We set our alarms for 6:30 but there were thunderstorms overnight and it was still pretty cloudy and drippy when we woke up. So we made the decision to flip our day — leave slowly this morning and shop Jackson for a bit before heading into the park. The town of Jackson is super cute with old-fashioned wood plank “sidewalks” and lots of Western charm. We got coffee at Cowboy Coffee and hit up a couple of thrift stores to see what we could find. I got a cute jacket and we also picked up a towel for our camping adventure in Yellowstone.
We headed into the park and stopped at the Visitor’s Center so that I could get a stamp in my passport book. Then we went in to Taggart Lake, which is a nice hike up to an alpine lake that circles back to the parking lot. The lot was packed so we ended up parking along the road. It turned out that the hike was actually partially closed and they had a bit of a detour which added about a mile to our adventure. We climbed up through pine forests and eventually into a clearing where we could see the magnificent peaks of the Tetons. It was really pretty! Then we hiked down to the lake and grabbed our own private “beach” area where we put our feet in the icy water and enjoyed a snack. The mountains were directly across the lake from us and we never got tired of staring at them or snapping photos!
We returned to the parking area by circling back along the other side, which was nice because we weren’t repeating what we had just walked. This path took us through aspen trees that were just starting to turn yellow and of course those huge jagged peaks peeking out behind them. Again — tons more photos.
As we were reaching the last part of our hike we got rain alerts on our phones, so we started walking a bit faster. Our car was like the last one in the row of cars parking on the road so it was a bit of a walk even after the hike. We made it though! We enjoyed some carrots and hummus by the car so we could jump in when the rain started. It was really neat to watch the wall of rain move towards us across the open plains.
After that we realized that we hadn’t used the audio guide I purchased yet! So we plugged in my phone and let the narrator start telling us all about what we were seeing and the history of Teton National Park. It really added a lot to our drive and I am so excited to use it again tomorrow and for all of our days in Yellowstone!
We made a quick pit stop at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center before heading up the road towards the Jenny Lake Overlook. This was a one-way road that took us right up to the lake with beautiful views of the Tetons. It was quite windy there, but we still enjoyed getting out and looking at those peaks some more.
Our narrated journey took us up to Jackson Lake, Oxbow Bend and back to Jackson along the outer road. We took a side trip down a gravel path looking for wildlife since it was getting to be around dusk. We got out at a lake at the end and did get to see a deer walk and swim across the lake, which was super cool!
We also stopped to pet and photograph horses that were in the giant fields along the back road. They were fenced in so they were likely not wild horses, but they had acres and acres to roam. It was so beautiful seeing horses with the mountains behind them.
We thought we were finally heading back to Jackson for Mark to get his beer in the Cowboy Bar but we pretty immediately came upon a herd of bison! This was very exciting because we hadn’t seen any yet and sort of thought we might have to wait until Yellowstone. There were probably 80+ bison just grazing in the field right next to the road. Probably a good 10 or so were babies with a few being extremely young. (They were a much lighter color brown and seemed very unsure on their feet.)
We were standing on the road and they were in the field right beside us — but there was a bit of a slope down and we were at least 25+ feet away. We stood there a long time watching the mommas and babies, the big males, and the entire herd sort of move the left. At one point a big male decided to cross the road and traffic stopped. Another time a baby calf crossed and sort of stayed in the middle for a long time until a park ranger came and played a clicking clacking noise on his truck and sort of scooted him off the road by driving close.
We took that as our sign to leave and we headed back to Jackson for a beer at Cowboy Bar and some shopping. Back at the apartment we ate some hot soup, took good showers, and packed up the car to head to our “glamping” in Yellowstone tomorrow. The plan is to wake up bright and early to catch sunset on the Tetons as we head out.
