Yellowstone/ Grand Teton Adventures 2022, Day 5

BRIGHT AND EARLY

Travis informed us that we would be leaving at 6:00 a.m. on day 5 due to our travel plans and distance we were going. He gets us up earlier and earlier every day. I think he does it just because he can since he is the driver! We were prompt though and entered the park at 6:08. The good thing about entering so early is you feel like you are all by yourself in the park and it is easy to stop and take pictures.The difference in the sky at different times of the day is amazing.

Headed South

By 6:50 we were back to the snow mounds piled on the side of the road. Travis was driving us back to the South Entrance of Yellowstone so that we could spend the day in the Grand Teton National Park. The views were beautiful along the John D Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Highway.

FROZEN YELLOWSTONE LAKE

Travis stopped along the way to let me take pictures of the frozen YELLOWSTONE LAKE and then again as we crossed a bridge with beautiful views. He studied the map as he was deciding how far we would go today. Becky had mentioned Jackson Hole but he said it was too far… famous last words from the chauffeur. It is not just the distance but also the 45 mile per hour maximum speed limit.

GROUP SHOT

As we left the Southern Entrance and headed into the Grand Tetons we stopped for a break and then tried to take a group picture using the timer on my Apple watch. Can you tell we have not mastered this yet???? We sure have a lot of laughs together though.

We arrived at the Grand Teton National Park at 8:28 a.m. It took almost 3 hours to get there from West Yellowstone with a few stops in between. You could see the mountain range from everywhere we were today.

LAKESHORE TRAIL

I had purchased a 3 day itinerary for the Grand Tetons at the same time I purchased the Yellowstone itinerary. Maybe one day we can go back and spend more time here. Since we were arriving from the Yellowstone entrance, we planned to do day 3 of the itinerary in reverse per the instructions. That made our first stop the Lakeshore Trail.

BEAR SPRAY ALERT

As we waited for the visitor center to open, a park ranger came out to raise the flag. After raising the flag, she told us a story of how a can of bear spray was accidently sprayed inside the visitor center auditorium one day when a man sat down in his chair. The safety was not properly in place on the can and it allowed it to spray straight up toward her. They had to immediately clear the whole building as it entered the ductwork and spread throughout the building. It was a God thing apparently because Travis was carrying our bear spray around with no safety. The clip was lost somewhere between when we bought it and when we started carrying it. When he shared that with her, she immediately wert to find a new safety clip and help him install it on the can. This could have turned out FAR WORSE.

Little to NO water. They gave it to IDAHO!

The Lakeshore Trail is in the Colter Bay area. This is supposed to be a leisurely stroll along the shore of Jackson Lake with great chances to see wildlife. You begin the trail behind the visitor center. It was an easy trail to follow. However, we didn’t see any wildlife and the view was mainly the river bed. The temperature was 58 degrees for this hike.

Grand Teton

The Grand Teton in the highest in the mountain range at 13,770 feet above sea level. It is NOT the tallest from this view. It is farther left.

Copied …..Welcome to the Grand Teton National Park, an area of impressive scenery and abundant wildlife. The park consists of more than 300,000 acres, including the heart of the Teton Range and most of the valley called Jackson Hole. Grand Teton lies within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest neary intact natural area remaining in the contiguous United States. Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, seven national forests, and two national wildlife refuges contain millions of acres. Adjoining federal,state, and private lands increase the size of this ecosystem, which is essential to free-roaming wildlife.

Jackson Lake Lodge

Today was not the day to be taking in views from the lodge. On a normal day, you should be able to stand at the windows and view the mountain range. We watched them wash windows and they are completing some sort of remodel/replacing roof etc.

Lunch Tree Trail

As we exited the lodge to the rear, we headed up the Lunch Tree Hill Trail. we could see some wildlife in the FAR distance. Lunch Tree Hill is the local name for this valley overlook. It was a picnic stop used by John D. Rockefeller Jr. on his travels during a vacation to Yellowstone in 1926.

The hike to the top was pretty steep but paved. We continued to look for wildlife but nothing was up close enough to really see, even with binoculars. The best part of the hike was watching Kenny and Travis crawl/climb up on the rock for a picture.

PIONEER GRILL

Finishing up the trail and viewing at 11:30, we decided to eat in the lodge at the Pioneer Grill and then took a few minutes to enjoy the inside of the Jackson Lake lodge.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN

Travis then took us up a narrow winding road 800 feet up to the top of Signal Mountain. You could see the Teton Range, the valley, and Jackson Lake.

DRIVING FOREVER

Have I mentioned how much driving is involved in this trip???????? It is great that we never saw a bad view!! We even drove through Moose Junction. The temperature had risen to 78 degrees outside.

POST OFFICE

Travis found a small post office to pick up some flat rate boxes. Never know what you might mail to yourself! The post office in West Yellowstone is never open the hours that we are there.

JACKSON WYOMING

We finally arrived at 2:30. Travis delivered us right to the square. Since this was what Becky had so looked forward to, we took pictures at the antler arches FIRST. Town square seemed to be the happening place. We just wandered around a bit before ending up at the Jackson Drug Store to eat Ice cream.

ELK ANTLER ARCHES

A WALK AROUND THE SQUARE

ICE CREAM for the WIN

I was outside when the ice cream arrived. Travis DID NOT take a picture of it!!!! He had already eaten the top half of the Brownie Sundae we were sharing by the time I got back inside. Becky and Kenny shared a huge three scoop flight. We were all stuffed. 79 degrees outside.

TETON VILLAGE

Just a quick stop on our way back to West Yellowstone to see what was in Teton Village. Saw an interesting photo opportunity and couldn’t resist.

IDAHO

Saw a lot of dirt in Idaho. Travis handed the wheel over to Kenny to drive back. We chose to not go through the parks on the way back. We took a scenic route further west through Idaho.

CONNIE’s

During the 2 plus hour drive back to West Yellowstone, I had time to find us somewhere to eat. After looking, we decided on Connie’s. It was a good choice. The atmosphere was great. We arrived at 6:30 but it was not crowded. Travis and I shared fish and Becky got a BLT. Kenny had broccoli cheddar soup. You could eat here, buy clothes here, buy a gun here, pray here, all in one convenient stop!!

DID YOU SAY ROCKS???

We were back in the hotel by 8:00 p.m. We might have found some things to mail home????????

Summary of Day 5

My Apple watch says that I walked 5.5 miles, 13,297 steps, and climbed 12 flights of stairs. We left the hotel for Grand Teton National Park at 6:00 a.m. and returned to the hotel at 8:00 p.m. Drove in 3 states today. I should have kept up with milage each day!!! Man that was a lot of driving.