America's Wonderland - Grand Teton to Jackson

The next morning waking up bright and early was easy for two reasons: We were still feeling central time (and in mountain time), and the sun came up around 4:30AM.  We didn't mind, though, because we had many activities planned!

First up we drove back out to Mormon Row so I could get some photos of the picturesque barns.  On the way there we saw more buffalo and mini buffs.

Mormon Row is very interesting.  There's one small sign when you're right on top of it, but it's otherwise unadvertised.  The road is dirt and very rough.  We didn't see any information on a sign or in a packet (they have those at most areas of the parks).  It all had a surreal feel to it.  I was hesitant at first as to how close we could walk up to the buildings and where we were "allowed" to go.  There was no one guarding or watching the buildings, so we decided they were fair game.  While the barns are beautiful, they are not kept up in any way that we could see, which I think is a tragedy.  

When we approached the first barn (which no one else realized was also deserted), we heard a chirping sound.  Small heads poked out of numerous holes in the ground.  Our uinta squirrel friends apparently also like the barns.  A played around with them while I took pictures. 

While we were there, we saw a couple taking engagement pictures.  The barns, fences and Tetons make a beautiful backdrop!  While we were walking around, we saw another coyote as it hopped across a field.

On the drive back up north, we stopped at the Snake River Overlook, made famous by Ansel Adams.  

(Photo by Ansel Adams)

While many a tourist and professional photographer have tried to replicate this iconic photo, no one is able to capture the same emotion and feel.  Here's my version.

The overlook had something we'd been searching for since we entered Grand Teton National Park - a diagram with all the Teton names!

We jumped back in the car and continued to our destination: the Grand View trail head.  The trail head is at the top of a winding, narrow dirt road.  For 10 minutes we were questioning whether the directions a park ranger had given were correct.  (They went something like: Turn right out of the cabins, then take the third left on a road which is hidden from view and may or may not have a stop sign.)  The Grand View trail climbs up about 1,000 feet in little over a mile, so it's a moderately strenuous hike.  (Thankfully we still had our walking sticks!)  When we started the hike, our car was the only one in the "parking lot" (AKA small dirt clearing) and we were the only ones on the trail.  When we reached the top, it was breath-taking.

We took a break to eat our lunch.  After having packed our lunch each day of this trip, I can't imagine not doing so on similar vacations.  We didn't have to waste time to go back to a restaurant - we just ate where we were.  And the view was much better!

There was no rock tower to add to at the top of this trail (probably because it's not very popular), so we left our own environmentally friendly mark.

At the top, we kept smelling something sweet on the breeze and knew it was huckleberry, but couldn't find the source.  On the way back down, A used his detective skills to find a huckleberry bush!  He followed some (fairly recent) bear tracks into the brush and was rewarded.

On the hike down we passed about five other hikers and giggled while wondering what their reaction would be to our initials at the summit.  Two of the hikers let us know they had just seen a grizzly bear near the main road, so we quickened our pace in hopes to see it as we still hadn’t seen one.  It was easy to find where he was – about 20 cars and many tourists, some with big camera lenses standing on the shoulder of a service road.  Unfortunately by the time we arrived the bear had retreated a little ways and gone to sleep, so the park rangers were turning everyone away. 

At this point in the day it was time to head down to Jackson, Wyoming, where we were spending the next two nights.  Our plan for this evening was to go on a chuck wagon dinner ride.  They’re all the rage in this part of the country.  While they are all a little cheesy and cliché, we had tons of fun!  We arrived at the ranch and were assigned to a real covered wagon to ride in on the way to the dinner camp.

As I was lucky enough to sit up front beside the driver, I was the shotgun driver and scolded for not bringing along my gun and ammunition to scare off the Indians. (Note: I much prefer to be PC and call them “Native Americans”, but the actors in this show all called them “Indians”, so I’m going to use that here.)  This was my view.

We were attacked!

But we were reassured by our driver that the Indians were just making themselves known and we weren’t in any danger.  That is, unless we were holding the dessert; apparently Indians like blondies.  We were instructed to guard them at all costs.

We all ate together at long tables and were serenaded by a cowboy band during dinner.  I even got pulled in for a round of "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain". (I provided the "yee haw".)

Coming up next: Whitewater rafting and checking out Jackson!