Escaping To The Mountains
We packed so much into our trip to Jackson Hole that we are splitting into three different posts. Up today is everything we got up to in Grand Teton National Park!
Grand Teton National Park is much smaller than it’s more famous neighbor Yellowstone National Park, but in my opinion the Teton mountains are the prettiest I’ve ever seen.
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We started off our first full day in Wyoming waking up before the sun and driving out to watch the sunrise. It was so peaceful and beautiful and one of my favorite moments from the whole trip. We headed to Morman Row because we’d heard it was a picturesque place to watch the sunrise and we were pretty guaranteed to see some wildlife, which we did. Watching the sun come over the mountains behind us and hit the peaks of the Tetons creating the most beautiful golden glow off of those snowy peaks was breathtaking.
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Since we had just rolled out of bed, we headed back to our hotel to get ready and grab breakfast before setting back out to explore Grand Teton National Park for the day. We stopped into the visiter center at Moose Junction first to grab a map and asked a park ranger for some advice on what to do. We visited in April which is considered the shoulder season- winter activities have ceased, but summer activities have not yet started. Which basically means that some roads and parts of the park are closed while they are prepping for summer. This has its positives and negatives. While you may not get to see everything on your list, the parks are not crowded at all which was nice. We’ve mentioned we’ve visited these parks before as kids, and that was in July, and I recall lines and lines of people and lots of traffic to see anything. This time we would drive for miles and not see another person- just a lot of bison! So many bison…
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This happened to be a BEAUTIFUL day. It was sunny without a cloud in the sky, and the temps were in the 60s. A bit deceiving when you see all the snow on the ground. It was the first warm day of the year, and a Sunday, so the stretch of the park that was closed to cars, but open to cyclists or people on foot, was filled with locals enjoying the park. We walked this stretch of road for a mile or so before turning around and getting back in the car to drive to the the park entrance at Moran Junction to explore the northern part of the park, which was open to cars.
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On our way we pulled off the highway at a little turnout and had a picnic lunch we had brought with us. Despite a little mishap with an avocado, the sunshine and the pretty view of the mountains made for an enjoyable break.
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After re-entering the park, we stopped off at several points to get out and walk around a little and take some photos. Oxbow Bend Turnout offers the iconic view featured on most postcards for the park. We also really enjoyed the Jackson Lake overlook. The lake was frozen, and the mountains snow covered, but the sun glistening off that powder white snow was mesmerizing.
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We had such an idyllic day exploring Grand Teton National Park! Next up is our day spent at Yellowstone National Park. And if you missed it, you can read about what we did, where we stayed, and where we ate in our Jackson Hole travel diary. We also vlogged our trip and you can watch that video below!
-Ash