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Grand
Teton National Park, WY
The
land upon which much of Grand Teton National Park sits was once the home of
various tourist traps. Having the good fortune to be directly South of the
nation’s first national park, this area was filled with seedy businesses. John
Rockefeller bought this land and donated it to the Government. This area became
part of Grand Teton National Park. The park is home to some of the most rugged
mountains in the US.
The Tetons are a mountain range to the west of “Jackson Hole.” A hole is
what the trappers called a mountain valley, Jackson is the town located in this
“hole.” These mountains rise to a high point of 13,770 feet. The Grand Teton
is a magnificent site, surrounded by Middle Teton, South Teton and Mount Owen.
The Teton Range soars dramatically above the valley floor. This park is a
climber or mountaineer’s dream.
There are several lakes in this park, Jackson Lake is the largest lake, the
water in this lake is very cold. The kids will have fun in the water but I
don’t think too many adults will care to get in. Jackson Lake is a natural
home of the Cutthroat trout, this lake is huge and can get rather choppy at
times. The fishing can be good at times but with the size of the lake can be
hard to fish.
The Camping
There are quite a lot of campgrounds in the park; this park is a great staging
area for Yellowstone trips. Teton Park, Flagg Ranch, Lizard Creek, and Colter
bay are all fairly close to Yellowstone. I have stayed at the Jenny Lake and the
Gros Ventre campground. During our stay at Gros Ventre one morning we woke up to
the sight of a moose and her calf grazing in the campground. This was a
fantastic site! The sites here were fairly close together but all had picnic
tables and fire pits with grates for cooking. The restrooms were pleasant and
cleaned by park employees every day. Jenny Lake is a very hard campground to get
into. This site is first come first served and is very popular with the climbing
and hiking crowd. Tents only are allowed here, best tip is to get there early in
the morning for the allocation of campsites. The Jenny Lake campground is at the
foot of the Teton’s, great views of Teewinot Mountain dominate your vision.
The town of Jackson is not far away, supplies of all kinds can be found here.
The Hiking
There are many great hiking trails in this park; most of the spectacular ones
are centered around the Jenny Lake area. There is a trail following the
shoreline of Jenny Lake that is an easy avenue to take the children on. Cascade
Canyon and Hanging Canyon are both accessed by taking a ferry across Jenny Lake.
Both of these are fairly strenuous hikes; the high elevation and vertical gain
are daunting foes to fight. While hiking in Hanging canyon my climbing partner
and I came upon a moose lying in the tall grass. This was an intense sight, the
huge horns showing above the grass. He lay in the grass about 25 yards from the
trail, to see those massive horns swivel as he watched us go by was somewhat
unsettling. Be aware that when hiking in this park you are likely to encounter
large animals, read all the park brochures and remember how to act around them.
Colter Bay area also has some very nice hikes; Two Ocean Lake and Emma Matilda
Lake have moderate trails surrounding the shoreline.
The Climbing
The Teton Range has long been a proving ground for each generation’s elite.
The climbing here began in the old days of hobnailed boots and hemp ropes. The
obvious plum is the Grand Teton; this mountain can be climbed by numerous
different routes. The Exum ridge and Owen’s Spaulding are the easiest and most
traveled ways up the mountain. There are routes here for any degree of
adventure; the Black Ice Couloir is one of the most ominous looking ways up a
mountain you have ever seen. Teewinot is a popular mountaineering route,
offering a “somewhat” easy way up a large mountain. The climbing here is
very weather dependent, best bets are to go in August or September. Most of the
higher elevations will have snow and uncertain conditions for much of the year.
One thing to be aware of is the ratings of many of the climbs here. Fourth class
scrambling is a rating given to many climbs. This usually involves precarious
groping on loose rock with huge amounts of air underneath you. If you think
fourth class is easy cruising, come to the Teton’s!
There are several sport climbing areas around Jackson if that is your pleasure.
You can ride the Jackson Hole tram up and climb on routes in Corbett’s and
S&S Couloir’s. The Hoback Sheild and Blacktail Butte offer great sport
routes with an easy approach. See Joe Stottile’s guide to “Jackson Hole a
Sport Climbing and Bouldering Guide” for further details.
The final note about this park is the Bears. These animals once were fed
garbage and used as a tourist attraction. Nowadays human interaction with bears
is frowned upon. All dumpsters in the park are bear-proof. Please put away all
food and cooking items. I have been guilty of this myself; I had my portable
grill confiscated by the rangers. They are very serious about this and with good
reason; I was told that several times a year bears wander through the
campgrounds.
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