The Tetons
It was cold overnight, though it didn’t appear to have frozen. However, inside our cupboards, on the ceiling, there was heavy condensation everywhere that there is a rafter in the roof of the trailer. We tried to dry it off as best we could, and left the cupboards all open when we were away today. It has been so very wet for the last few days, that there is a lot of moisture in the air.
We drove south on the Teton Park Road, stopping at a few spots along the way. The clouds were starting to break, though it was still very cloudy in the mountains. We visited the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, then drove to the Jenny Lake visitor center. We found out how much the boat costs to cross the lake, but decided we would wait until tomorrow, as it was still cloudy, obscuring the Tetons, and the forecast for tomorrow is much better. Farther down the road a lot of cars were parked off the side of the road, and we stopped to find a large herd of elk, 32 females and one bull. He had collected an enormous harem, and strutted back and forth amongst them.
Phelps Lake from Huckleberry Point
We went down the very narrow road to the Laurance S. Rockefeller preserve, and walked in to Phelps Lake. There was a very large amount of fresh bear scat full of berries all along the trail in the area of the visitor center. As we got farther along the trail there was less; however, when we got to the lake we saw a brown colored black bear walking down the trail. We talked and yelled at the bear, and it knew we were there, but just kept walking slowly along the trail. We followed it for at least a mile on the trail, keeping it about 100 yards ahead of us. It walked so slowly that we got cool, but we didn’t want to get any closer. Enid had put on her fleece, then she thought that something was wrong with her knee brace. It seemed to be pinching her, so she unzipped her pant legs, and found that there was a yellow jacket wasp above her knee, and that it had stung her on the back of the leg. How it ever got up her pant leg that high is beyond us!
We could hear people talking on the trail ahead of, and we kept yelling “Hello Bear.” When they saw the bear we heard them talking to it. The bear then walked off the trail towards the water and passed them, then came back onto the trail again. It continued to walk slowly along the trail as we walked behind it.
A while later we saw some people farther ahead of us, also coming our way. They too saw the bear, and yelled at us. We yelled back that we knew it was there. After a minute or so they started walking towards us, and when we met they told us that the bear had gone up the hill. That was the last we saw of it, though we kept talking loudly, and looking back to make sure it wasn’t following us.
We hadn’t wanted to eat lunch while following the bear so we kept on walking to the end of the lake. There were several groups there eating as well. One of them walked along the shore, which is a sandy beach, for about half a mile, then later we saw them coming back. They told us that it was not the correct way to go, and they returned back along the trail we had come from. The trail had been very clearly marked all along to this sandy beach, but here there was only a small sign that said “Valley Trail”. That was not the trail we wanted according to our map, but it was the only one we could see. We followed it for a while, but it seemed to be heading the wrong direction, so we turned back. But we couldn’t find anything that went any other way, so we decided we’d return to it and follow it for a way and see where it went. The trail did turn after a while and followed the direction we thought we should be travelling, and not long after that we met a park ranger coming towards us. She told us that, yes, the trail did continue on and we would soon come to a junction.
Death Canyon
We walked up the trail at this junction to see Death Canyon. We also walked out to Huckleberry Point which had some of the best views of the lake. The entire hike today was a very pretty walk as the leaves have started to turn color. The small shrubs are bright reds and yellows, and the poplars have started to turn to gold.
When we got back to the visitor center there was a great buzz amongst the people about “a bear in the tree.” We saw a fairly large cinnamon bear up on top of the bushes about ten feet high, eating the berries. Finally he crashed down to the ground and disappeared. After that we went into the center, which is a beautiful building, and watched the displays of photography of the park.
All the area where we walked today was at one time owned by the Rockefellers. They accumulated over 30,000 acres of land in this area and donated it to become part of Grand Teton National Park. Their philanthropy preserved this very beautiful area.
Grand Teton
By late afternoon the sky contained only scattered clouds. We finally got our first view of the top of Grand Teton mountain. The Tetons are really a spectacular view.