After Yellowstone Park, there was a quick 63-mile drive south to Colter Bay Village in the Grand Teton National Park. On the drive down through southern Yellowstone on Hwy 191 there are no real specific things to see except the beauty of the park. Although, to be honest, there was one more waterfall at Lewis Lake to check out on the way. It was a quick pullout viewing right on the bridge over the Lewis River. We crossed into Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway dedicated for his conservation efforts and the land he donated to the park.
Immediately, we were taken aback by the grandeur of Grand Teton Mountain and the whole mountain range. And at Colter Bay, we were surprised by the lack of water in Jackson Lake. This is normally one of the “must see” sites and photos taken across the lake at Grand Teton! But we were told that 1) there had so little snow in the mountains of Wyoming over the winter the lake was already low and 2) the water in the lake and Snake River is controlled by the state of Idaho. So, this year they needed to take extra water to irrigate the potato fields in Idaho. And the lake showed the effect. We did a short hike by our campground, and our GPS showed us out into the lake when we were at the shoreline.
Grand Teton Park is different than Yellowstone as it is long and slender with about 40 miles between Colter Bay and Jackson Hole and basically 2 north/south roads. We also discovered that the cost of living in the area was so high that many workers would rather cross the mountains over the Teton Pass into Idaho to live, creating a major traffic issue!
It is also different in that it is not on the volcanic fault and so there are no geysers and hot springs. Just a beautiful scenic area with mountains in the background that end up in virtually every photo you take with different angles and different foregrounds!
We had 3 days planned in the north and 3 days in the south and wanted to see as much as possible. We took off on a drive around the park. But again, at every stop and every time you looked, the Tetons were in the background! We headed out on the main road and almost immediately came to a turnout at Willow Flats. The view across the prairie was great and there was a big male elk with a huge rack of antlers chasing a couple of cows! Another turnout and a short walk brought us to the Cunningham Cabin which is noted as one of the oldest structures in the park. It was built and used by the Cunningham family as a home from1888 – 1895 while they built their ranch house!
Then we took the Gros Ventre Road east out to its end at the Lower Slide Lake. Couple of interesting geological points here. In about 1925, the mountain across the valley gave way and slid downhill and then up the other side. Ranchers in the area watched and documented the whole event that took only minutes. The slide blocked the river and formed the lake. Two years later part of this new “dam” failed, and a massive flood of water ran downstream over 6 ft deep. It swept into the small town of Kelly about 25 miles away and completely wiped it out. And the evidence of both events is still visible!
We drove out past the lake onto a dirt and rock road to see some wildlife. But after 4 miles of bouncing and banging and nothing to see, we decided to head back and save the Jeep! With a quick but crowded stop at Jenny Lake, we decided not to take the lake shuttle across and hike the Inspiration Point Trail after hearing about the steep incline. We elected instead to drive along the loop road around the lake and take in the views but without the hike!
And the final viewing spot we wanted to check out was called Signal Mountain Lookout. The drive up was part of the excitement as it had a lot of hairpin curves, switchbacks and one lane roads with sharp drops and no guard rails. But at the top, the lookout was amazing with almost a 360 deg view of the Snake River valley below.
Believe it or not, the next day and the following morning we didn’t go anywhere! We took the day off to work on our blogs (how else do you think we get these done?), to catch up on some calls, to pay bills and balance the accounts, and basically to take a break after almost two weeks of continuous tourist stuff! Whew! Plus, we had two more days of cool things already planned. Ahhhhh!
First, we had to move the RV to the southern end of the park nearer to Jackson Hole. It was an easy drive of only 48 miles with a quick hookup and light lunch. Then we hit the road again up the road to Teton Village to take the tram up to the top of Rendezvous Mountain!
This area is very popular in the winter with skiing crowds. There are multiple ski slopes and ski lifts. But the tram seems made more for tourists. The gondola is very large and can hold about 100 people. The elevation goes up to over 4100 ft and only takes 12 minutes at 23 mph. There are two cars and they go in opposite directions to each other every 15 minutes. It’s a very organized operation.
The summit, called the Top of the World, is known for its overlook platform similar to the one on the Icefield Parkway near Banff but without the glass floor. It still is an imposing, vertigo-inducing viewpoint. And the other famous place is the Corbet’s Cabin Waffle House at the Top of the World! Not your normal Waffle House like in the US, but a small grill and bar that specializes in fresh made waffles and spiked coffee drinks. We had to try the traditional waffle with brown sugar and lotsa’ melted butter (served with no dinnerware) and the Corbet’s Coffee with Baileys and hot chocolate! Both hit the spot!
On the ride down, the gondola was almost empty, so we sat in the front and took in the panorama. Then we sat watching the gondolas go up and down for a while before heading back to the RV. Gail also enjoyed the flowers.
The next day’s adventure planned was a big deal similar to our kayak outing on Vancouver Island. We were going on a float trip down the Snake River.
We learned about the trip from our friends Mal and Bob who had been at the park a few weeks before. They enjoyed and highly recommended it. We didn’t need to be there early as our schedule was for after lunch. So, we slept in and took our time driving back to Jenny Lake to meet with the tour guide and get on the shuttle for the drop off up the river.
The raft is a large inflatable with no motor and holds up to 12 guests. Turns out it was a full boat. We were guaranteed not to fall out and/or even get wet. Our guide, Bernie, was an experienced pro at this and was only going to use the very large oars to keep us headed straight down the river. We were planning for a 2-hour trip down for about 10 miles. The river flow is controlled by the Lake Jackson dam, and it was currently calm and peaceful with few small rapids and other sharp curves.
We mostly cruised easily and Bernie would spin the boat around occasionally so we would be in the front then in the back for different views. He would explain natural and physical points along the route like trees being felled by beavers, eagles in trees, moose lounging along the banks, and, of course, views of the Grand Tetons in the distance. We were rewarded with some more moose munching away as we pulled into the boat ramp at the end of the trip! Very nice.
We had one more day planned and the weather was supposed to be wet, so we picked an indoor stop at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The building is on a slight rise above the highway. There are outdoor sculptures of different kinds visible from the road mostly of life-sized animals that you might see in the park. And they look very lifelike! The building itself was opened in 1994 and is designed after a Scottish castle. It looks out across the highway to the National Elk Refuge.
The interior is large with art galleries on the first floor. One major feature is a 1904 bronze sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (of the Mt Rushmore fame) of The Mares of Diomedes which were one of Hercules’ labors. Although he tied it to Greek mythology, he stated later that he was inspired watching horse thieves in the American west at the time!
There were many more pieces of wildlife art of all types, and many were from the 1800’s. And in addition, there was a fund raiser auction and drawing in progress with more recent works of mostly local artists. It was very nice, although crowded, but dry inside!
We drove back south through Jackson in the afternoon rush hour traffic. It took almost an hour to get back. We decided on laundry and a quiet dinner vs more window shopping. This was our last day in Wyoming before heading into Idaho again and back to Boise which would end our trip this year. But we still had a couple of surprises in store! So, it’s not completely over yet!
