Campsite
We arrived in the Grand Teton area on the morning of Wednesday July 28th and set up camp on Shadow Mountain – campsite #2. This campsite has the best view of the Tetons! There were also a few dear that came through, including one pretty large buck.
Taggart Lake Loop
On Wednesday and Thursday we were rained out of our hikes. So we set out early Friday morning to hike the Taggart Lake Loop just inside the Moose Entrance to the park. The trail was 3.8 miles long and took us about 2 hours to complete (including picture time.) While the hike was fairly easy and had some pretty wildflowers and streams, unfortunately the mountains themselves were covered in thick fog and we couldn’t even make out the outline.
When we got back to the Jeep we had a nice little note waiting for us from some friendly New Jersey hikers 🙂
Hidden Falls
Hidden Falls was awesome and I’d highly suggest it! We did an extended version of the trail which included a path along Jenny Lake and added Inspiration Point because we were so close. Along the trail we stumbled across two black bear cubs and their mama! We came around the corner and bam, there they were. One of the cubs was climbing a tree. The bears ended up staying near the trail for awhile so we caught quite a few glimpses of them as we slowly moved up the trail before they ran off up a hill.
Jenny Lake was huge! It still astounds me how large lakes can get. We ended up walking beside it for about two and a half miles and the view from inspiration point looked out over it.
The water fall that was the main event of this hike was beautiful. It had rained the previous few days so I’m sure it was in great form on the day we went.
While the path along Jenny Lake was fairly sparse with hikers, once you got close to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point the traffic really picked up. There are many trails that lead to Hidden Falls and Inspiration point so going early is best if you can.
Taggart Lake Loop (again)
Yes, again. I was so upset the view was fogged out the first time we did it that we decided to go back on a more clear day. This time we went mid afternoon and there were way more people on the trail this time around. The view was worth the additional 4 mile trek though. And bonus, we saw a moose! He was drinking from the lake behind us as we were taking pictures with the peaks. Another hiker had to point him out because we weren’t paying any attention.
Glory Peak
Oh boy did I overestimate our abilities on this one. The hike up to Glory Peak was 1.6 miles… straight up. The puppies had the previous day up, but Nick and I had hiked 11 miles. And none of us were going to make it to the top of this one. We got about half way up before Logan was gassed (and I wasn’t far behind.) We stopped at this big rock to take a couple picture and enjoy the view for a little while before heading down. I imagine the view from the top was breathtaking, but my breath was gone halfway up.
Canoeing at Jackson Lake
Oh my gosh, this was the best way to see the Tetons! We rented a canoe from Colter Bay Boat Rentals and were able to go out and explore on Jackson Lake. The sun was starting to get low in the sky by the end and the view was spectacular. Nick gave me some pointers on how to best paddle a canoe since I had never been in one before (and he has a canoe merit badge.) 10/10 the best thing we did while at Grand Teton NP.
Portable Piersons 