The Grand Tetons are truly Grand!

The drive from Casper to Jackson was filled with ever-changing scenery -the next one as, or more, beautiful than the last.

We saw some antelope along the way and as we were entering Jackson we enjoyed the beautiful sunset behind the Grand Tetons.

The skies also have a haze which we thought was fog at first but learned it was from the smoke from the wildfires.

We started our first day at Grand Teton on Labor Day- which translated to a zillion tourists at the popular Jenny and Taggart Lakes. Fortunately, we had received info from a park ranger who provided a secret hike...and we were shocked that we had the first hike in complete solitude.

Teton Glacier Turnout

Our first stop was the Teton Glacier Turnout for spectacular mountain views including a glacier.

Lucas Fabian Homestead

A short hike, crossing the Cottonwood Creek brought us to the Lucas Fabian Homestead.

https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/lucas.htm

We loved learning about Geraldine Lucas who acquired the land and built her own home in 1913 with the Cathedral Group mountains as the backdrop to her property. We had the entire place to ourselves to explore and enjoy.

"Mormon Row"

The Homesteads of the Mormons sent in the 1890s from Salt Lake City to settle the area. Beautiful site!

Schwabacher Landing

This was a very serene site!

Snake River Overlook

This is the site where Ansel Adams took his famous picture- it was cool to see how much has changed and how much has stayed the same.

Oxbow Bend of Snake River

So many beautiful views - this was a favorite stop!

LunchTree Hill

This was a very short hike ( ~ .5 mile) that starts at the patio of the Jackson Lodge. We saw pretty views of Jackson Lake the Tetons, Willow Flats ( wide open marshy area). The patio of the Jackson Lodge was a great spot to enjoy lunch with a beautiful view.

Sunset at Elk Ranch Flats Turnout

We relaxed and waited for the sunset at this turnout. Great views and no humans! Awesome!

While we were waiting for sunset we saw a herd of horses run across the flats. The sunset was a perfect end to a great day!

Jenny Lake Trail

We hit the Jenny Lake Trail very early. There is a boat that will ferry you from one side of the lake to another - we opted to do the Jenny Lake trail 1 1/2 hours before the boat started running. This was the smartest move ever! We enjoyed a breathtaking crisp hike around the lake and only shared the trail with just a couple sets of hikers.

Hidden Falls

Hidden Falls was our first destination ( ~ 3 miles from the trail head). We enjoyed having the falls all to ourselves for a good bit- lovely, lovely, lovely!

Inspiration Point

Following Hidden Falls is a 1/2 mile hike up to Inspiration Point. This part of the hike was super steep , crossed some water and had a lot of quick drop offs.

Getting to the top was WORK...but totally worth it!

Cascade Canyon

We hiked a little further along the Cascade Canyon Trail - the trail takes you through a canyon which opens up to meadows. We saw a moose in the distance at the meadows and another one laying down chilling on the way back down.

The Jenny Leigh

We took boat ride back to the other side of the Lake! We clocked 9 miles total that day- so we were taking our weary bodies to the hotel hot tub!

Buffalo

I am imagining people around here look at buffalo the way Pennsylvanians look at deer. They cause crazy long traffic backups from them crossing the road and tourists ( like us ) slowing down to watch them.

We- however -were totally wowed when we first caught glimpse of them. Since then we have seen lots and lots of buffalo.

As we were driving -we couldn't believe our eyes as we watched the herd jumping over the guard rails and running across the street. They are pretty agile for 2,000 lb beasts!

FYI....the little baby made it!

That's a wrap for Grand Tetons National Park !