Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Monday, August 29th, 2011August 11th
The morning started with some necessary chores: showers (first in 4 days), laundry and packing up camp. We drove about twenty miles from Grant Village to Grand Teton National Park. The first views were spectacular of the snowcapped Teton peaks. (The three mountains were named by French fur-trappers who thought they looked like breasts (tetons.) We made a stop at the Colter Bay Visitor Center next to the pretty Jackson lake to get some information about some backcountry trekking in the park. Within fifteen minutes we had our free permit and bear canister for a two-night trek in the southern part of the range. After that we explored the visitor center, a museum of local Native American culture and picnicked next to lake.
It was early afternoon, so we did part of the scenic drive (there is one in every park) on our way to Jackson to stock up on groceries for the trek. The landscape was amazing with flat meadowland on one side, then lakes with the towering peaks behind (there are no foothills in the Teton Range giving the impression that the mountains spring straight up from the earth.) At one of the stops where we visited the ruins of a ranch, we could see a elk grazing in the distance. This area between Jackson and the mountains known as Jackson Hole was inhabited by settlers in the early 20th century. It was a hard life for farming and cattle ranching so they quickly turned to “dude” ranches, or holiday ranches catering to the wealthy Easterners. The area is still widely popular for fishing, hiking, climbing and skiing. We had only a quick glimpse of Jackson, but it had a fun resort town vibe.
By late afternoon, we had finished all of our chores and done enough sightseeing so we got a site for the evening at the Gros Ventre Campground. We took it easy and prepared ourselves for the trek the next day.
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