A Solo Trip to Grand Teton National Park, Day One: Part One, 2021
And I am off!
I started my day between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m., taking one last shower since I didn't know when my next shower would be. I headed to my car and started the trip to Grand Teton National Park Visitor Center, about a 20-minute drive.
The sun rose over the mountains on my right as I left town. It was one of the prettiest sunrises I have seen in a long time. The sky broke from the darkness and clouds to produce different shades of blues, pinks, and yellows. I pulled over on Route 189, the road you take to head to Grand Tetons, and watched the sunrise for a few minutes. The water was so still that it reflected the colors of the sunrise and the mountains. I didn't realize that the place I pulled over was a National Elk Refuge until I saw a sign.
"The Refuge protects critically important habitat for numerous iconic species, including elk, bison, wolves, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, bighorn sheep, and cutthroat trout. The landscape of the Refuge is primarily glacial outwash plain and rolling hills with a narrow, winding creek. The Refuge is surrounded by the rugged peaks of the Teton and Gros Ventre Mountain Ranges. "
Grand Tetons
I continued to the park, still watching the sunrise to my right until I came around the bend and saw the rising, jagged ruggedness of the Rocky Mountains to my left. I was stunned. My mouth was wide open, and I couldn't do anything, not even breathe. Now listen, I have spent my fair share of time in Colorado seeing the Rocky Mountains, and I have been blown away, but this was much different, though I am not sure why.
I pulled over at the sign welcoming you to the park, got out of my SUV, and just stood there. My mind was blown away by 6:20 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I kept taking pictures and videos of the mountains. They were still snowcapped, and the clouds were hanging around them like a halo as the sun lit up the blue sky, rising ultimately. I could not wait to play in the mountains, so I hurried back to my SUV and continued driving toward the visitor's center. This would be my home base for the hike I was looking forward to.
Inspiration Point Via South Jenny Lake Loop Trail
My friend Khaled recommended hiking to Inspiration Point, one of the popular trails in Grand Teton National Park. He helped me plan this trip to Grand Teton and saved me by allowing me to borrow a warmer sleeping bag since the temps went down into the 30s at night. He is one of my favorite people to bounce ideas and suggestions for upcoming travels. We both are part of the hiking and camping community and believe we should share tips and tricks. That’s what the hiking and camping community is all about!
Most people take the ferry across Jenny Lake to the trailhead, which is about 1.8 miles round trip. I got to the parking lot of the visitor's center around 7:30 a.m. I wanted to start my hike here because the Inspiration Point Via South Jenny Lake Loop Trail began here. It is a 5.7-mile roundtrip hike.
But first coffee! I geared up for my hike and made Kuju Coffee with my MSR.
I started at the parking lot, headed down to the lake, and followed the path to the lake's left. The views were stunning. After not even 10 minutes of my hike, I had already stopped probably 50 times, just trying to take it all in. The astonishing richness of greens from the trees mixed in with the grays of the mountains and whites from the snow on top of the Grant Tetons reflected off Jenny Lake. It felt like a mirage. It was like, this could not be real life right now. How could this be real?
I finally got to the other side of the lake, and suddenly the hikers in front of me stood still. I figured there was wildlife around, bear, moose, or elk. Although, since people were standing quietly, I figured it wasn't a bear, though I was prepared if it was because my bear spray was on my hip.
I gingerly hiked closer and came to find out it was a moose! It was my first time seeing this amazing creature! A few minutes passed, and I saw a calf too! After hiking for less than an hour, I saw my first wildlife! Then the dad appeared! I stood very quietly and at a safe distance, trying to control my excitement over seeing a moose family! It was freaking incredible! We just stood there thinking, is this real life? This became a common question that I’d keep asking myself for the next five days.
Finally, I left the moose family and ran into more wildlife I had never seen before. It looked like a mix of a rabbit's body and chipmunk's face. It was the sweetest little animal! Later on that day, I was told it was a Pika.
According to National Wildlife Federation:
"American pikas are small, rodent-like mammals. Pikas have short, stout bodies with big, round ears and do not have a visible tail. Pikas reach a size of about seven to eight inches (18 to 20 centimeters) in length.
So far, I was doing really well, spotting a lot of wildlife on my hike. I finally got to the Inspiration Point trailhead. I started to hike up the steep, rocky cliff that inclined to the false summit, took a few pictures, and then made my way to the top.
Once at the top, I stood at 7,200 feet above sea level! I had endless views of Jenny Lake below and the mountains surrounding me. No wonder it's called Inspiration Point! Those views inspire you to do anything, like doing an extra hike that was not planned. After hanging out with marmots and the view, I decided to hike Cascade Canyon Trail.
What are marmots, you ask? Well, they are the mountains' groundhogs and funny little creatures that try to steal your food!
Cascade Canyon Trail
I hadn't expected to hike some parts of the trail, but I wasn't done hiking for the day, and the weather was still holding up. So I kept trekking into the canyon, wondering how far it went. This trail is 9.1 miles out and back. I looked this up after I hiked it. I did not hike the whole thing since I was trying to be mindful of the weather because it was supposed to storm that afternoon. I probably hiked like 2 miles or so in the canyon until I turned around. A small rockslide occurred above me at one point, which was my cue to turn back. It was probably some mountain goats playing and knocking rocks down.
The views were stunning. I hiked the trail between the mountains. The jagged peaks covered in trees and snow were to my left. And to the right were mountains that were snow free. I also saw more moose on this trail. I believe I was up to 6 moose that day!
Hidden Falls
I saw the trail while hiking to Inspiration Point, but I wanted to check it out on my way back. It is called Hidden Falls because you can't see the waterfall from the trail; you can only hear the water rushing. I highly recommend this slight detour because it's hard to see waterfalls in the park, and this one was easy to access.
After checking out the falls, I planned to hike more of Jenny Lake, but sadly my IT band was acting up, so I took the ferry back to the other side of the lake. This was awesome because I saw where I hiked from the boat. I wish I had traveled around Jenny Lake more; it’s probably my only "regret." But I did hike almost 10 miles that morning. Once we docked, I went straight to the visitors center and talked to the rangers; I am a total nerd about doing this. After talking to them, I grabbed some things at the store next door before heading to camp. I arrived at my campsite and set everything up all by 1 something that afternoon. And the day wasn’t over yet….
Want to know how everything else turned out on day one of my solo trip to Grand Teton National Park? I’ll be publishing Part 2 next Sunday, so don't miss it!