Tetons in a Day

 

Monday August 17, 2015    Day 20       Grand Teton N.P., Gros Ventre Campground, site 69  2^nd day    

This was our first whole day at this campground and today we were going into the park and go exploring.  One of the things I wanted to check out was river access to the Snake River. 

Since we had 3G data service at the campground, we took advantage of it to get some blogs done and try to catch up while sipping our morning coffee at the picnic table.  But before we could sit out we had to wait for the outside temperature to warm up.  It was 37^o outside when we got up, and 41^o in the trailer.  We kicked the furnace on and it worked well, unlike at 8500 ft. Sacajawea.  Gros Ventre is at 6600 ft.  Once the sun comes over the mountains, it warms up quickly into the 70’s.

Marsha made corned beef hash and eggs outside on the propane stove. 

The views of the mountains are very hazy and they appeared like silhouettes, not showing any detail.  We later found out that the haze is caused by all the smoke generated by the fires burning in the west.  We were at the Tetons in 2011 and don’t recall it being so hazy.  It makes it hard to get nice pictures.

Mid-morning we left to go see the Park.  Stopped at the visitor center in Moose.  Got a park map and inquired about fishing the Snake in the park.  Access is limited and best bet is to walk to the Snake from visitor center and go down.  I didn’t like that idea.  The visitor center parking lot is a zoo.  Went to Dornan’s and inquired at the fly shop and they basically said the same thing.  Ideally, to fish the Snake River in the park, you need to book a float trip.  I bought a one-day Wyoming license and some flies.

We took US-191 all the way to Jackson Lake Lodge.  On the way we stopped at Schumbacher Road because it looked like it went to the Snake and was marked on the map as an access point.  Well, it turned out to be a side channel to the main river and was full of beaver dams.  We walked down a ways and took some pictures.  We didn’t go all the way to the main channel.  There were some Asian tourists there enjoying themselves and walking across the top of the dams. 

Along the way there are lots of turnoffs where you can stop and take pictures.

Another road called Deadman’s Bar Road was also indicated as a river access site and we went down it.  At the top was a warning sign for a 19% grade, pretty steep.  Went down the paved hill and then it became a gravel road and some switchbacks, ending in a parking area.  There were vans with trailers carrying large rafts for scenic floats.  Also lots of trailers for drift boats for fly fisherman.  A few raft trips were setting up.  I walked down to the river and it looked fishable from shore or wading (but not too far).  I was kind of surprised that no one was fishing there.  Continued back to the main road.  That 19% grade at the top was one of the steepest hills I ever drove up.  But all the vans full of people and rafts do it all the time.

 

Snake River access at Dead man's Bar Road, looking upstream.

 

Snake River access at Dead man's Bar Road, looking downstream.

Just before Deadman’s Bar Road is the Snake River Overlook.  It is a beautiful scenic place where a lot of people stop and get pictures of the Snake River with the Tetons in the background.

Snakes River overlook looking south.

 Snakes River overlook looking north.  The

dot in the middle is a scenic raft trip.

 

Here's the dot zoomed in.

Zoomed in view looking south.

One last look.

Further along there was a historic site of an old homestead called Cunningham cabin.  It was a nice little 1 mile walk around a meadow and the cabin ruins.

By then it was lunch time and we went to Jackson Lake Lodge and had lunch in the bar.  Very good food and a scenic spot. 

Returned to Moose via the Teton Park Road.  We took the Jenny Lake turnout and got some beautiful shots of the mountains close up. 

When we got to Moose Junction with US-191, we went left (instead of right, to the campground) to go a round-about way back to the campground and to look at another.  We turned off on Antelope Flats Road and turned towards Kelly, WY.  We saw no antelope.  We have seen no elk either, even though we are right on the border of the National Elk Refuge.

Just before Kelly, we turned left on Gros Ventre Road and drove about six miles to Atherton Creek campground.  We’re always checking out campgrounds.  It’s on lower slide lake.  In the 1920’s a huge chunk of rock, trees, and dirt slid down the mountain and dammed the river, making a lake.  The campground is situated along the shore of this lake.  We stopped at a turnoff which tells the story of the slide and there was about a ½ mile trail to the debris pile and overlook. 

 



Back at the campground we spent a little time on our blogs.  I write a draft in Word for each day and then when I’m ready to publish it, I past it into the new blog and upload the photos at the appropriate location.  When there is no internet, all I can do is write the draft and upload it later.

Our campsite neighbors invited us over to there “house” for a fire.  We took a walk first around the “B” loop and the  ”A” loop.  Another couple had walked over while we were out making the rounds and we joined all four of them when we got back.  Had a good time.  The other two couples had huge fifth wheels, heavy duty trucks with diesels, and quads and dirt bikes for toys.  One couple was from Utah and spends lots of time in Wyoming.  He knew where Sacajawea was and all the roads in that area, including the one we turned back on.  His fifth wheel was a toy hauler where he could open up the back and put his Polaris quad and dirt bike back there.  The other couple was from Oregon.  He had a huge fifth wheel AND another enclosed trailer behind that to haul his quad.  I would hate to tow all that.  They said they were towing about 17,000 lbs.  We had a good time.  It was pitch black dark when we went to bed at 09:30.