TR: Summer in Grand Teton National Park, 2023

[al_in_al]

Signal Mountain Summit

I don't really recommend this hike. Unless you are living nearby (it's convenient!), or have hiked all the other trails in the park already, or maybe if it's early season and the road isn't open. Because you can drive to the top of Signal Mountain and get all the best views there, without hiking 7.5 miles.

Since the trail was close to where I lived, I hiked it 6.5 times.

The first time, on May 17th, I didn't make it all the way to the summit, because snow on the trail slowed me down, and I had to get to work. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of the snow.

Nice view from the sagebrush meadow.


May 22nd - the snow had mostly melted (seems crazy since it was just 5 days later??) and I made it to the top.

View accessible by car (at this point the road was still closed, though).


Aspens were getting their leaves.




Not a great picture, but I love this elk running away in abject terror. Early in the season there are lots of elk in the area.


June 9th - flowers were really blooming in the middle section of the trail (seems this was a brief occurrence).





Ah, a braver elk.




Mt. Moran




June 22nd

No elk today, but I chased around a western tanager.


I always like this view to the south.


July 13th - flowers were blooming at the summit, but not on the earlier sections of the trail.







August 31st - a late afternoon hike.



The view from the actual summit - it doesn't photograph well most of the time.


I saw a great grey owl!






October 15th - last hurrah.



Summit panorarma




I missed peak fall colors here.

[al_in_al]

Phelps Lake (Lake Creek-Woodland Loop, and Phelps Lake Loop, and Aspen Ridge-Boulder Ridge Loop - though I don't think I got any good pictures out of the latter)

Phelps Lake is in the Laurence S. Rockefeller Preserve, which is a place that many people don't realize is part of the park. I really enjoy the area, and for some reason, find it more peaceful than other areas of the park (though it is pretty well visited since the routes to the lake aren't too strenuous). The parking area can fill up in the peak season, and sometimes rangers assist with parking. I always managed to get there before or after parking was an issue.

I hiked to the lake on May 21st, May 29th, June 29th, August 27th, October 3rd, and October 13th.

Picturesque entrance.







Rainy October day.


The Lake Creek crossing is serene at all times of the year.















Flowers in June.


Phelps Lake from the foot - mornings usually have great reflections.







Love this interesting rock.














Hiking around the lake.



















This is actually on part of the Valley trail that connects to the Phelps Lake trails. I don't recommend the valley trail at all - only use it to connect routes if you need to.

Fall and winter colliding.


I was amused by the pine trees speckled with aspen leaves.


A rainbow and sunset heading back to the car.

[al_in_al]

Moose Ponds Loop

The Moose Ponds can be seen from an overlook on the trail around Jenny Lake, but this loop takes you right down to them. I have done the loop in both directions, and don't have a preference.

It's a quick 3.5 miles RT from the visitor center. Over the summer, I would hike the loop, then attend the 7pm ranger program at Jenny Lake - it was a nice combo. (But also why the lighting isn't always the best.) I hiked the loop May 20th, June 11th, July 17th, August 6th, and October 5th.











My favorite part of the trail was this waterfall.





















The trail got a little overgrown in July.





I saw some moose on the trail (early in the season), but never at the ponds.





I did see some beavers in the Moose Ponds (which I feel makes up for the time that I saw a moose in the Beaver Pond in GNP).





Heading back around the lake and visitor center area.

[tibber]

some nice wildlife shots; especially the grey owl. And I always love fall colors so those were nice to see. The interesting rock was cool too.

[al_in_al]

I really like the half-ice/snow lakes in the sun with mountain backdrops.

I really enjoyed taking pictures of the partially frozen Jackson Lake.

April 27, arrival day.


May 1 sunrise.


May 1 sunset.


May 5 sunset.


May 7 sunset.


May 11 morning.


May 11 sunset.


May 13 evening - all of a sudden - it was melted out! It was kind of devastating.

[al_in_al]

Multi-Use Path

There is a great paved path that runs beside the road from the Moose entrance station to Jenny Lake. Used mostly for biking.

On June 2nd, I was a little upset about my rooming situation, and went for a run. My first time jogging in grizzly territory, and not something I will make a habit of.





On July 14th I rented a bike from Dornan's, and biked the 16 miles RT to Jenny Lake. It's slightly uphill the whole way, and a little challenging if you haven't been on a bike for, oh, a decade. But coming back slightly downhill was a lot more fun!





The creek crossing near the Taggart Lake trailhead - I always meant to stop, but only crossed it on the bike.


End of the road at Jenny Lake (there might be a way to link up with the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive, which has a bike lane).

[Selkie]

al_in_al
Thanks very much for this captivating photo diary. It opens so much to explore next time I am in the vicinity. Am not sure I knew about Moose Ponds trail, but that is definitely on the list now. The egg-shaped rock on the beach (Colter Bay?) is striking. As, indeed, are so many of the vistas and moments you captured -- Great Gray owl, bears and moose going about their lives, special effects with ice on the lake, then suddenly summer.

The pictures are full of visual excitement.
A bicycle from Dornan's sounds like a good way to get around if one doesn't want to be committed to a car. Thanks also for mentioning that.

(FWIW, a relative worked briefly at Signal Mountain Lodge and had a terminal roommate problem.)

[Jay w]

Thanks for more trail reports. I guess you've lined things up pretty well when you get to spend a summer in the Tetons. Well done.

Jay

[al_in_al]

Mt. Hunt Divide

If you want a hike with few people, this is it. Mt. Hunt Divide isn't known by most day hikers, and doesn't seem to be on popular backpacking routes. So I was pretty surprised to see a couple arrive at the divide while I was up there, but really had most of the trail to myself all day.

The lower sections of the trail are fairly boring with few views. But the upper portions of the trail are quite interesting.

I started the hike out on September 26th in the LSR preserve (to avoid the Death Canyon trailhead road walk, and uphill climb on the way out).

Sunrise at the LSR.


A marshy area on the Phelps Lake loop that was looking quite nice this morning.


Mt. Hunt


Snack break and short view area.


The greens here were just mesmerizing.









Looking down the valley.








Approaching the divide.


View from the divide where I ate lunch - I really wanted to see the lake in that basin! Lunch included a package of Pop Tarts (I can't remember the last time I had those - but they showed up on the snack table in the employee dining room one day, so why not).


On the other side of the divide, you can see Rendezvous Mountain and the tram. If you follow the trail further, you'd probably see down into Granite Canyon.


Really love the views down Open Canyon.

[al_in_al]

A bicycle from Dornan's sounds like a good way to get around if one doesn't want to be committed to a car. Thanks also for mentioning that.

There are lots of really nice bike trails in Jackson and the surrounding areas, if that's your thing. For longer-term rentals (and possibly better bikes? I know nothing about bikes), there are probably more rental options in the town of Jackson. But Dornan's was great for the in-park option, and very convenient for accessing the bike path without having to transport the bike or ride on roads.

(FWIW, a relative worked briefly at Signal Mountain Lodge and had a terminal roommate problem.)

My roommate as a person was fine (except for the snoring!). But I was upset about the conditions surrounding the placement in my room.

[al_in_al]

Bearpaw and Trapper Lakes

The easiest 10 mile hike in the park. The trail starts at the Leigh Lake parking area, and travels past String Lake, Leigh Lake, Bearpaw Lake, and Trapper Lake. I'm going to skip pictures of the String and Leigh Lake portion, because I have about a million to share in a separate post, eventually.

I headed out in this direction 3 times - on May 27th and August 8th there was rain and a large dose of dreariness. On September 30th there was some nice fall color.

After leaving Leigh Lake, you encounter a nice meadow. I didn't catch it full of flowers, and wonder how it would look in July.











Close-up of Mt. Moran


Trapper Lake (May and September)











Bearpaw Lake (August)









And exploring Bearpaw Bay (there is a bit of a trail that connects backcountry sites on Bearpaw Lake to the sites at Bearpaw Bay on Jackson Lake)

[al_in_al]

Emma Matilda and Two Ocean Lakes Loop

These are two lakes in the park that are set back from the mountains, so they get a lot less attention. You can access the trails from many points - I have started from the Christian Ponds trailhead, the Emma Matilda Lake trailhead (do not recommend), and the Two Ocean Lake trailhead (requires drive on unpaved road).

I hiked the "outer loop" around the lakes on May 28th, and the "inner loop" around the lakes on July 26th. Both routes take you over Grand View Point.

Outer Loop

Emma Matilda




The best section of trail is probably the north side of Emma Matilda before the cutoff to Two Ocean.





Two Ocean


Grand View Point







I've seen lots of people enjoying the view of the Tetons, but I think some of them miss the real grand view to the east, looking over Two Ocean (on the left) and Emma Matilda (just a tiny sliver).







Inner Loop





There are some decent overviews of Emma Matilda on the inner loop.













I also went back to just the Emma Matilda Lake overview to get some afternoon views on September 29th.

[al_in_al]

Christian Ponds Loop and Grand View Point

To go along with my last post, these trails all connect with the Two Ocean and Emma Matilda Lakes trails.

More Grand View Point views on August 13th. When looking through my pictures, the trailhead I started at was called the "Bug Canyon Trail" - I've never heard that name before, and apparently didn't read the sign I was taking a picture of!







Christian Ponds (named after a person, not the religion) on May 19th.





A trip to Grand View Point and Christian Ponds to finish up the trails in this area on September 24th.



Some low clouds over Two Ocean Lake.


















Moose family in the flats (there's a 3rd moose that isn't visible in this shot)


And I saw a badger!

[al_in_al]

Alaska Basin

This hike didn't enter the national park at all, but I'm going to pretend like it did, because it really should be part of the park instead of Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

To day-hike the Alaska basin, you have to drive over to Idaho to the backside of the Tetons. The hike starts at the end of the Teton Canyon Road (which isn't paved, but was generally fine for my small car).

I'm still confused by what area is considered the Alaska Basin (I've seen it labeled different places on different maps), and where I actually was supposed to go on this hike. I did a nice little lollipop, taking the Devil's Staircase trail to the Teton Crest trail, and coming back on the Alaska Basin trail. At the "top", I saw a sign for Mirror Lake, and I think I was supposed to go there, except I'd never heard of it in my (perhaps shoddy) research. I did hike up to see one of the Basin Lakes, but not too far because I was worried about mileage.

I did this hike on July 25th, and the flower show was insane.

Morning along the creek.


A little fog made things more interesting.




At the top of the Devil's Stairs.






Tetons from a different angle.


Teton Crest.


I think I picked the best lunch spot. Still happy about this!






One of the Basin Lakes.




Pink is my favorite paintbrush. Another "can I live here forever" spot.

[tibber]

the flowers , the mist and clouds