My abiding impression of this park will be of the wonderful way people greeted me with words like “do you see the bald eagle in the tree there?” Or “do you want to see a moose?” Nature lovers, all intent on braving the cold to get a glimpse of the glorious wildlife and bird life. We spoke to one man, about our age, who drives up every year from Southern California to the Grand Teton park in spring and sometimes in autumn as well. He is an amateur photographer, and I can see how it could cast that spell. He urged us to come another time in autumn, to see the contrast. I wish.
We were lucky to see a moose, the only one we have seen, and again only because another visitor pointed out where he had seen it. We had to wait quite a while for it to show itself from behind the bushes, but eventually it did. We saw the American Pelican, which is all white, and a beaver, which came up very close to us, as well as the more common species like elk, pronghorn and bison.
We enjoyed seeing the Snake River wind its way through the valley and the geology there is fascinating. Jock enjoyed the many manifestations of moraine.
Grand Teton park adjoins Yellowstone, and it was a nice drive through very high altitudes and lots of snow, then back down some of the way to arrive at Signal Mountain, within the park itself.
It’s a small lodge with cabin or cottage accommodation and we loved our little cabin overlooking the lake and mountains. Those mountains! Massive snow covered peaks that are part of the Rockies , appearing and disappearing in the clouds.
But bad weather did finally catch up with us and we had cold, cold days with a wind chill factor, rain and some snow.The first day we just rested. It seemed like after all those days getting out and about in Yellowstone in the cold, our bodies were saying, stay warm! Our cabin was lovely and cosy, and with the view, there did not seem much reason to move that first day, except to go down the lodge restaurant and bar! It too had the wonderful view and a fireplace, was very pleasant and casual , with good music playing and a really nice atmosphere. I like meeting the staff and other patrons and doing some people watching, to learn a bit more about how the place ticks. This particular lodge had a lot of locally sourced food and alcohol. Jock really enjoyed the Jenny Lake Lager and I found the local gin to be delicious.
The next day we braved the cold but did that very touristy thing of driving from one spot to another, jumping out for a few photos and to read the signs, then jumping back in the car! We didn’t even do any of the shorter walks , but did stay out when the wind dropped, which it did occasionally. At one stage, we dropped into another lodge hoping for a hot coffee and were rewarded with a stupendous room with the most massive picture windows I have seen , looking at the mountains of course. It was Jackson Lake Lodge, which has historic significance and was so worth calling into. The coffee was quite good and the artwork and architecture well worth a look.
The park is another major hiking destination and had the conditions been better there were a number of shorter trails that we could have walked, including circuits round very picturesque lakes. Mind you, the multitudes of bear warnings were somewhat off putting and many side roads were closed due to bear sightings. We didn’t see one ourselves in Grand Teton but I’ve no doubt the chances were very high if you were on a remote track. Maybe one day……………..
