A visit to Jackson, Wyoming

August 11, 2011, Teton Mountain View Lodge and RV Park Tetonia, Idaho.

Yesterday we took yet another ride over Teton Pass into Jackson Hole and specifically, Jackson Wyoming. Did I mention just how steep Teton Pass is? I checked the signs again on the pass and they warn of 10% grades for 5 miles! And that's on each side.  I decided to give the Jeep a break today and we took the truck. Even in 2nd gear the Jeep wants to run away at 50 miles per hour on the down side of the pass. The exhaust brake on the truck is so handy to use on the passes as I don't have to touch the brake pedal. On the east side of the bottom of the pass is a small town called Wilson and the speed limit is 25 mph. Every time we've passed through Wilson the stench of hot brakes and brake fluid is overwhelming from vehicles coming off the mountain pass.

Jackson Wyoming is about a 45 mile drive from the camp ground. After entering Jackson, Wyoming we found public parking for the truck and then walked to the shopping district and square.

Jackson is a small city with lots of summer visitor traffic. The square was full of the usual t-shirt shops and really beautiful art gallery/shops.

Elk Horn arches at the four corners of the park in the square.

I had always thought that "Jackson Hole" was a town or city. Actually Jackson Hole is the Valley which contains the city of Jackson and is bordered on the west by the Grand Tetons.

Walking around the shops and enjoying lunch in Jackson was a great way to kill the day. By the time we got home we were ready to relax. Wow, this full time RV lifestyle is hard work!

Sun's last light of the day on the Tetons (from the campground)

Today we did some grocery shopping in Driggs and then made some preparations to move further north tomorrow to Island Park.  We are meeting friends at the next campground and plan to spend a week visiting Yellow Stone National Park.

Hike in Grand Teton National Park

August 8, 2011 Tetonia Idaho Mountain View Lodge and RV Park.


Yesterday, we stayed in the park and then rode our bikes around town. Tetonia only has a population of about 250 so it's not a very big town at all. The weather was a bit cloudy and threatening rain so it was a good day to stay close to home.
I had mentioned in my previous post how we wanted to do a hike in Grand Tetons N.P. but that I don't like crowds, so some fellow bloggers, Jim and Gayle suggested a hike in the Laurance Rockefellar Preserve. Once again we made plans to get up early and head out for Grand Tetons N.P. However, we slept in as it was too cold to get up! We finally left our rig at 9:00. After about a 50 mile drive including up and over Teton Pass again, we arrived at the Preserve within Grand Tetons N.P.
Jim and Gayle had mentioned that the park limits the number of vehicles that can park at the visitor center and trailhead. Sure enough the ranger staff was on hand to marshall vehicles into the parking. We got one of only two spaces remaining at the time we arrived.

We checked out the visitor center and then headed out onto the trail for Phelps Lake. Along the way we followed the river and had lots of river photo opportunities.

We did encounter other people on the trail but it wasn't bad. I was hoping to come across some wildlife, bears and moose would have been cool! But that didn't happen.

Using my new camera with a mono-pod

We did come across this deer on the trail whom seemed to not be very concerned with our presence. 

Once we were at the lake, we decided to hike a bit further and walked partially around the lake. We could have hiked all around the lake making it a 7-8 mile hike, but we decided against it as my water bladder in my backpack was leaking and I didn't have much water in it.

Phelps Lake

Trail around the lake

I brought along the wrong lens.

I brought along my new Canon T2i camera, but I also brought the telephoto lens which really didn't work well for the landscape shots. I should have brought along the wider angle standard lens. As a result the photos in this blog are from 3 different cameras. Two that I carried and one Joyce carried.

We had a fun hike, didn't see much wildlife but saw a lot of birds. We did just over 5 miles in total. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was cool. Afterwards we stopped in Jackson Wyoming for some groceries and then headed back home. 

It seems every evening that we've been here we get a brief storm blow through usually producing some strong wind gusts before quickly passing. Sometimes it produces a little rain. Last evening we had some of those strong sudden gusts. We had been sitting outside chatting with a neighbor when the gusts forced us all inside.

Grand Teton National Park

August 6, 2011 Mountain View Lodge and RV Park, Tetonia, Idaho.
We were up early but didn't get going till after 9:00. We were headed to Grand Teton National Park. We took Idaho 33 south through Teton Valley in Idaho and stopped for a quick breakfast in Victor before heading over Teton Pass into Wyoming. The pass was very steep with signs warning of 10% grades. At the top we stopped to check out the sign below and some posted hiking trails. In the valley below us we could see Jackson, Wyoming.

We descended the pass without incident in our Jeep. I would not want to pull our rig up and down this pass as it was hard enough to keep the Jeep from racing down the mountain without the constant braking. We passed through the small town of Wilson, Wyoming before turning towards the southern most park entrance.

Road to the South Entrance

Because we still have a valid "Volunteer Pass" we were able to enter the park for free. Otherwise, it would have been a hefty $25. Shortly after entering, we came across these eaglets high in their perch.

The south entrance leads you north through the park on a narrow and sometimes unpaved road called Moose Wilson Road. I was amazed that we were occasionally tailgated driving through the park. I mean come on..it's a national park, where can all these people be going in such a hurry? Isn't the whole idea to enjoy the sights and the wildlife?

After about 9 miles, we emerged onto Teton Park Road near one of many visitor centers. We stopped briefly at the crowded visitor center (I don't like crowds) and looked around. Then we had to pass another manned gate and show our pass again to continue up Teton Park Road. This second gate is really the main entrance with two lanes of entry access and is just off Hwy 191 out of Jackson.
Before long we had full views of the mountains and Grand Tetons.

I was surprised that the road kept us far away from the actual mountains.

Joyce outside the Visitor Center

And me outside the Visitor Center

The Grand Tetons

Picture pose

Jackson Lake

Jenny Lake

Joyce at Jackson Lake

We traveled north in the park up to Colter Bay before turning around. Had we continued we could have driven into Yellow Stone N.P.
On the way back, we encountered our first wildlife traffic jam. We thought there was an accident but in fact, people were pulling over and bailing out of their cars to get pictures of a bear near the road. A park ranger soon showed up and she tried to keep everyone back as the mob was well within the restriction of 100 yds. from wildlife. The poor female ranger did a lot of screaming with little avail as swarms of foreigners pushed ever closer. Joyce managed to get the picture below.

After we broke free of the traffic jam, we continued to head south and took a couple of scenic routes that we passed on the way up. The park is beautiful, but there's lots of vehicles and some of the parking lots at the overlooks are crowed/full (again I hate crowds).

We didn't see any wildlife except for the bear. The best time to see the wildlife I'm sure is early morning and evening. We will have to return to the park for some hiking.

We would have liked to have stayed longer but we needed to get back to Maggie and Rico. It was a good 8 hrs. before we got home and we had driven 150 miles round trip. The high today was 81 but it quickly cooled in the evening.