When we woke up in Towerfalls we had a long day ahead of us. We wanted to get a good camping ground at Jenny Lake and still wanted to see a lot of the beautiful scenery. We said goodbye to Nicky and Yellowstone and began our drive. Grand Teton is a lot smaller than Yellowstone and is kind of structured in 3 vertical lanes. The very left lane consists of very high mountains. In the middle you have the lakes that are just at the foot of the mountain. On the right lane you have the hotels, campgrounds and the forest with the wildlife which consists mostly of elks and moose. Jenny Lake is a campground right at the lake but very far away from the entrance and usually full at 9.30 am. Driving from Yellowstone through Grand Teton was breathtaking. You drive right at the lake and see the reflection of the high mountains. We wanted to take a picture of this but due to time pressure we decided to come back later. Unfortunately, there was no reflection anymore when we came back, probably because the sun was too high and there was too much wind.
We arrived at Jenny Lake at 11 am which was half an hour too late to get a camping spot. Luckily, the volunteer at the registration desk was in a good mood and gave us a spot at the campground for cyclists. We parked our car down the road and carried all of our stuff to our new home for the night. We were camping right next to the lake which was simply amazing. Back in Yellowstone we met some people who recommended us to cross Jenny Lake with the boat, hike up the mountain a little bit, and then walk around the Lake back to the camp. I wanted to do that but Freddy decided to stay at the tent and enjoy the weather (sleeping in the tent). So there are two stories to the day.
1. Ferdi: I took the boat to the other side and started my walk up the hill. The Hidden Falls meandered for more than a mile down the hill which is pretty amazing, especially if there are not many people around and you can just enjoy the nature. After sitting at the waterfall for half an hour I began my walk up to the so called Inspiration Point which is a 1 mile climb up the mountain and gives an incredible overview of the whole lake. So after the Hidden Falls and the Inspiration point I walked around the lake on a small path which was even less crowded then the previous hike. The only thing I remember about Jenny Lake is that it was formed over 10 000 years ago and is about 400 feet deep. The guide who spoke a few words when I was crossing the lake was really boring and didn't seem really excited about what he was telling us. When I arrived back at the camp after 2 1/2 hours Freddy was still sleeping in the tent. I asked him if he wanted to come with me and look for some Moose south of the camp where there have been several Moose and elk sightings in the last couple of days. He just put his head down again and continued sleeping. My hunt for wildlife was disappointing, I didn't see anything besides dozens of Bison... When I got back to the tent i woke Freddy up and we went to eat Supper. | 2. Freddy: After Ferdi left I read a little bit and then took a nap. At one point Ferdi woke me up and asked me if I wanted to go with him to look for some Moose. I just wanted to go back to sleep. After some time past by he woke me up again and we went to eat Supper. |
Arriving at the Jackson Lodge we went to a room called Trapper (or something like that) which was a small real American restaurant inside of the hotel. It had many different rows and the waiter was just on the other side of the counter which reminded us of a classic American movie. We ordered Wings as an appetizer and I ate the spare ribs afterwards. Freddy ate a sandwich with mushrooms inside.. I really don't want to talk more about that.. it was just disgusting. I thought about not giving any tips but the service was at least nice so we gave 15% tips which is normal in the US. We chilled in the Lodge a little bit more before we went back to the tent and prepared for our trip to Salt Lake City. It was a quiet day in Grand Teton but it was nice to do whatever you feel like doing and not be bonded by someone who wants to do something entirely different. I guess it was nice day for both of us.