Northwest Wyoming's Grand Tetons draped in winter snow

Continued from
Driving the American West: Cody, Wyoming

It had been four years since my last trip to Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons, an August trip that also included Yellowstone National Park and celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. We’d vowed to come back and see the area in winter someday, and well…that day had arrived.

The only thing missing was Adam. But hey — I took photos for him.

And, y’know, for you.

To the east of Grand Teton National Park, the stunning Bridger-Teton National Forest greeted me with snow. And I mean, a lot of snow. The kind of snow where you pull into a turnout to treat yourself to a lingering gander at the scenery, and you’re instead faced with an 8-foot-high wall of hard-packed flake-age.

Yes, I managed to climb atop one of these plow-made drifts, and yes, the mountain view was gorgeous. But yes, I (unnecessarily) worried that at any minute, I’d fall into an unseen crevasse — and I got right back into the car.

By the time I’d meandered down from the highest elevation, I could easily pull over to the side of the road and peer straight across a plain at furry, prancing elk and flame-orange grasses. There may have been some hand-clapping, and perhaps some giggling.

I cruised into Grand Teton National Park at golden hour, just in time to see a silvery gleam on the Snake River and several thousand elk parade across the National Elk Refuge. I’d spend most of the next day wending my way through the 20+ miles of the park that are open in winter, often alone on the road and always amazed. I tuned into an NPR music show called UnderCurrents, and visually soaked in the pristine winter snow to an inspirational soundtrack of Native American pop, Latin jazz, African blues and Southern folk.

And I wandered just about every inch of Jackson Hole. I’d really missed it here, a mix of Old West architecture, big city money, conservative politics and liberal thought, locavore cuisine and hunting trophies, low kitsch and high art. In winter, fairy lights twinkle on arches of antlers in the main square, and you have to pick your careful way along black ice on the boardwalks. Folks seem happy to see strangers, and there’s a little more time and space for conversation than in the summer high season.

But not all of Yellowstone National Park is open in winter. The west and east entrances are closed, but my friend Ann Shepphird points out that you can enter the south entrance (just north of Jackson) via snow coaches and can stay right in the middle of the park at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge & Cabins — and beat the summer crowds. (In addition, the park is always open from the north entrance near Gardiner, Montana, as is the nearby Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.)

So if you want to see how a dazzling, undeveloped swath of nature copes with a clear, cold, sparkling blanket of snow and ice, head on over to northwest Wyoming (or southwest Montana).

And let me know you’re going: I just might be willing to drive.

In winter in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, you might just have to scale 7-foot snowdrifts at turnouts in order to get a decent view

A pair of elk prancing about in the Bridger-Teton National Forest

The greatest road sign of my entire trip, found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest

Silvery winter light on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park

Just outside of downtown Jackson Hole, the National Elk Refuge is one of the area's most peaceful stretches of protected land

In winter, the National Elk Refuge is home to many thousands of wild elk

A stuffed elk stands proudly in front of Jackson Mercantile, just one ironic mile from the National Elk Refuge

Jackson Hole: Land of sparkly antlers, both moose and elk

The architecture in Jackson Hole is all Old West, all the time

Downtown Jackson Hole has boardwalks instead of sidewalks, which can ice over somethin' fierce in winter

Jackson Hole is full of art galleries and unique works like this positively enormous bronze cowboy

In the Teton movie theater in downtown Jackson Hole, you're likely to be seated next to a real-life cowboy or three

The uber-kitschy Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is one of the most recognizable landmarks on Jackson Town Square

I got your knotty pine for you: one small corner of Jackson Hole's Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

At the Koshu Wine Bar, I enjoyed the deep, rich, fruity Cinder Syrah from southeastern Idaho

Adam bought my teddy bear, Rusty (on the right), for me after our 2008 stay at Jackson Hole's Rusty Parrot Lodge, where every room features a bear; on this trip, I brought Rusty over 1000 miles to have a reunion with his people

The Antler Motel (also called the Antler Inn) was my cozy, right-in-downtown, AAA-discounted home this time around in Jackson Hole

Snow tubing is a popular Jackson Hole alternative for folks like me who don't (yet) know how to ski

Approximately 28 miles worth of Grand Teton National Park is open in winter, and you'll have views like this practically to yourselves

Treat yourselves to a great breakfast about 5 miles outside of Jackson Hole, at Nora's Fish Creek Inn in Wilson

Definitely take a drive out to to Wilson and/or the Teton Village; the scenery, especially in winter, is simply stunning

RESOURCES

TWT Travel Binder: Wyoming
Wyoming Tourism
Grand Teton National Park
Bridger-Teton National Forest
National Elk Refuge
Antler Inn
The Rusty Parrot Lodge
King Tubes
Trio American Bistro
Cafe Genevieve
Pearl Street Bagels
The Garage Restaurant
Koshu Wine Bar

Nora’s Fish Creek Inn

________________________________________________

Continued in
Driving the American West: Boise & Southern Idaho

Travels With Two

"Contemporary Sioux Indian" is one of the exquisite paintings by Wyoming artist James Bama on display in the Western Galleries at Cody's Buffalo Bill Historical Center

Continued from
Driving the American West: Central to Northwest Wyoming

I had originally intended to drive to Yellowstone National Park from Western Colorado, but in late winter there’s an important wrinkle to consider: ’round this time of year, the south and east entrances to the park are closed.

So, enter my well-traveled mother-in-law’s excellent suggestion of Cody, Wyoming as an alternative.

The town and its Buffalo Bill Historical Center provide a vintage snapshot of the Old West, replete with Indians, bucking broncos, gunslinging and cattle. But there’s also locally-made wine. And sweet cream pancakes.

I was only in town for 20 hours, but I’d happily go back in spring or summer to drive the 50-mile Northfork Highway to Yellowstone. By all accounts, it’s full of bighorn sheep — and absolutely gorgeous.

Heading all the way north to Cody required an overnight stop in central Wyoming and a fascinating drive up Routes 789 and 120, but the childhood fan of Buffalo Bill that lurks within my heart felt it was worthwhile. Happily, I wasn’t disappointed.

I cruised into town at about noon on a Saturday, and had no problem finding a $70 US room in the historical wing of the Irma Hotel, financed by Buffalo Bill in 1902. (There are several modern rooms at the Irma for about $60 US, but really? I felt like it was important to go all the way, and I’m glad I did.) My room had a comfy bed, modern versions of vintage bath fixtures, and was nice and quiet with plenty of space.

The one major drawback is that smoking is permitted in the Irma’s restaurant and bar, so a trip through the lobby doesn’t smell great; fortunately, though, parking is free, exits are handy and it’s smack in the middle of the downtown drag.

After settling in, I climbed back in the car and headed over to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which is the greatest museum of Western art and artifacts that I’ve ever seen. Entrance fees allow you two days to visit, which is brilliant; I spent three hours here and only managed to explore a little over three of the five galleries. I was wowed by the art and impressed by an almost-freakishly detailed recreation of Frederic Remington’s studio. I learned to distinguish the chants of different Native American tribes, gaped at complex beadwork, and was fascinated by the live birds of prey that are rehabilitated and briefly presented at the Center.

I regret not going back to the Center the next day (wanderlust called), but at least I made the most of my evening. For dinner, I ponied up to the bar at the Rib and Chop House in search of buffalo steak, and found myself seated next to a twenty-something couple who’d just moved out to Cody four months earlier from San Diego. The parents of four kids under the age of eleven, they seemed genuinely happy to share their date night with a traveling stranger, though I was reluctant to horn in on their potential for canoodling.

Aside from the fact that the husband, clad in a black cowboy hat, plaid shirt and leather boots, works on an oil site three hours away and only comes home on weekends, and his wife runs a day care for several children (aside from her own) they painted a picture of Cody as a peaceful idyll with sparse traffic, wide open spaces, clean air and close-knit neighbors. They both mentioned that it’s a pain to have to wait for simple, common goods to make their slow way to the local Wal-Mart, but it was worth it to have a lifestyle they love.

I left the restaurant that night and immediately looked up at a clear sky full of glittering stars, wondering how I might fare out here in the Wild West.

The next morning, after pancakes and coffee and a stroll through town, I debated venturing 20 miles away to visit Heart Mountain, an encampment used to essentially imprison Japanese-Americans during World War II. Knowing I already had a six-hour detour south and west to Jackson Hole, though, I opted out.

Gotta tell you, I was more than a little smitten with Cody  – and I’m glad to have reasons to return.

In case you're not quite sure where you are, this sign greets you at the end of the Northfork Highway

The huge, hand-carved wooden bar at the historic Irma Hotel was a gift to Buffalo Bill from his friend Queen Victoria

Bighorn sheep used to run scared in Cody -- and specifically, at the Irma Hotel -- but their numbers are now bouncing back

The architecture in the city of Cody is a mix of Old West and 1950s kitsch

The local scene at Peter's Cafe in downtown Cody presents a great sense of the folks here

My first buffalo steak, prepared beautifully at the Rib and Chop House in downtown Cody; it came with a delightful salad, and no, I didn't eat this whole potato...because it was vast

Buffalo Jump Wines are made in Cody, and their Cab, which I tried at the Rib and Chop House, is pretty darn delicious

Neon signs like this one for The Saddlery light up the main street in downtown Cody

One travel writer and three locals pointed me towards Bubba's BBQ for their pancakes, which are made with sweet cream...and turns out, are as big as your head

A bronze statue of Buffalo Bill stands proudly -- and fairly enormous -- outside the Buffalo Bill Historical Center

The artwork in the Center's Western Galleries ranges from historic to modern, like Bill Schenck's 1994 "A Flight from Destiny"

A big display at the Historical Center explain how bronzes, like this one of Teddy Roosevelt, are made

I could have looked at the view from the Center's reading room all day

The Firearms Gallery at the Center features vehicles, paintings, photos, and of course, antique guns

Tisdale Teasdale the Owl is one of four wounded birds of prey that are presented for a half-hour each day at the Center

An entire pioneer cabin, including this antique stove, is on display at the Center

The Plains Indians Galleries at the Center were amazing, both educational and evocative

The Center's Plains Indians Galleries feature an extensive array of handmade leather-, feather- and beadwork

The Bighorn Mountains surround Cody, creating gorgeous vistas on the outskirts of town

RESOURCES

Cody info on Wyoming’s official tourism site
Buffalo Bill’s Yellowstone/Cody Country
Irma Hotel
Rib and Chop House
Buffalo Bill Historical Center
Academy Award Winning Story at Heart Mountain

_____________________________________________

Soon continued in
Driving the American West: Jackson Hole & the Grand Tetons

Travels With Two

Central Wyoming is where the deer and the (pronghorn) antelope play

Continued from
Driving the American West: Western Colorado

I departed western Colorado via route 13, which, upon crossing the south-central border of Wyoming, becomes Route 789.

Zig-zagging around the Great Divide Basin, 789 is one of the most geologically fascinating — and yet almost utterly empty — stretches of highway in the United States.

By the time I veered west onto small-town Route 120 in the state’s northwest, the landscapes of Wyoming had grown quite dear to my heart.

Along the lonely 789, I didn’t exactly drive down the middle of the blacktop, but pausing roadside was hardly an issue. I stopped to gape at the vastness of the Continental Divide for a full fifteen minutes before another car even started to cruise into view. It was so quiet out yonder that I could hear a hawk’s far-off cry on the rolling wind.

After five or six hours of driving, though, I became bone tired near Riverton and decided to stop for the night. This was, so far, the most unfortunate decision of my journey, as Riverton is exceedingly unattractive and its food options…limited. On the evening in question, so were hotel rooms; a big high school debate tournament  in town meant that there was one room left at the Holiday Inn, for the not-at-all-worth-it price of $119 US.

Had I been more timely about leaving Colorado that morning, I’d have been able to push on another 40 miles or so to Thermopolis, home of the world’s largest mineral hot springs and a super-quirky Days Inn with a hot spring pool and free breakfast.

Dang.

Still, I slept well in Riverton and launched into a fresh day of driving past all sorts of stuff I’d never heard of: the icy plains of the Red Desert, the canyon cliffs of Boysen State Park, the bubbly kitsch of Thermopolis, and the discreet charm of itsy-bitsy Meeteetse.

I was merely on my way to the Old West mecca of Cody, but in this case, the journey was just as much as the destination.

In late winter, I found myself all but alone on long stretches of Wyoming's Route 789

Alone, that is, but for the occasional pair of bald eagles

When I reached the Continental Divide, I pulled over to stare, barely able to wrap my head around the immensity of America -- and the former Pangaea

Winter-red grasses studded the frozen wetlands at the fringes of the Wind River Range

In Boysen State Park, the Wind River meanders between (gorgeous) cliffs and reservation land

Winter frost on the Wind River in Boysen State Park is worth a lingering look -- and a deep breath

When entering Thermopolis, Wyoming, home of the world's largest mineral hot spring, keep an eye out along the byways for resident Amish folk

Also in Thermpolis, keep an eye out for tractors -- many, many tractors

And cattle -- lots and lots of cattle

In the tiny town of Meeteetse, a rodeo cowboy started making chocolate to pay for a saddle and fell in love with the craft; I fell in love with his 60% cacao hot chocolate and his olive oil-rosemary truffles

Just past Meeteetse, I pulled over to watch elk travel across the hills; seems like we had the same idea

RESOURCES

Riverton, Wyoming
Thermopolis, Wyoming
Thermopolis Days Inn
Boysen State Park
Meeteetse, Wyoming
Meeteetse Chocolatier

_______________________________

Soon continued in
Driving the American West: Cody, Wyoming

Travels With Two

Call it a test of my own gumption or a simple thirst for adventure:

I’m hopping in my car and hitting the road to explore the American West!

In an effort to banish writer’s block, stir up my routine and physically reconnect with my passion for travel, I’m uncharacteristically striking out on my own to visit:

• The South Rim of the Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona
• Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands in southeastern Utah
• Glenwood Springs, Basalt, Carbondale and more in western Colorado
• Yellowstone National Park Jackson Hole and the historic town of Cody in northern Wyoming
• The Thousand Springs Scenic Byway and Boise in southern Idaho
• Bend and Crater Lake Portland in northwestern Oregon
• The west coast of Oregon
• Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California

Travels With Two

We traveled to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton and Yellowstone for our 9th anniversary in August 2008.
We’d love to return to see the whole gorgeous area blanketed in wintry snow.

Here are some resources to help you plan your own “travels with two” to Wyoming. 

Travels With Two
Posts on Wyoming

Wyoming Guides
Wyoming State Tourism Guide 
National Geographic
Conde Nast Traveler
Frommers
Samantha Brown
Globe Trekker

Wyoming Articles
Sunset Magazine: Wyoming search results
Conde Nast Traveler: Whistle-Stop Tours
Travel + Leisure: 10 Best Romantic Hotels in the U.S.
Westways: Yellowstone
Travel Channel: Romantic Road Trips

Wyoming Travel Agents & Tours
Caroline Wood @ Brownell Travel
Natural Habitat Adventures

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Have a Wyoming tip, story, or blog post you’d like to share?

Travels With Two

I was recently asked to contribute to a wonderful communal travel blog called Travel Blogs.com.  (Catchy name, I know, but it does offer truth in advertising.)  

Editor Eric Daams asked me what book inspired Adam and I to travel this year, and I was able to quickly say:  A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

You can read about why this book prompted us to visit Yellowstone (pictured here) in a special Travel Blogs post, The Books, Movies and Documentaries That Inspired Us to Travel in 2008.  

See what else might inspire you.

Travels With Two

Geyser Hill, Yellowstone National Park

Encompassing over 2.2 million acres and almost 3500 square miles, the geological wonder known as Yellowstone National Park is truly and absolutely huge. It takes up a large chunk of northwestern Wyoming, as well as a scoche of Idaho to the west and Montana to the north.

I point this out because in one eight-hour day, we did a loop around the center of the park, seeing only a fraction of this national treasure. To do Yellowstone properly, you need four days to a week; one day will only scratch the hot, ashy surface. I’d been keen to visit Yellowstone since reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything and learning that the park sits on a massive geological hotspot known as a supervolcano. Can’t see dinosaurs in the flesh, can’t touch the flora of aeons long past, can visit a supervolcano.  Check.

Driving from Jackson Hole, Wyoming in late August (still high season), we approached the park’s South Entrance via the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Through October 2008, road construction on the Parkway will continue to cause the 20-30 minute delay we encountered; ordinarily the 60-mile journey from Jackson Hole to Yellowstone would have taken an hour and a half.

Once in the park ($25 per 7 days, including entrance to Grand Teton), we followed the main road along the twisty Lewis River to lush Lewis Lake and chunky little Lewis Falls. The well-honored Lewis in question is Meriwether of “and Clark” expedition fame.

The Lewis River

We stopped for lunch at the Grant Village Restaurant, which has a soaring ceiling, friendly service, good burgers and iced tea, and a sparkly blue view of Yellowstone Lake through thick pine trees.  20 miles long, this is the largest mountain lake in North America, and cold enough to induce hypothermia within a few minutes.

Pretty lake. Nice lake.

We applauded our young waiter’s recent move from Minnesota, but he lamented his inability to make a go of Wyoming’s outdoorsy lifestyle. He admitted that days earlier he had slipped while climbing Grand Teton, falling back flat on a glacier. A novice ice-climber, he was surprised to discover that, unlike Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger, you can’t really use two pick axes at once to hoist yourself out of danger. Rubbing his shoulder, he assured us that our tame day of driving around Yellowstone was a smart choice.

After lunch, we headed a few minutes west to the section of the park known simply as Old Faithful. In addition to hosting a huge tourist infrastructure and the timely spout itself, Upper Geyser Basin is Yellowstone’s most condensed area of geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots, most of which you can see from a network of boardwalks and paved walking paths.

Upon arrival, we’d just missed an Old Faithful eruption and faced a 90-minute wait for another; luckily, a kind tourist urged us to head off the main drag to the boardwalk at Geyser Hill. Turns out there are larger geysers with more staying power everywhere you look, and within a few hundred feet you’re bound to see the Anemone, Beehive or (shown here) Plume Geysers do their remarkable things.

Beehive Geyser

To say the Basin is hot is a grand understatement. The ashy grey ground fairly ripples, burping flakes and jets and clouds and ooze. Bubbling, funneled pools of striking teal blue water bleed out into rainbow rings of color caused by ancient, heat-loving organisms known as thermophiles.

Yellowstone's Beauty Pool, color courtesy of thermophiles

Safe as houses on the path, walking for over an hour, we had the unsettling sense that if this part of the Earth wanted to kill us all, we’d already be dead. Darwinian signs warn visitors not to bathe in these pools or let their pets wander; in our upswell of pro-American feeling on this trip, we allowed ourselves to imagine that these signs were surely meant for hapless foreigners.

Sunset Lake in Yellowstone

Our favorite cluster of geysers and pools, Black Sand Basin, required leaving the Old Faithful area for a two-minute drive. Here, startling Cliff Geyser erupts about 30 feet every few minutes, cool Iron Spring Creek melds into a hot spring, and steamy Sunset Lake casts a cerulean glow. Hardly more than a 15-minute square walk, this mini-basin reads like a Hotspot Top Five.

From here we went in search of mudpots, or as they’re often more delicately named, paintpots. Sad thing was, it was by now well after 4pm and we were close to exhausted. The weather in late August wasn’t exactly hot, but anytime we wander around in the sun for a couple of hours, we’re bound to need a little rest.

Mudpots/paintpots in Yellowstone

Sadly, resting is not often our travel m.o.; we tend to go until we’re slightly gray, driving like it’s our job rather than just our choice. Cruising through the waterfall-heavy Madison portion of the park was lovely, but by the time we got to the central Norris, ground zero for mudpots, we could hardly have cared less…

…and it was three some-odd hours back to our hotel, the Rusty Parrot in Jackson Hole.

We should have learned our lesson a few months prior when we almost made it all the way from Canada’s Lake Louise to the Jasper Icefields, then had to turn back for our hotel:  if you’re going to keep moving like shark, book different rooms along your route.

In this case, if we’d booked a room in central Canyon Village for even one night, problem solved. We could have even awoken the next morning to explore the adjacent 1,000 foot deep, colorful Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its 2.5 mile scenic North Rim Drive.

Without this hindsight, though, we had little choice but to soldier on and head back to Jackson Hole.

We were almost immediately rewarded with this big, woolly roadside bison, hunkered in the dust. It wasn’t until twenty minutes later, when we’d pass through the Hayden Valley and see whole herds of bison clustered the traditional half-mile from the road, that we’d realize how very unusual this was. Now we can only wonder if the poor guy wasn’t well.

Roadside bison in Yellowstone

The Hayden Valley, which lies between central Canyon Village and the northern tip of Yellowstone Lake, is easily the most spectacular wildlife viewing opportunity. Nigh on 5pm in late summer, one side of the road has plush and golden-lit creek marshes, and the other a tall ridge blanketed with tourists and the telephoto lenses they love. As the sun creeps down, elk, bison, wolves, moose, bears and more tiptoe out from the far-off trees in search of the tasty grasses on this Yellowstone River plain.

Ah, to have had the time (and fortitude, and nearby lodgings) to stay awhile…

However, there were two advantages to the evening drive back. We were lucky enough to drive the full length of Yellowstone Lake at golden hour, the peaks of Wyoming’s mighty Absaroka Range gauzy in the distance, and encountered only a handful of cars the whole way back.

Traffic-free national park driving, even on the verge of hunger and sleep?  Priceless.

Yellowstone Lake at golden hour

PLEASE NOTE:  The South and East entrances (in Wyoming) and the West (in Idaho) are open all summer,
but are closed from early November to May; your only winter entrance options, the North and Northeast, are via Montana.

______________________________________________

See related posts
TWT Travel Binder: Wyoming
Wyoming, the Land of…Land
Mighty Grand Tetons You’ve Got There
Jackson Hole: The New Old West

Travels With Two

The Grand Tetons and the Snake River

Gajillions of tourists flock each year to Yellowstone, but for our dime, it’s all about Grand Teton National Park.

True, you could scale a mountain face or tramp through a dozen hikes, discovering a little-seen waterfall or tracking a herd of tule elk.  But Grand Teton offers more passive pleasures for those, like us, who care to see nature unfold from a seated position.

The roads here are beautifully paved, so you can always put the car window down and gape open-mouthed. But you could also float the willful Snake River, dream awhile by  Jenny Lake, wait patiently for the sun to blaze behind the jagged Teton Range, watch wild animals graze in the sagebrush flats while you enjoy a glass of wine, or wander to a hand-hewn bench to see a magnificent floodplain stretch out before the mountains, lake, and forest.

One sixth the size of Yellowstone, Grand Teton is the only national park that boasts an airport within its borders; Jackson Hole is just ten minutes’ drive away.  The flight into this area is nothing short of spectacular, unless it’s always been your worst nightmare to swoop down into a towering line of mountains.

The park’s dramatic landscape soars from its snow-sprinkled namesakes to:

Forests in a dozen shades of green;
spongy golden hills like shaved wheaten terriers;
dry plains of bonsai-esque sagebrush;
squishy-soft meadows and marshes;
great big lakes;
and the twisting, braided Snake River.

If you’re looking to stay inside the park, we didn’t find a setting comparable to Jackson Lake Lodge.  I initially ran into this little slice of 1950s history to use the ladies’, and ended up fetching Adam in from the car to see the cathedral/lounge.

The fireplaces here are massive, and so are the 60-foot tall windows; inside or out, the sweeping view of the lake, the Tetons, Willow Flats, and a handful of pristine ponds will leave you speechless.  If you’re just stopping in, check with the front desk about booking a boat trip on Jackson Lake or dinner in the Mural Room.

Jackson Lake Lodge

Our one meal in the park was a lovely lunch at Jenny Lake Lodge.  At this elegant, polished-pine cabin with a mountain meadow view, meals are served on white tablecloths and good china, but the food isn’t overly fussy.  Adam loved his portobello panini, my salad had actual green lettuce (not always a given in a national park), and the soup of the day, mushroom lavender, was the perfect accompaniment to the scene outside.  Apparently, the rooms here are the fanciest to be found outside of Jackson Hole (and at $500+, you’re definitely paying for it), but the lake is across the road and through the trees, not viewable from the lodge.  Your call, but at $269 with a view at the Jackson, this wouldn’t be a hard choice for us.

Jenny Lake itself was our favorite part of the park.  Stash your car midway along it — keeping an eye out for foraging elk —  and stroll down to the water’s edge for a pebbly little spit of beach cushioned by a fringe of pines.  The water is clear and teal blue at the edges, an sun dapples through the shade of the trees; on our late-August visit, a light breeze quietly ruffled the surface.  Here, the Tetons themselves appear to rise from the center, and you can clearly see each crag and snowdrift.  An occasional canoe will drift by, and so will your sense of time.  Not a bad place to fall in love all over again.

Jenny Lake

A Snake River float will seal the deal. If you have time for only one adventure in Grand Teton National Park, this is it.  We had the concierge at our hotel, the Rusty Parrot, set this up for us, but you could also contact Barker-Ewing Float Trips on your own.  They offer whitewater trips as well as floats, but going slowly enough to catch animals in their wild habitats appealed to us far more.

We were two of eleven passengers in a sturdy rubber raft, floating for the two prime animal-viewing hours just shy of sunset.  It’s calm and quiet on the water, and as the light grows soft, the reeds and marshes glow.  Seeing the sun glint over the Tetons just before dusk was especially silent, save for the harp music in our heads.

Our guide, a young guy born and bred just minutes from the park, pointed out every beaver, deer, eagle and osprey, and spun yarns about the river in every aeon and season.  The Snake gets choppy and tree-choked in places, but he never lost his bearings or his narrative thread.

In late summer, it’s advisable to wear sneakers or Teva-type sandals, take along a sweatshirt or jacket, and if it doesn’t make you feel too dorky, bring a little pillow for your tush.  After two hours, though happy and relaxed, we were lamenting our partial loss of coccyx function.

Snake floating with Barker-Ewing

After ending our float at dusk, we drove one minute up the road to the commercial center of Moose and the ever-popular Dornan’s.

A two-story cafe, bar and comprehensive wine shop, Dornan’s is where locals and tourists alike come to listen to concerts at the Chuckwagon across the parking lot, or have excellent wines, simple salads, pizza and good company in the open air.  The hot tables here are first-come-first-serve on the second-floor deck; they look out over a brushy plain beside the Snake and Tetons, a prime viewing spot for evening-foraging elk and bison.  By the time we arrived at 8pm, it was wall-to-wall jammed, so we gave up waiting; it was enough for us to just drink in the scene and check out the dizzying array of California reds.

The animals will keep in this protected space — no reason not to go back and see them some other night.

The view from Dornan's in Moose, Wyoming

For more of our photos from Grand Teton National Park, please click here.

See related posts
TWT Travel Binder: Wyoming
The (Steamy) Heart of Yellowstone
Jackson Hole: The New Old West

Travels With Two