The Teton Range unleashed its rugged and staggering beauty on us today as we explored around the Grand Teton National Park. The mountains rise suddenly and impressively from the valley giving you a view wherever you turn.
We stayed at The Rustic Inn in Jackson. We had a nice cabin with an amazing luxury shower, great outdoor pool and amenities and super breakfast in the morning. We arose nice and early due to still thinking we were on Eastern time.
We rented a Yukon for the trip and although it was big and cumbersome at time, the 4x4 did very well on the steep grade on some of the roads. We packed water and some snacks and were on the road after breakfast.
We took a hike on Cache Creek just outside Jackson on the recommendation of a local and it was really pretty. Abundant wildflowers throughout and the sounds of the rushing cold Cache Creek near us. We saw a few mountain bikers and people out for a hike this morning but often felt like we had the place to ourselves. The town of Jackson is very quaint with its famous antler arch with nice shopping. You can also see Snow King Mountain Ski Area there as well.
We had beautiful weather this morning in the low 60s and the sun came out occasionally to warm us.
The girls had a great time picking wildflowers and massive dandelions, roaming the trails and being the "leader".
After the hike we had some time to drive through the Grand Teton National Park and of course were all amazed at the beauty. The colors change with the cloud cover and hardly look real.
We booked a scenic float trip on the Snake River through Mad River Adventures. They came and picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the area to get on an inflated boat. We had a great lunch with home made chips, brownies, water and a sandwich while we floated down the river. The girls especially liked when we hit a few mild rapids. We were hoping to see a moose but didn't luck out on this one. We did see many bald eagles, osprey and other birds.
An enormous bald eagle nest that apparently is larger
then 6 feet wide.
Clouds would threaten rain but it would often pass by. Off in the distance this area got rain and we were treated to an amazing view.
We only allotted 2 days to see the park and knew we needed much more time for a proper visit. When you only have so much vacation you have to make the most of every minute it seems. After the float trip we decided to go north to Jackson lake and eat at Leeks Marina pizzeria. The views were outstanding and the girls loved exploring the docks and rocky beach.
Jackson Lake (6772 ft)
Jackson Lake is a natural glacial lake.
Driving back from Colter Bay Village we stopped along the way when we noticed others grouped with their binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras out. The moose just disappeared but we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
Jamie, Allie and a swarm of gnats.
Wyoming is definitely horse country.
In so many rocks you can often depict an image out of them, almost like a Rorschach test in the mountains. We joked that this looked like a "baby Alien" carved in the mountain.
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