Teton Range and fall colors
It was our last day in Grand Teton National Park, and it was a gorgeous one. The sky was cloudless until after noon, and very warm. At lunch a few cumulus clouds started to build, but it remained warm all day, the warmest we’ve had in the greater Yellowstone area.
We hiked to Taggart Lake first this morning. It was gorgeous as there are many golden trembling aspen contrasting with the dark green conifers and the brilliant blue sky, all against a backdrop of the Teton range.
When we got to the parking lot there was a large group of people, twenty or so, getting ready to hike. Most of them were older people (read our age, or slightly older) and they got on the trail just before us. We soon passed some of them, and were not more than 200 metres down the trail when I heard someone fall behind me. I turned and it was a woman in her 70’s who we had just passed. Some of the others in the group asked her if she was all right, and she said that she was not, as she’d hurt her arm and shoulder. I yelled ahead to the group and got them to come back and help her. Some of them must have continued on the hike as we saw a few, but not all, of them later on.
On the trail to Taggart Lake
We shortly met a young couple from England. We visited with them for a bit, waiting for other hikers to clear so we could take pictures. When we came to the junction to Taggart lake we went left and they went right which is a shorter route to Bradley Lake. Taggart Lake is not large, but it was beautiful with the Tetons in the background.
Taggart Lake
After taking many pictures we continued on. The trail climbs around the end of the lake over a large moraine, then climbs a couple of hundred feet, before dropping down to Bradley Lake. Again the view was beautiful across the lake.
Bradley Lake
We continued on, walking across the bridge at the end of the lake, and heading up towards where it looked as if we could see a waterfall. However, after a climb of another couple of hundred feet it was obvious that the waterfall, though we could hear it, was not visible. We came down the hill a way to where there was a huge fallen log off the trail. We ate lunch here in the warm sun. A few other hikers passed us here, but nowhere near the number that we saw on the shorter much more used trail to Taggart Lake.
On the trail down
As we were leaving we saw a hawk soaring above us. There were now a few clouds in the sky, so the views of the mountains with the golden poplar leaves in front were now different. Every corner I would stop, look back to the mountains, and take more pictures, for every angle gave a different and spectacuar view.
We leave tomorrow, and will be heading towards Utah. For the next couple of weeks we plan to be in the red rock region of the Utah desert.