Leaving the many wonders of Yellowstone behind, we decided to stay another three days at its southern neighbour: Grand Teton National Park. Compared to Yellowstone this national park – wrapped around an epic mountain range on the western edge of the scenic valley known as Jackson Hole – is a lot less popular, which makes it all the more exciting to explore the area.
Grand Teton National Park was created in 1929, but initially only protected the mountains itself and the glacier lakes at its base. It grew to its current size in 1950 when John D. Rockefeller donated heaps of land to protect the valley floor as well. What an awesome way to build a legacy.
With over 230 miles of trails GTNP is a hiker’s dream. Many miles even lead up to the mountains and their glacial lakes. Hiking all the way up was tough obviously, but we were instantly rewarded for that as we saw so much more animals in here compared to Yellowstone. Especially black bears seemed to be all around – our very own bearmuda triangle.
I was kind of afraid to encounter them, so I kept being noisy throughout the trail, but it didn’t prevent us from seeing some – both far away and from up close. Luckily they seemed to care little about us. And that’s always a healthy wildlife sign. Remember to remain at a safe distant of course, especially if there are cubs around.
Apart from spotting the bear during our hikes, some of them we actually saw from the road (bearjam!). On top of all the bears, we had way better luck with the moose and coyotes in here too compared to the wildlife spotting in Yellowstone.
Grand Teton is a favourite among the outdoor athletes too and if you look below at those gorgeous peaks you can understand why. Many of the climbers are based in nearby Jackson Hole – a perfect base to set out from towards the mountains. I looked everywhere for Jimmy Chin and other mountain goats but alas… next time better luck. I did manage to capture quite a few animals though. A pika for example, that bunny-like fluff – they are insanely fast) and a baby bear that was climbing out of a tree! How cute is that right? Momma bear was standing on the road below.
Stay tuned as I’ll tell you next week where to hike, swim, camp, watch the sunset and see those bears!
A black bear near Inspiration Point
On the way to the mountains
A black bear on the road next to Signal Mountain Campground
A coyote on the road, you see them often walking in here - from dusk til dawn
View on those peaks from Jenny Lake
Moose Meadows
Amphitheater Lake
A grouse along the trail
Sunset at Schwabacher's Landing
Sunset at Oxbow Bend
A black bear cub
Jenny Lake and the Cascade Canyon in between
Moose in the Lupine Meadows
Sunset view as seen from Jackson Lake
A black bear chilling out
Surprise Lake
Sunset as seen from the Snake River
A lonesome cowboy at sunrise
Pika, a small bunny-like creature
A jump into the glacier lake of Amphitheater - he survived
Another black bear along the way
Sunset at Oxbow Bend
The hike up from Lupine Meadows
A marmot alone the trail to the glacier lakes
Hidden Falls
Sunset at Schwabacher's Landing
A black bear sniffling around
View in the Cascades Canyon - on the way to Solitude Lake
Sunset at the Snake River Overlook
A black baby bear climbing out of a tree. I know the picture sucks, but I thought it was just too darn cute to let it pass
