A Solo Trip to Grand Teton National Park, Day One: Part Two, 2021
Last time, we discussed the start of my solo trip to the Grand Tetons and my hike up to Inspiration Point, which was inspirational! We also discussed the Cascade Canyon Trail and Hidden Falls. Be sure to catch up on this experience if you haven’t already read it.
After taking a quick side trip back down the mountain to Hidden Falls, I decided to it was time to set up camp before the storms came in.
Jenny Lake Campground
I was super lucky to camp at Jenny Lake Campground. This popular campground is within the National Park and is booked months in advance. It was my home base for a few days until my next camp spot at Gros Ventre since I could only secure a few days here.
One quick little fun fact: you will not have cell service at the campground, but you will be able to WIFI where you check in, which will be helpful for weather tracking.
Bears also visit this campground, so please put all food, coolers, storage containers, utensils, and anything that has an odor in a closed, locked vehicle or a bear box provided at each site, with the lid properly closed whenever you’re not directly using them. When I arrived, signs all over the campground stated that a bear had visited the campground a few days before I arrived.
After I set up camp, I saw that the weather was still holding up despite some dark clouds starting to roll in, so I headed to the Grand Tetons’ famous barn.
T.A. Moulton Barn
Besides seeing the mountains, I have been dying to check out the T.A. Moulton Barn. It is the most photographed barn in the park, and you can see why below.
According to the National Park Service website:
"Thomas Alva (T.A.) Moulton and his brother John homesteaded on Mormon Row in 1908. T.A. built a frame house in 1915 and dry farmed grain until the state built irrigation ditches to their property in the late 1920s. In 1930, the Snake River Land Company met with the Mormon Row settlers and many sold their property, with most securing lifetime leases. By the 1950s, few remained."
What’s more iconic than that view?
I knew I wanted to do my first headstand in Wyoming here. If you remember from my post "Moab Trip Part One: The one with aliens 2021,” I mentioned my headstand journey. It all started with my dear friend Rachel convincing me to do an inversion class. I asked her if she could help me with the goal of doing a headstand in each of the states I was planning to go to for my birthday (WY, CO, and UT). In a matter of months, she got me from not doing a headstand to the point I’m at now, doing them every day.
So this was my moment!
I planned to have the barn behind me just in case I fell over. I have been practicing headstands with a wall behind me, and I had only started doing them in the middle of the room. But I decided to say fuck it and did a headstand in the middle of everything without anything behind me.
I asked these guys to take a video; in return, I would take a group photo of them. I had the settings ready for them and told them not to zoom in. As I was going up, I heard the guy say I am zooming in. I yelled back as I was kicking up my head against the wind and the heaviness of my boots, saying don't. They gasped as I got up into my headstand and did leg shapes. I laughed and came down. Then I took their picture and went on to check out the area more.
Afterward, I went straight to the visitor's center because I knew they had internet and service, so I called Rachel to let her know I had done it. I was a freaking kid on Christmas day but a lot more excited! I couldn't believe it. I was really proud of myself! I accomplished a goal I had set out to do, which was the most amazing feeling!
Camp and Sunset
I headed back to camp because I knew the storms were coming in and wanted to make dinner before they arrived. My timing was perfect because I finished cooking just as the storm started. I ate my dinner in the back of my SUV, watching the rain come down. There is something oddly refreshing and relaxing in doing this. The rain let up, and I still had the energy to chase the sunset. My chance of seeing it was pretty low because of the cloud cover, but sometimes you get lucky.
I drove around to different spots to see if I could see the sun; sadly, I didn't. While driving around trying to chase the sun, I was able to push my wildlife count up to about 6-7 elk and about 10 moose. When I was coming back to Jenny Lake I took a roundabout way, and this allowed me to drive along the lake. I saw a tiny ray of light between the mountains, reflecting on Jenny Lake.
I returned to camp for the night feeling amazing about everything I did and saw on my first day in Grand Teton National Park. It still amazes me each time I travel that I get to see and do some amazing things that I never really thought I would. In the last 15 years, I went from zero traveling to one trip a year, if lucky, to country hopping to camping alone in bear country. More on this later, but it fascinates me how my travel has changed and how I became known amongst my friends and family as this “solo traveler,” or as I call myself, Wandering Bel.
I'm sure you are reading this and thinking to yourself, Damn girl, that's just too much in one day!
Well, I tend to do a lot when traveling, which tires me out, but I'm too damn eager to play, see, and do! I fear that I may not get another chance to return if I don’t do “all” things now. As I mentioned in my “About Me,” my family didn’t put travel first because we didn’t have the money, and I think they were just tired of life to travel. I am afraid at times that I may end up like that. I am guessing at some point in your life, you had a similar feeling…..
That night at camp, it stormed hard. I kept waking up and hearing the rain pelt my tent; at one point, I thought I would be flooded. Thankfully, my tent held out, and no water came in, but the next few nights after that, I decided to sleep in the back of my SUV to get some sleep! Which was a fun challenge and a feature blog post!
I am curious to ask. How much did you do on the first day? And did you feel guilty for doing too much or too little? Leave a comment; I would love to read it!