We had heard that the descent and landing in Jackson was
pretty special and it didn't disappoint.
The airport is located in Grand
Teton National park so we had a spectacular first view of the mountains and
river as we approached the runway. Well, Nate had a spectacular view as Ashley
nervously gripped the armrest and occasionally glanced out. It was particularly
comforting for her to hear Nate excitedly exclaim, “Oh wow, we’re headed
straight into the mountains!” Once you deboard the plane, it is really tempting
to stop in the middle of the runway to snap photos of the Tetons. However, as a warning, security will quickly usher you on your way - not that we know from experience.
Tip: If you want to
visit these parks (especially Teton and Yellowstone), Jackson Hole airport
seems the most convenient. The closest major city is Salt Lake…some people flew
in there, but had to drive a few hours just to reach the park. If you do fly
into Jackson, try to arrange for a seat on the right side of the plane.
After picking up our rental car, we checked into our B&B
(more about that later) and headed out to explore “downtown” Jackson. Jackson
serves as a gateway town to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks in the
summer and is a well-known ski resort during the winter. The town includes numerous souvenir shops,
restaurants, and bars while maintaining a quintessential old West atmosphere.
First, we walked to the town square. Each corner of the
square contains one of the famed antler arches. Each year, the Boy scouts
collect the shedded elk antlers at the nearby National Elk Refuge and auction
them off as a fundraiser. The town square includes four arches composed
completely of some of those elk antlers.
After taking the stereotypical photographs
of the arches, we headed to Snake River Brewing Company for happy hour. Given
the chance, we really enjoy visiting local microbreweries during our travels
and Nate tries to purchase a pint glass as one of his vacation souvenirs. While nibbling on appetizers (the nachos were
surprisingly awesome and affordable) and tasting the various brews, we struck
up a conversation with the bartender who was super friendly and offered great
tips for our visit. Definitely stop in for happy hour during your visit.
After purchasing our souvenirs (pint glass + koozie <-- Floridians love a koozie), we rushed over to the Town Square to witness the nightly shootout. Every evening around 6:00, a local theater troupe performs a Western shootout to the delight of the gathered crowd. Totally cheesy, yet entertaining. After the shootout, we planned on visiting the famed Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. However, it was closed for a private party to which we were apparently not invited - rude. We'll have to saddle up to the bar next time we're in town.
It turned out that missing out on Million Dollar Cowboy Bar was a blessing in disguise because as we turned onto the road leading towards our bed and breakfast we saw people on the side of the road with cameras pointed in the same direction. From our prior visits to National Parks, we knew this meant one thing - wildlife spotting! Sure enough, a bull moose was standing just off the road. Since we did not have the right lenses with us, we went back to our B&B to grab them, which was fortunately less than a quarter of a mile away from the moose. Fortunately, the moose was right where we left him and we had the opportunity to take some decent photographs even though we were quickly losing light.
The moose is the unofficial mascot of the Tetons so we felt pretty fortunate to see one our first night! So, imagine how blessed we felt when we realized that there were not one, but two bull moose within feet of each other while we were photographing! We truly appreciated our luck later on in our trip after hearing numerous other visitors lament their lack of moose sightings.
Sadly, some people insisted on getting way too close to the moose (including an entire under-12 youth soccer team), which kind of ruins the experience for everyone else. We realize that moose seem slow and harmless (one of the soccer kids even insisted "they're just like horses...it's fine"), but they're actually super dangerous when approached. In Alaska, moose injure more people than bears. So, needless to say, it made us nervous to see so many people getting closer and closer to these beautiful giants. If you are so lucky as to see one of these creatures in the wild, please keep a safe distance and don't ruin the experience for everyone else. Ok, stepping off soapbox now.
Once satisfied that we had captured some great images, we continued our drive down Moose-Wilson Road (aptly named it seems). After seeing a herd of female elk, we headed home to our B&B. Just as we thought that our wildlife viewing had ended for the evening, guess who we saw nibbling on a willow tree in the front yard of a home down the street from our B&B? The same bull moose from earlier! We really gained an appreciation for his height with the house as a backdrop.
After an extremely successful evening of wildlife sightings, we settled in for the night with much anticipation for the rest of our trip. After all, this was just the first (very long) day of our two week vacation! Would our animal luck continue?
Grand Tetons
We woke up early the next morning, but not early enough for sunrise. We'd save that for the rest of the trip. Since we still had a few hours before breakfast, we drove into the National Park for some wildlife viewing. Many people are shocked that we get up so early on vacation (especially since we're not early risers at home), but it's totally worth it if you want to see animals! Most of the mammals are crepuscular (mostly active at dawn and dusk - consider that your word of the day) so early morning is one of the best times to spot some critters. You won't have that great of odds if you're only looking mid-day. We didn't see too many animals this particular morning, but did spot a pronghorn antelope, so we'll count that as a win.
After driving back to Teton View Bed and Breakfast, we headed to the dining room for our morning meal. Carol and Franz settled in Jackson Hole (via Alaska and Austria) and run the bed and breakfast out of their home. They provided a delicious breakfast and invaluable advice on local hikes. Today's breakfast consisted of a flaming Austrian omelet, which provided great fuel for our upcoming hike. While eating, they demonstrated how to operate our bear spray (which we purchased at the grocery store the night before) and recommended different trails in Grand Teton National Park. By the end of the meal, we knew we had definitely picked the right B&B and felt like we were staying with family.
Full from breakfast and armed with our bear spray, we drove back into the Park for our first hike of the trip. We decided to start with a hike with mild elevation change since our sea level selves were still adjusting to the altitude. Phelps Lake Trail departs from the Laurence Rockefeller Preserve Center, which is a relatively new LEED certified visitor center in the Park. The visitor center itself provides a meditative experience unlike most other crowded areas of the park. After stamping our National Park Passport in the visitor center, we set off on our first hike of the trip.
The trail starts on a fairly flat path along a creek with views of mountains before reaching the lake. This portion of the trail seemed rather popular and we often encountered fellow hikers. Although we had only been in Grand Teton National Park for less than an hour, we were already impressed by the spectacular scenery.
After a short distance, the path reaches Phelps Lake - the trail's namesake. We stopped for a photo opportunity in front of the lake. Please note Ashley's cute headband - it'll be the last time you see it since it soon fell victim to too many adjustments of her sunhat. Sad face.
After admiring the crystal clear waters of the lake, we set off to locate a perfect picnic spot before continuing the hike around the lake.
With our feet dangling off a wooden bridge over a river that empties into the lake, we enjoyed the boxed lunches we grabbed before heading into the park. Refueled - we continued on the trail. Although we had seen many other hikers up until this point on the path, the trail seemed much less frequented from this point forward. Most people must turn around once reaching the lake instead of walking all the way around it.
At one point, local trail runners jogged passed and we noticed them clapping and shouting along the way - to scare off any possible bears. We followed suit. In general, our travel theory is do as the locals do. Although you feel super silly at first, it actually becomes pretty fun once you get used to it. Ashley particularly enjoyed following the travel guide's advice of singing along the trail to give bears warning of your presence.
Well after we saw the trail runners, Nate suddenly stopped in the path and pointed ahead while asking "what's that?" Approximately 100 yards in the distance, a small furry brown bear meandered along the trail. Since it'd been quite awhile since we had seen any fellow hikers, we stood still for a few minutes hoping the bear would continue on it's merry way without interacting with us. We maintained such a safe distance that we didn't confirm whether it was a Black or Grizzly bear or obtain any photographic evidence of the sighting. But at least we both caught a glimpse of it....you'll just have to trust us. Eventually, once the bear was out of sight, we felt safe enough to continue along the trail. Bear spray at the ready, we shouted and clapped as we slowly walked forward. We never saw the bear again. The remainder of the hike was uneventful. Although we took a small detour to Huckleberry Point, it was too early in the season for any berry picking.
After the seven mile hike, it was time to take a relaxing drive around the Park and look for more wildlife. Nate decided to head to an area known as Antelope Flats. No sooner than he stated "I think there are buffalo out here sometimes," a large herd of bison emerged in the distance near the old barns and homesteads that make up Mormon Row. For her first time seeing wild buffalo roaming, Ashley could not have asked for a more picturesque scene. Of course, this also encouraged her to break into song..."Oh give me a home..." It seemed only natural. What did the dad buffalo say to his male offspring before heading on a long trip? Bye son.You're laughing...we know it. Joke courtesy of the National Park Service.
We explored the Mormon Row area. Since we planned to return here for sunrise photos tomorrow of the famed barn, we needed to scope out the set-up ahead of time. While investigating, we soon noticed many small critters dashing across the ground and ducking in and out of burrows. Nate declared them to be prairie dogs. Since we had only seen prairie dogs from a distance in other Parks, Ashley patiently waited for them to pose and excitedly snapped 100 photographs. Embarrassingly, we later discovered that they were actually ground squirrels. Oops.
Leaving the Antelope Flats area, we saw another pronghorn - so this portion of the park lived up to its name. While continuing our evening drive along Moose - Wilson Road, we soon approached a pond that housed a beaver lodge. Although we had passed by the lodge a few times, we had yet to see the inhabitants. However, as we got closer to the lodge, we noticed a crowd snapping pictures along the side of the road. Sure enough - the elusive beavers were out and about enjoying some wood. We couldn't believe how close they were to the road; they were so close that we could actually hear them chewing - ask Ashley for a demonstration of the sound.
After observing them for a few minutes, they eventually swam off back towards their lodge. Ashley was particularly thrilled since she had been searching for beaver in the Rockies for years, but only saw lodges and dams with no sign of residents. This capped off a great first full day in the Park.
Total Miles Hiked on trip: 7
Animals Spotted: bear, buffalo, antelope, beaver,
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