23 July, Friday, travel day WY to CO

With an early start out of the campground, we headed to Dubois.  A cute little “quirky” town where the pie was recommended, so we bought a huckleberry raspberry pie (to be devoured later).  

Onward to Landers to the Lander Brewing/Gannet Grill for a tasty artisan flatbread and beer.  A fun place decorated with paraphernalia of every sport known to the area.

Gannet Grill

Odell’s

   Heading onto Laramie, we hit traffic - an accident that caused us a couple of hours delay.  We intended to stop at the Altitude Brewery for dinner, but because it was Friday night now, and because of a craft fair, we were unable to find parking.  We continued on to Fort Collins.  A few road construction delays later, we finally made it the large, yet charming, college town.  With a seemingly limitless choice of breweries, we chose Odells.  Unfortunately, only a food truck with pizza, but a happening, hopping scene was fun to see.  

We continued on to Boulder, finally arriving 13 plus hours after we set off this morning.  Tired.

22 July Thursday, Gros Ventre, Grand Teton NP

We woke at first light in hopes of seeing wildlife in camp / by the river - well actually because the cat woke us - but we were up quite early.  Alas, no moose or bears or dear.  

We rode our bikes around the campground perimeter hoping for a sighting.  Apparently Spring and Autumn are better.  Our plans to moto to Moose and Bradley Lake were thwarted after checking the weather and finding a forecast of rain for the upcoming two hours, that combined with sprinkles and thunder. So, rather than drive the truck, we decided to wait the rain out, reading instead.

Two hours later, the roads wet, with a blustery wind, we packed up the camper and headed to Jackson.  We hit a few mountaineering shops and walked the length of town, appreciating the local architecture along the way, to the Snow King Mountain ski area and had lunch at the beautiful Stillwest Brewery and Grill. We sat out on the second story deck directly across from the ski slopes.

Next visit, we’ll hit the mountain for the zip line, bobsled, or mountain roller coaster. 

A light sprinkle, but mostly sun made us optimistic and we headed to the Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center in Moose.  What an amazing structure!  Beautiful architecture, a bold, enormous fireplace, and lots of great information.  Metal strips in the floor pointed out through dramatic slanted glass windows, continuing on the patio outside. Each metal strip pointed to a different Teton peak with the name and elevation stamped in the metal. 

We headed towards Taggert Trailhead to hike the 2 hours to Bradley Lake - and then it started to sprinkle again so we turned around.

We had a relaxed evening back at the campground listening to thunder, and enjoying sporadic rain while sipping wine with tapenade and cheese.

21 July Wednesday, day 7, travel day

Over night, a big rain shower made for great sleeping weather and left things cool and damp in the morning.  

We drove into Jackson for some fun pickleball.

We headed to the National Museum of Wildlife Art where we enjoyed lunch in the camper with a sweeping view of the Jackson Hole valley. 

 After, we headed into the museum for an enjoyable stroll through paintings and sculptures.

We were able to check into our site 141 C a bit early so we set up camp and went for a refreshing swim in the adjacent Gros Ventre river.

Hopping on the KTM, we rode out to Mormon Row Historic District settled in “Grovont” (Gros Ventre). Quite scenic, like a painting. 

Mormon Row Historic District

While we didn’t see any moose in our campsite, we did spend some quality time in the river.

20 July, Colter Bay, Hermitage Point

The day started with big clouds and the threat of rain.  We headed over to the Colter Bay marina to hike to Hermitage Point.  It was a beautiful hike starting along the marina and continuing along Jackson Lake Reservoir.  Heading inland, as we skirted Herron Pond, it began to drizzle.  Just before we reached a point where we could head back via Swan Lake, the rain stopped. The views were awesome with the low clouds hiding the peaks of the Tetons conjuring up the Matterhorn in our minds.  Jackson Lake Reservoir is surprisingly large and we spotted boat campers on an island and water skiers, while the trail was mostly empty.  A fawn raced towards us, with it’s mother in hot pursuit, as they sped by.  The wildflowers were profuse.  We spotted a beaver lodge in both Herron Pond and Swan Lake.  On the other side of the hike, a large buck startled as we passed.  The trail would be perfect for mountain bikes, but they’re not allowed, so the 11 mile hike occupied about 4 hours including a snack break at the point.

Jackson Lake

Swan Lake

Herron Pond

In the afternoon, we took the KTM up towards Yellowstone intending to ride to Grassy Lake, but 10 miles on washboard gravel road deterred us.  So we checked out Headwaters Lodge at Flagg Ranch then headed back to Colter Bay.  Again we were treated to evening rain and thunder as we enjoyed Kung Pao for dinner.

After packing up our camp to allow for an early start on the road tomorrow, we took a bike ride around the campground and a last pause at Jackson Lake Reservoir.

19 July Colter Bay and Jackson WY

We started the day out with pickleball in Jackson at Miller Park.  Four dedicated courts and up to two more (multi-sport) courts with portable nets. Very fun!  Great people - Annette is the pickleball ambassador there.

Next, onto lunch at The Roadhouse Brewery. We had some delicious Salmon Poke Towers with satisfying beer.  The outdoor deck overlooking the park was full, but inside at the bar, watching tennis and Olympic track qualifiers, was entertaining.  We walked around Jackson town square with its signature antler arches and visited several beautiful shops with high end wares.  A nice felt hat was acquired for Lezley at a cowboy store called Outfitters.

Rafting Bears

(shed and harvested) Elk Horn arches

Salmon Poke Tower, yum!

A quick bike ride from camp to the lake for dip was the perfect precursor to red wine with tapenade and cheeses followed by fillets (happy dance) and Caesar salad. #Highway_12

An evening thunderstorm was pleasantly cooling and molto romantico.

18 July, Colter Bay at Grand Teton National Park WY

Today was a big day on the trail: String Lake over to Jenny Lake, up Cascade Canyon to past the meadows, back down to Inspiration Point, to Hidden Falls, to the boat landing, back to String Lake.  We had considered taking the boat across the lake and hiking back on the far side of Jenny Lake, but as we got closer to the dock, we found it packed with tourists queued up and opted to bypass that calamity.  

String Lake

The hike was 10 miles with over 900’ of elevation gain to 7,470’ elevation where we left a #kindness_rock.  Whew!  But WOW!, it was breathtakingly beautiful; “like the alps on steroids” as one ranger described it.  Wildflowers, streams, bridges, lush vegetation, and of course amazing mountains with glaciers jutting straight up above us.

Where we left the Kindness_Rock

Alp-like beauty

Next we rode the KTM to Teton Village, via un paved Wilson Moose Road, and had Bison Burgers with huckleberries at the Mangy Moose restaurant.  We enjoyed walking around the Village, reminiscent of typical major ski area destination.  We passed on the free concert and headed back to camp.

The Mangy Moose with mask

17 July, Colter Bay at Grand Teton National Park WY

6:15, 43 degrees, quiet and peaceful in the campground.  

An early MTB ride on the quiet dirt trail adjacent to Jackson Lake was so picturesque! 

We followed that up with a moto ride, on the #KTM, to the Jackson Lake Lodge which is well designed to capitalize on the views.  

The weather was so beautiful (high 70s); perfect for riding, so we continued on with a ride to Two Oceans Lake and took a short hike.  The trail was a narrow path through lush vegetation containing a variety of wildflowers.  We came upon a large Grizzly Bear, but Dave simply pushed it off the trail and we continued on.

Next we rode up to the top of Signal Mountain for views of the valley and found amazing signal (there’s a cell tower there).