Grand Teton National Park
August 3, Wednesday: Jackson, WY to Grand Teton, WY
Our next destinations are the Grand Teton national park and Yellowstone national park. We ran to the grocery store this morning to stock up as we figured decent grocery stores will be hard to find in the national parks.
We drove the one hour north to Colter Bay RV campground in the Grand Tetons, on the north side of the park. The campground is nice with tall pines and a short walk to the bay.
After settling in, we drove to the southern end of the park to explore Jackson Lake Lodge, one of the famous national park lodges. The Lodge has massive floor to ceiling windows that look out over the marshes to the Lake with the craggy Grand Teton peaks in the distance. 
On the way, we stopped at lots of viewpoints, taking picture after picture of the Tetons. The views are a bit hazy and we’re taking them into the sun, so we’ll have to do them all again in the morning when the light is right. 
We made a short detour up to the top of Signal Mountain that has views of the town of Jackson in the distance. On the way down from Signal Mountain, we saw a few cars pulled over and people were picking berries of some kind. I stopped and asked and they were picking huckleberries – so we did too. I was a little concerned about bears in the area, but we didn’t see any. 
After Signal Mountain, we explored String Lake to see about putting in our kayak – it is small and narrow and is a perfect intimate lake for kayaking. On our return to the campground, we saw a bald eagle flying away with a fish – very cool.
We made reservations for a float trip down the Snake River. People were killed on this float trip early in the season due to a tree falling into the river, but they assured us it was safe this time of the year.
August 4, Thursday: Grand Teton, WY
We were up early for our float trip – the skies were stunningly blue and crystal clear. Our guide was very good – humor, history and geology all mixed together.
The views of the mountains were awesome and at one bend in the Snake River, we saw two eagles in the same tree – we floated right beneath them.
After the float trip’s shuttle bus returned us to our car, we went back to the RV for lunch. After lunch, we drove back to Jackson to walk around the shops. We stopped at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar – lots of fun – gnarled wood all over, silver dollars embedded in the bar top and saddles for barstools. Then we went to Bill’s Burgers for a hamburger – an old-fashioned place with a U-shaped counter and stools, with the grill in the center. The guys behind the counter were real comedians, and the burgers were great – just like Bill Clinton said. 
On the way home, we stopped at the Oxbow Bend overlook in the Grand Tetons and saw beavers, osprey carrying fish and lots of blue herons and an eagle. We took some great pictures of the pink sunset reflections on the river.
August 5, Saturday: Grand Teton, WY
We went for a short hike around Colter Bay and then drove down on a winding road that turns into a bumpy dirt track to get to the trailhead for a hike up to Phelps Lake. 
We had to park ½ mile down the hill because we couldn’t get to the parking lot without a high-clearance 4-wheel drive. The trail itself was a short, one mile walk 450’ straight up without a break, but it was worth it as the views of the lake far below were fabulous. Of course, since we had to park ½ mile away from the trailhead, the hike was longer and steeper than expected. We ate lunch on massive granite outcropping over the lake – a beautiful spot. The return trip took 1/3 the time – all downhill. 
For dinner, we went to the Mural Room in Jackson Lake Lodge. We were lucky to actually get our requested seats next to the window looking out on the Tetons. Dinner was fabulous, and we stopped again at the Oxbow viewpoint on the way back to the RV to enjoy watching the wildlife.
August 6, Sunday: Grand Teton, WY
We decided to take a scenic drive east out to explore the town of Dubois. We first stopped at our favorite wildlife viewing area, Oxbow Bend and spotted an osprey and half dozen white pelicans – we have only brown Pelicans in South Carolina. The road to Dubois was a bit disappointing scenic-wise, but did have a few spots that had beautiful multicolored cliffs. Dubois is a cute little town with a few galleries and bars. We had lunch and then stopped at an interesting small museum about Bighorn Sheep around the world. After the museum, we drove a little further east to search for sheep at a designated lookout, but no luck this time of year. We returned to town and got a root beer float at the 50’s drug store fountain, and headed back to the campground. Just a few miles outside of Dubois, we heard a strange flapping noise. Jack pulled over thinking it might be a flat tire, but it was the plastic liner inside the fender and wheel well. He ripped it out and everything seemed to be fine, although a little noisy.
August 7, Monday: Grand Teton, WY
We took the ferry shuttle across Jenny Lake and hiked up to Hidden Falls – a very pretty hike, but the trail was very busy. From there we continued upward on a steep and very rocky trail to Inspiration Point. The view of the lake was pretty, but not as nice as the hike we had done a few days earlier to Phelps Lake. On the way down, we watched a yearling black bear eating huckleberries only yards from the trail. 
We took the boat shuttle back and drove down to String Lake. Just as we were getting ready to put the kayak in, a huge storm came up and we had to postpone our kayaking plans. Instead, we drove into Jackson to get gasoline (gas in the national parks was outrageously expensive) and replace my sunglasses that I had broken. The weather didn’t clear by the time we returned from Jackson, so we had to abandon our kayaking plans for the day.
August 8, Tuesday: Grand Teton, WY
We woke up to nasty skies, thunder and a steady light rain. To kill some time waiting for the weather to hopefully clear up, we walked around an Indian museum located next to Colter Bay. By the time we finished looking around, the weather looked a little better, so we packed a lunch and decided to put the boat in even though more thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon.
On our way to String Lake, we stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge lobby where they had Wifi so Jack could catch up on his internet stuff. The park requires a boating permit, so we stopped at the Jenny Lake visitor center to get one and receive a canned speech by a ranger about boating practices – none of which pertained to non-motorized boats, but every time we tried to explain to him we had a kayak, he’d look at us and just restart his speech. So, we decided to save time and let him do his thing.
We finally got to String Lake, put in the kayak and paddled up the lake admiring the mountain scenery around us. We pulled into shore to have lunch, and returned to the lake just in time to see a magnificent bald eagle soaring overhead. As expected, the thunderheads started moving in, so we paddled back to shore and ended up putting the boat away in the rain – lesson learned: get the boat out of the water, dried and rolled up BEFORE it rains. On our way back to the campsite, we stopped at an overlook near a dam and saw another osprey. 
After dinner, we hiked three miles around Heron Pond and Swan Lake - a beautiful walk along the lakesides and through lodge pole pine forest. Although we saw no elk, moose or bear as we had hoped, we did see a beaver swimming and heard trumpeter swans – very loud sounds like mourning doves with a microphone.
