Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park, Taggart Lake Trail

Most of our time in Jackson Hole was spent at Grand Teton National Park.  Being poor college students, we spend a lot of our time on vacation hiking.  It’s not that we are particularly granola, it’s just the most fun activity we can do for free.  We preemptively pop a few Advil so our old creaky bones don’t ache too much and head out on the trails. Don’t get me wrong, we really enjoy it, but if we had more dinero to burn, we might throw a few more activities into our repertoire…such has rafting or horseback riding.  You can even go llama trekking. Yes, that’s a thing.  And I would highly recommend it (even though I’ve never done it) just so you can brag about it to all your friends.

We also visited the National Elk Refuge.  Although the refuge can have up to 7,500 elk visiting during the winter…we did not see a single one.  We did, however, see antelope, coyote, moose, and deer.  We will have to check the elusive elk off of our list some other time!

On our first day at the park, we hiked the Jenny Lake trail. It was a beautiful, clear lake and it was close to the parking lot.  It would be a great hike for little ones.  The trail goes around the lake.  It followed the road for a while, so maybe not a good hike for those who want to get off the beaten path.

Grand Teton National Park 2

Grand Teton National Park 3

Grand Teton National Park 4

Brandon used his wildlife spotting skills to find this cute little guy right off of the path.  Some hikers ahead of us walked right by him.  Get a load of those ears!

Picnic Jackson Hole

I took a break for a picnic with this handsome fella.

The next day we did the Taggart Lake trail.  It was a little more challenging, but still doable for two couch potatoes.  It makes a nice loop and only took us 2-3 hours.

Grand Teton Nation Park 6

Grand Teton National Park Moose

Some pictures from the elk refuge.

Elk Refuge 1

Elk Refuge 2

Elk Refuge 3

I would recomend following up any healthy, outdoor activity with a high calorie food, such as pizza.  Wouldn’t want that food baby melting away.  I would miss it too much.

Jackson WY Pizza

Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Last fall my husband and I traveled to Jackson Hole, WY.  Without fail we ALWAYS plan our trips the weekend of some hugely crowded event that prevents us from finding hotel rooms.  Oh well! I guess you could say we have a special knack for it!  We really were trying to plan and prepare.  We went the week after labor day, you know, to avoid the crowds.  We ended up being there the weekend of “Lotoja”, a cycling race that starts in Logan, Utah and ends in Jackson Hole, WY.  There were zero vacancies within a fifty mile radius of the city. We ended up staying in Tetonia, ID, which was about an hour drive from Jackson.  It wasn’t so bad, but we could have used that extra time to explore the beauty that is the tetons!  You live and learn.

Travel tip of the day: when planning a trip, be sure to check ahead for any events that might interfere with your travel plans (namely marathons and bike races!)

 

Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson is a great little touristy western town, adorned with many, many antlers. There are a lot of restaurants and some fun shopping…and by shopping, I mean window shopping because, if you’re like me, you just can’t spend 300 dollars on a fur hat or novelty knife made of…you guessed it! Antler!  We had a lot of fun wandering around.  We visited the farmer’s market, a delectable pizza place (we wanted to go to the chuck wagon, but were limited on time), and enjoyed a rodeo.    The rodeo is held every Friday and Saturday during the summer season, so hit that up if you visit! Most of our time was spent in Grand Teton National Park, but that’s another post for another day.

 

Photo op in front of Jackson’s most celebrated decorating accessory.

 

 

Window shopping.  It was so hard to walk out of that store without this flattering hat.  And yes…I am one of those annoying tourists that poses for pictures with store merchandise.

Oh wait…here I am doing it again at the rodeo.  I’ve got to stop doing that!

 

 

 

This four year old girl is showing those macho cowboys how it’s done!

 

What’s better than an action packed rodeo set against the backdrop of the Tetons?

Until next time!