July 6
We headed to Grand Teton NP which borders Yellowstone NP to the south. The Teton Range has some of the oldest rock on earth, 2.7 billion years old, yet the mountain range is one of the youngest. At the base of Teton Range is the Teton fault. The mountains are still rising while the valley on the other side of the fault is sinking. High elevation canyons hold lingering snow and glaciers.
After 63 miles and about 1:15 hours, we arrived at Colter Bay Village RV Park. After checking on kayak permits (carry over from Yellowstone) and getting information at the visitor center, we drove south on Hwy 89 and turned off on Pacific Creek Road toward the Two Ocean lake Trailhead. Unfortunately, the road was closed so we backtracked about a ½ mile for the Emma Matilda Lake trail. The sky had looked very threatening over the Grand Teton mountain range the whole time. Finally it started raining. So, we had another change of plans, drove back out to Hwy 89 to reassess the weather. Now that we had a clearer view of the sky we decided to try to hike the Christian Pond Trail. On the way we stopped briefly at Willow Flats Overlook the has a view of the Oxbow area of the Snake River after it leaves Jackson Lake. We spied many elk down in the marshy flats.
We couldn’t find the trailhead to Christian Pond. Grand Teton NP doesn’t seem to be nearly as clearly marked as Yellowstone was. We found an unmarked gravel road further north that looked like it lead to hiking trails between Two Ocean Lake and Emma Matilda Lake. After about a mile we came to a small parking area in the middle of the woods. We walked through dense forest, sagebrush flats, willow flats, and meadows. We had hoped to see a moose as they like to eat willows. We ended up hiking about 2.6 miles. We cut it short as Liam had a bad stomach ache.
After dinner we tried to find some moose. We drove back to Willow Flats Overlook. A man pointed out a pair of bald eagles in the distance. We passed the information on to the next folks. We drove the Cattleman’s Bridge Crossing dirt road that circles behind the Oxbow area in the hopes of getting deeper into moose country. We didn’t see anything besides duck and tons of mosquitoes.
We headed back to the campground area, stopping by the local cafe to get a wi-fi signal.
July 7
At around 8am we arrived at the String Lake parking area to begin our hike south and then west into Cascade Canyon west of Jenny Lake. One can take a shuttle boat across Jenny Lake to get closer to the Inspiration Point and the Cascade Canyon Trail trail heads. We opted for the cheaper, longer, but more scenic route from String Lake.
On the way we saw a hawk in its nest on top of a tall, dead tree stump and a mule deer doe and her spotted fawn near the trail. We hiked by the Jenny Lake boat dock on the west side, then up to Hidden Falls, a lovely 200 ft cascade, and then Inspiration Point which has an expansive view of Jenny Lake below and the park to the east. We continued on to Cascade Canyon which runs between Grand Teton (tallest mountain in Teton NP at 13770 ft, Mount Owen (2nd tallest) and Mount St John. The scenery is incredible. We had awesome views of the mountains and their glaciers all along the way. We could see the melt water running and falling down the steep mountain sides. Cascade Creek which runs all along the canyon carries the glacial melt water to Jenny Lake. In the canyon the creek was sometimes a rushing white water, sometimes a smooth, shallow, broad creek. We hiked past huge boulder fields and through thick forest. At some point a few folks pointed out a small black bear that was no more than 30 ft from us. He didn’t pay us much attention. We ended up hiking all the way to the end of beautiful Cascade Canyon, about a 7 mile trip one way. At its end one can continue northwest to Lake Solitude or southwest behind Grand Teton and onwards. We decided not to hike the additional 5.4 miles round trip to Lake Solitude, or the 13 mile continuation of the loop back to String Lake via Paintbrush Canyon. During a nice lunch break we had a brave chipmunk check us out. He scampered between our packs and feet. On our hike back William spotted a female moose laying down about 30 ft from the trail. Finally we got to see a moose! Later we came across a slower section of the creek lined with willows. A bull moose was standing in the water. He was big but his antlers were not huge. Wow, two moose and one bear all during the same hike! We also saw two yellow bellied marmots, lots more chipmunks, a type of woodpecker, a western tanager, and maybe a pica. The way back was a bit shorter at 6 miles as we took a more direct route to String Lake. After 8 hours on the trail and 13 miles we were tired. The boys did amazingly well! It was our longest hike ever with them. The weather was absolutely perfect, unlike yesterday, although the clouds started to roll in over the mountain range during the afternoon.
Back at the campsite we stopped for some ice cream and some groceries, then relaxed in the camper as the a little rain began to fall.
July 8
After our exertion yesterday, we decided to take it easy today. We wanted to kayak the Snake River. We would put in just below the Jackson Lake dam, float with the current, meander through the Oxbow bend area near Cattleman’s Bridge, and get out at Pacific Creek Landing about 5 miles downstream. With only one car, the logistics would be a problem. We checked with the activities shop near the campground to see what kind of shuttle service they might offer. One can only book complete float trips. We decided to head to the dam anyway to see if we could share shuttle duties with other folks. We had no such luck. So, William dropped the rest of us and the kayaks off at the dam and drove to the takeout area. He intended to hitchhike back to us. He approached a nice retired couple who gave him a ride back to the dam. We saw huge cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish. Most of the river was 2-3 ft deep with some deeper channels. We all enjoyed our float down the river except for one stretch where the river widened and the wind was against us. William towed Ethan for a while. After the windy stretch passed we had another calm stretch. We scanned the forested shore for moose or bear but saw none. Esther spied a cute little baby bird scrambling up the steep shore to its long-beaked mother, a spotted sandpiper. The current at the landing spot was a bit swift but we all managed to maneuver to the shore fine. The strangest thing was the leeches. William’s kayak had at least 6 leeches attached to it for several miles. None of the other kayaks had any. We concluded that the leeches were attracted to his boat’s lime green color. Before loading up the kayaks we made sure we picked them all off and threw them back into the water.
The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed at the campground and went shopping for a t-shirt for Ethan at the campground store.
July 9
For our last day at Grand Teton NP we picked out the Taggert Lake-Bradley Lake hike south of the Jenny Lake area. Taggert Lake was formed by a glacier flowing from Avalanche Canyon, Bradley Lake by the Garnet Canyon glacier. The glaciers gouged out basins and deposited moraines, ridges of soil and rock which later dammed the melt water.
We parked at the Taggert Lake trail head and hiked 2.2 miles up and over a lateral moraine to Taggert Lake. This area was fairly recently burned. We crossed wildflower,sagebrush, and small aspen blanketed slopes with varied and intense aromas. The Taggert Lake is really beautiful, clear, and ringed by Douglas firs, lodgepole pines, Englemann spruce, and aspen, with the Teton Range and its remaining glaciers as a backdrop. We took a break on rocks at the shore, watched some small fish, threw rocks, and absorbed the awesome scenery. On the way to Bradley Lake we had to climb over its lateral moraine. We were greeted with a similar view. The whole loop was 5.9 miles.
Afterward we drove to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center near the Moose Junction. There we learned about the geology, history, and wildlife of Grand Teton NP. There was also an exhibit of American Indian items. We saw several herds of bison, the first we have seen in Grand Teton. NP.
The Davids' Cross-Country Trip 