, as are our elusive moose. We cut our losses...but can we really call them losses? The landscape is always worth a stop, even if wildlife sightings are nonexistent.
Schwabacher Landing:
We passed by this short gravel road during our audio tour and were surprised that it wasn't an official stop. We made a note to return and drive down to the bottom of the road, which we heard would get us right along the shores of the Snake River. Again, no significant wildlife sightings, but we had a wonderfully scenic walk.
The Snake River is very calm in this area, and if still enough, you'll be dazzled by some of the most symmetric water reflections of the Tetons.
Blacktail Ponds Overlook:
Another overlook that wasn't on our audio tour that we made a note to visit, mostly because every time we drove by, we saw lots of cars. We thought maybe some animals were frequenting that area. Turns out, the crowd was excited over a very distant herd of elk - so far away that we could barely see them with binoculars. We wondered why these spectators didn't just drive up the road to get a closer look. We stuck around to enjoy the view at dusk.
String Lake and Jenny Lake:
Jenny Lake is an iconic feature in the Tetons. We had stopped there for a short shoreline walk during our audio tour, but I had a specific hike planned since 2020. There is an overlook on the west shore of Jenny Lake called Inspiration Point, and there are a few ways to hike there. Option 1: You can take a shuttle across the water and then hike 1.8 miles to the overlook. The shuttles run every 15ish minutes and are $20 roundtrip. We already knew we'd rather save the money and hike, plus we'd want to get an earlier start than when the shuttles start running. Option 2: Walk around Jenny Lake, which would be about 2-2.5 miles, plus the remaining climb up to Inspiration Point. Option 3: Approach from the other side, after parking at String Lake, the lake adjacent to Jenny. When I was planning our 2020 roadtrip-that-wasn't, I had my sights set on a hike that included Jenny Lake and String Lake, with Inspiration Point in the middle. String Lake has a smaller parking area than Jenny, so we headed out early in the morning and had no issues finding a place to park. We first headed southwest along Jenny Lake for about 2 miles before veering off and upward towards Inspiration Point. This was the only climb of the hike, but given the looks on some people's faces, we think lots of people underestimate it. It's got some rocks that are slippery with dust, so wearing the right shoes is important. This was the only part of our hike where we saw crowds, unsurprisingly since a shuttle boat had just dropped people off.
A short retracing of our steps off Inspiration Point led us to another offshoot, where we got to see Hidden Falls. Then we circled back the way we came, along Jenny Lake's western shore once more, back to the String Lake parking area. Instead of calling it a day, we continued towards String Lake, which we didn't know much about, but evidently there are lots of spots for boat launching, swimming, and picnicking. If you arrive early enough, you can snatch a day-use spot with your own little beach, complete with a bear box to keep your food safe. It was very cool and all I could think about was how amazing it would be to bring my floaty there! Something to keep in mind for next time.
We hiked along the east shore of String Lake, which eventually leads to the start of Leigh Lake Trail. Leigh Lake connects to String Lake on the north side and is much larger. We took a mile-long trail to Leigh Lake so we could see it and grab some pictures, and then we found a small portage loop that we used to turn around. After heading back to the parking lot, we calculated our miles: 10 total. This area has so many trails, though, that you can really create your own route, which we really like.
Alright, moment of truth. Did we finally end up seeing a moose? WE DID! After searching high and low - we spotted a moose twice, and both times were right up the street from our campground. Isn't that always the way?! The road to our campground runs alongside the Gros Ventre River, and that's where the moose had decided to hang out. We saw a female and apparently her calf, but her calf was surrounded by too tall grass for us to see it. This was at an overlook only a couple miles from our campground. Then, a few days later, we were coming back from running errands in Jackson and hit a traffic jam. We knew it could only mean one thing, and sure enough, an adolescent bull moose was hanging around the trees by the river.
Even if these sightings hadn't happened, we'd still give this one final recommendation:
Gros Ventre River:
The Gros Ventre River runs on the eastern side of the national park and eventually into the Snake River. It's a slightly less crowded area, but Gros Ventre Road has a few pullouts where you get beautiful views of the river. We recommend going at sunset so you can see the sun's glow on the mountains. The setting sun also made the water look a beautiful blue color. So even if you don't spot a moose, you get the scenery, and that was pretty much the theme for our visit to the Tetons. There is beauty everywhere you look, and the wildlife and history are just a bonus.
