Day 114 & 115 - Grand Tetons National Park, WY

We started our drive this morning through farming communities in Idaho where there were very few people but a lot of corn! We eventually headed over the state line into Wyoming and towards Jackson, the last town before Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks and our last opportunity to stock up on supplies before four nights of camping.

Jackson is a really cool town with a lot going on although it felt a little overrun with tourists and tourist shops. We stopped off at the less touristy Snake River Brewing company to fill up the growlers and grab a Bison Chili and Corn Bread, it was delicious and then headed to the grocery store and gas station.

As we were leaving Jackson and heading towards Grand Tetons, we saw a sign for an Elk Refuge along with a number of information stations explaining what this area was. Each winter, around 7,500 Elk come down to the valley from Yellowstone, this is the largest herd of Elk in the world and the Refuge ensures they have the grazing and the space needed to survive the winter. Although the refuge has some fencing around the road it to protect the Elk from the traffic, there are points along the fence where the elk can jump into the refuge helping to ensure that the herd stays 'free range'. There were no elk in the refuge today as it's not cold enough yet for them to come down here.

The drive into the Grand Tetons National Park is stunning. The Teton Mountains run alongside the road, providing breathtaking vistas and backdrops. We have a large number of photos and videos for this single bit of road, every turn was a slightly different view which warranted yet another photo. Hopefully I have chosen the best ones for the video.

At Moose Junction, we turned onto the Tetons Park Road, the main road that runs through the park. We had been debating for most of the day about which campsite to spend the night in, all the campsites in Grand Tetons are FCFS. We had initially planned to stay at Jenny Lake, a small tent-only site on the shore of Jenny Lake that is supposed to have some of the most stunning vistas in the whole park but during busy periods, this campsite is full by 8am. Even though we were visiting at the end of the season, this campsite was filled up by 10am, we were too late so we looked at the other campsites and decided to try Colter Bay.

We checked into Colter Bay and were allocated a really nice tent-only spot in the woods. As this campsite was bigger than Jenny Lake, it had far more facilities including showers, laundry, a gas station, shop and even a couple of restaurants just a few minutes walk away plus it was also on a lake although there was a 10 minute walk to get to the water's edge. If we were to stay in the Tetons again, we would choose this campsite to go to especially if we were staying for longer than a night and needed something more than a very primitive campground.

With the tent pitched, we headed back the way we had come to Jenny Lake to do some exploring. First we did the scenic road which gave us a little glimpse of the lake, we then headed to the Jenny Lake Visitors Center where we parked up and walked down to the water's edge. The lake is stunning and with the Tetons in the background, it is very beautiful and peaceful. There is a lot of construction going on at Jenny Lake, I think they are building a new visitors center and maybe this had put people off coming to the lake as it was much quieter than we had expected given the reviews we had read online about traffic jams and a lack of parking spaces, we had no issues at all.

We then headed back towards our campsite stopping off to take in the vistas and also to see the Jackson Lake Dam which Lee loved as they had opened some of the sluices since we initially went past and water was now gushing down the river.

We ate dinner early as we had wanted to see an evening ranger talk in the outdoor amphitheater, a 10 minute walk from our campsite. We cut it a little fine and after getting slightly lost, arrived 5 minutes late but we were the only ones standing in the middle of this amphitheater. Confused as to whether it was cancelled or if there were more than one amphitheater, we headed back, walking past the visitors center where we saw the event had been moved to as it was too cold! We had already missed 15 minutes by now and didn't want to cause any disruption so headed back to the campsite where we both wrapped up in 4 layers of clothes, 2 sleeping bags had a warming hot chocolate and then went to bed.

We didn't get a chance to explore the lake by our campsite, Jackson Lake, the day before so before hitting the road to Yellowstone, we packed up and went for a walk. Unlike Jenny Lake, this lake had a lot more boats but the stillness of the water and with the Tetons in the background, it was just as beautiful. The walk around the lake was a lovely way to wake up in the morning, helped by a coffee and cinnamon roll we picked up from the shop beforehand.

During our drive to Yellowstone, it felt like we were saying 'goodbye' to the Tetons as they disappeared behind us, slowly getting smaller and smaller in the background but we felt that the dead trees lining the road either side were maybe a sign of what we had to come in this volcanic landscape.