Wednesday, 21 September 2011 KOA Snake River Park, Jackson, Wyoming - Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming

We awoke at what we thought was an early time to find that our neighbours had packed up their tent and left even earlier.

We then drove round to the showers, we got to see how close the camping area is to the river, my guess is that it would get flooded in spring every couple of years as it was right on the snake river.

After showering and breakfasting, we stopped in to make sure that we had paid the right amount only to be given a little change back a pleasant surprise. The drive back to Jackson showed just how far the campground was from the town and Teton. We decided to stop off and restock the larder as we needed to get some more food for the next few days.

After the shopping it was fuel for Clancy and then the tourist information to get some planning for the next few days and some details on what was opened and closed. With an updated view on what was available we headed back into the Grand Teton National Park http://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm for the afternoon walk to Taggart Lake.

We drove to where the walk was scheduled to start and as they were resurfacing nearby we drove on and stopped at nicer rest stop for lunch. Then it was back to wait for the ranger and our walk.

The weather was quite warm and perhaps even hot, so we were ready to head off by the time the ranger had arrived. Our walking companions were a mixed group and included some less than fit people so we walked at ranger pace the whole way. The discussions along the way about the flora and fauna were very interesting. I really wish my brain could file flora information! I look at trees and yes they are trees, I can tell the difference between an aspen and pine but going much deeper still eludes me. What is worse the rangers all have these little tricks for telling the trees apart like the leaf shapes, the needle numbers and the like. Me I just forget and look at the rocks and wonder what minerals could we mine from beneath the ground…

Now the walk to the lake was an educational stroll and the lake itself was again quite beautiful with reflections of Mt Teton in the lake. Now we were to walk on to Bradely Lake, I was hopeful that we could go further to the base of Mt Teton, Shoeleh the wise one was insistent that we would not have enough time to complete that walk and get back to the car before dark. In the end we made the round trip in quite quick time, in part as we met a lady on the path that needed to be back to Jackson at a particular time.

Now it was still late afternoon so we decided to drive the caravan path again in the hope of seeing the moose. We drove to the viewing point where we prepared our dinner and ate while waiting for the elusive moose. After an hour of patient (not) waiting we gave up and proceeded to drive the caravan route to see what other animals we could spot. After retracing the steps of the night before, we then followed the scenic drive north towards the Colter Bay Camp ground where we planned to spend the night.

The drive was scenic and we got to see lots of pronghorns along the side of the road, as the night sky darkened no moose came out but we got to see some other Elk herds and trumpeting before making it to Colter Bay just in time for showers. Then it was into the campground for a night's rest, as we planned an early morning rise to get to summit mountain to see the sun rise onto the Teton Range. Of course the campground was in the dark again, by the time we arrived so once more it was setting up in the dark!

http://www.jacksonholewy.net/park_campgrounds/colter_bay_campground.php

Animals Spotted: Elk, bison, pronghorn, ravens, chipmunks and squirrels

Day Sixty-seven