Grand Teton National Park, June 28
We started early that morning from the place we were staying at in Idaho. Like usual. We went through the town of Jackson and got inside the park through the Moose entrance. Yeah, I know, a funny name. I guess there are a lot of moose in that area. I figured from the day before. The thing we would do first that day was go to Taggart lake. Then we would go to Bradley Lake.
The Taggart lake trail was 1.5 miles long originally, but we went ahead and took the beaver creek trail, which is a loop that is 3.9 miles long. As we walked we saw a lot of stuff. Trees marked with bear claws, Hoof-prints from elk and gurgling rivers contributed to the ambience.
After the long walk, we reached the lake. It was beautiful with azure green water and a huge size. But the water got murkier as it reached the middle. Taggart lake is 80 ft deep and the surface elevation is 6,902 ft. Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake are close together. Taggart lake was formed by receding glaciers and it is at the terminus of avalanche canyon.
Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake are separated by a glacial moraine which is debris left by a glacier. Taggart Lake occupies 305 acres and it is named after William Rush Taggart, who was an assistant Geologist under Frank Bradley (That’s who Bradley lake is named after) (Why are natural land features in National Parks always named after people?).
We had enjoyed the view and the lake, so it was time to go to the next lake. But as we reached the trailhead for the trail we found out that it was even longer than the Taggart lake trail. So we decided to go back to the parking lot and eat lunch. By this time it was REALLY HOT outside, like BURNING HOT. It felt like we were getting FRIED ALIVE.
Luckily there were shades in some parts of the trail (note the point SOME PARTS of the trial). Halfway there, we got news that a Mama Bear and her cubs were down the trail and we walked quickly to get there and see them. But unfortunately, they were no longer there and no one has seen them since. I was getting a bit bummed out that we had zero luck at spotting bears. At least we saw this cool waterfall when we walked back:
We got back to the car soon after and ate our long-deserved lunch. After lunch, we went to Jenny lake to take the Jenny Lake Discovery Trail. It was really short. At the end of the trail we got to Jenny Lake. If you read the last blog post you would know some facts about this lake, so go read that one, folks, if you haven’t.
We decided not to take the Jenny Lake Ferry since it was crowded and since it was already afternoon. The next place we wanted to go to was to the Snake River overlook. The Snake River is the ninth largest river in the United States. A famous photograph was taken at Snake River right where the overlook is by Ansel Adams. It was then included in the voyager space craft golden records.
Snake River had some visitors along with us. Most notable were eagles soaring high in the sky and tumbleweeds rolling across the road. It was a perfectly deserted day. So we decided to go to T.A. Moulton Barn as our last stop for that day. As we went to the barn, we finally saw a wildlife sighting, which was a pronghorn. Fun Fact: though Pronghorns are referred to as Pronghorn antelopes, they are not antelopes at all; they belong to a different family.
Then we got really lucky and spotted Bison 🦬 rutting and butting their heads. It was mating season maybe? I think so. At last, the traffic decreased as the bison went away and we got to Moulton barn. It was about as interesting as a building to me, but the view was amazing. Fun fact: Moulton barn on the background of the Teton Range has become a symbol of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Well, that was it for the park. But we stopped by at Jackson and decided to eat some ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but huckleberry ice cream. We could get huckleberry ice cream in a cone, but that was all sold out because people were getting FRIED ALIVE in the Wyoming heat. All that was left was a small lucky huckleberry ice cream canister in the freezer.
We took that last huckleberry ice cream and ate it outside the cafe. The ice cream tasted like blueberries and strawberries together. To be honest, I think all huckleberry products are just a mix of blueberries and strawberries. I’m not sure that huckleberries even exist. The next thing we did was take a photo with the antler arch.
The antlers to make the arch were from the national elk refuge. They have been there from 1960 to the present. Fun Fact: if you try to remove/remove any of the antlers, then you will be subject to a $750 fine. Almost a thousand dollars. For one antler. Imagine if you removed a hundred antlers. A $75,000 fine for all those antlers. After the wacky antlers, we went to the place we were staying at in Idaho and relaxed early. Unfortunately, the huckleberry ice cream had melted by that time.
Until next time……….
The Crazy Nomad 