GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WY

We’ve spent an enjoyable four days at Grand Teton National Park located outside of Jackson, WY.  With no foothills to obstruct your view, you can see the jagged peaks and deep canyons of the Teton Range rising up to 7,000 feet above the floor of the Jackson Hole Valley which itself is 6,400 feet above sea level.  The Tetons are the youngest mountains in the Rockies.  During the day the temperature has been in the low to mid 80’s and drops to the low 40’s in the evening.

We drove the Signal Mountain Summit Road where both of us were quickly reminded that we had been there previously.  The overlook is 8,000 feet above the valley.  It is a spectacular sight viewing the entire Teton Range and Jackson Lake.  Our picnic lunch tasted very good at that altitude.  The return trip down the mountain was an exciting one because we saw traffic stopped by the side of the road and lo and behold, there was a bear enjoying huckleberries on the bushes he was surrounded by.  We not only got a picture of him, we also got a video.  He seemed to be completely oblivious to all of the spectators watching him.  Seeing this made our day!

We drove the North Jenny Lake Scenic Drive and took the boat ride across Jenny Lake and hiked to Hidden Falls.

We stopped at Amangani, one of Jackson’s many upscale lodgings.  It is a luxurious and beautifully designed resort hotel perched high above the lush Snake River Valley.  It is owned by Aman Resorts, a Singapore-based chain that have luxury hotels in unique and dramatic locales.  Off season rates start at $565/night and during peak season the rates begins at $750/ night.   For us it can’t compete with a $25/night campsite.

After oooing and aaahing we went to Jackson Hole to walk around the square and do some window shopping.  There are wooden sidewalks and western attractions lining the town square.  At each corner of the square is an entry arch made of thousands of elk antlers.  We could see the moneyed elite, gung ho hikers and climbers, and even several real Wyoming cowboys.  During the winter the ski bums show up.  We even visited the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar that opened in 1937.