We left Yellowstone National Park a few days ago and arrived at Victor, Idaho for our 10 days at Grand Tetons. Our RV Resort is nice and they even have a restaurant we can dine in but we quickly found out that EVERYONE leaves the park at about the same time and our best bet was to stay in Jackson, WY for dinner and then head back to the Motorcoach. The Granite Canyon Entrance Station is the closest to us but it’s closed for construction so we have to enter at the Moose Junction each time. That entrance is about an hour from Victor and going and coming we have to cross the Teton Pass each day. At 8,431 feet above sea level, it’s a high mountain pass with about 10 miles of it causing white knuckling for me. The grade on the road at its steepest is a 10% grade (5 miles up the mountain and then 5 down into Jackson). There is a 1,500 elevation gain on the 10 miles, topping out at around 8,400 feet above sea level before driving the 5 miles back down the pass. There is a section on the road where there is a catchnet system designed to catch vehicles if their brakes fail. Was kinda scary seeing that!!
There are fires nearby in Idaho and Yellowstone so most days there’s a haze in the sky. We’ve learned that the skies are best between 9-3:00 so we try to make sure we’re out and about taking photos at this time. Jenny Lake is one of the favorite areas in the park and the first major one you come to so we spent our first day here. We started out with the intention of hiking around the lake which is about 7 miles, but I was talked into taking a side hike to Inspiration Point, Hidden Falls, and then Cascade Canyon. By the time we got back to the parking lot we had covered over 11 miles but the views along the hike were amazing. We did the Jenny Lake trail counterclockwise because the sun shines on the mountains best going in this direction and photographing the mountains was important to me. Going this way was about 5 miles to the boat dock area and where the Inspiration Point/Cascade Canyon Hikes begin. If we had gone clockwise, we would have hiked 2.6 miles to the boat dock. If you ride the shuttle ferry over (there’s a charge for it) it cuts time off of your hike depending on which way you go. Tomorrow we’re going to take the shuttle over, hike the Canyon and then walk the short 2.6 miles clockwise, back to the parking lot. This will save us 5 miles. Here are a few pictures from the beginning of Jenny Lake Hike. Oh, and get there early…it’s one of the most popular hikes in the park.
Depending on the time of day, sunlight, and smoke from the fires; the mountains changed many times throughout the day. Once we got to the boat dock (about 5 miles in) we decided to take the side hikes to Inspiration Point (steeper climb) and Hidden Falls (only a few hundred yards off the trail). After passing Hidden Falls, you’ll pass over a granite-carved section of trail that crosses over a fairly steep ledge. I decided not to take this portion of the trail until someone told me there were moose at the top in the canyon. So, I put my big girl panties on and powered on.
After making it to Inspiration Point, we learned there was still a bit of a hike to get to the moose. And who knew if they would even be there when we arrived. There was a bit of an elevation gain on this part of the hike, so it was slower hiking than earlier. The views going into the canyon were beautiful and the mountains rose so high all around us. Truly a moose paradise with a stream running along the left side which is where we later saw our prize animals!
We finished the hike and had lunch in the car and then visited Mormon Row (because everyone does that at the Tetons)! I was so glad we visited that once vibrant community. The homesteaders who settled near the turn of the 19th century, clustered their farms to share labor and community. There were 33 homesteads surrounding a church and school. Structures from six homesteads are still there. Pretty amazing area to visit. There were also free range bison that we could see and photograph (which I LOVE to do).
Our journey will continue tomorrow for the hunt for moose, a drive through the remainder of the park, and a search for some groceries. See you next time!
Camping Konneys 