Road Trip: Grand Teton

If I had to use word association for this trip, I'd say Badlands = vast, lonely, fierce; Yellowstone = science, move, cool; Grand Teton = beautiful. Like so beautiful it hurts your soul a little bit. Grand Teton seemed to be less about the see and more about the be. It was for us at least.

By the time we left Yellowstone, I was ready to relax. Maybe it was because we didn't have as much on the agenda here, or because we spent the first day basically eating and lounging simply because we were too beat for anything else. Or maybe because I had it in my head after reading Trip Advisor that many people retreated to the Tetons to just be after tearing ass around Yellowstone.

Fall was much more apparent in the Tetons than it was in Yellowstone, and the atmosphere in general was very laid back. It was a nice coasting ride into the park. 

Fall splendor entering the Tetons, lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge, a stop at Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Our place to just be was Signal Mountain Lodge - I did a lot of research and am so glad I chose this one. We had lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge and were in the Jenny Lake Lodge area and none of them had better views than we had or proximity to the lake. Signal Mountain had a great down to earth vibe.

I really loved the staff at Signal Mountain Lodge, the rooms themselves, their commitment to sustainability, the food in the Trapper Grille (we ate there for two dinners, a lunch, and a breakfast), and the toiletries, believe it or not. I ended up hunting them down online and ordering them. The room was pricey for my standards ($374/night), but it was for our anniversary and it was worth it. I'd save up to stay there again in a heartbeat.

Thursday morning we took a scenic cruise ($70/PP) on the Snake River run by guides from Signal Mountain. Chris was informative and funny. We were on the cruise with a couple of ladies from Kentucky who were smart and witty and a retired guy from Long Island who was a freaking forensic scientist when he worked. I tried to keep the CSI/Criminal Minds questions to a minimum as he was out trying to enjoy nature and not discuss dead bodies, but I couldn't resist a few. He did say Patricia Cornwell has it pretty realistic. Anyway great group, lots of conversation, plenty of laughs, and phenomenal views.

After that, MFD suggested we do a little hike. We ended up taking the boat across from Jenny Lake and hiking up to Inspiration Point. We are novice hikers. I thought I'd die on the way there. But we did it, and we made the boat back by the skin of our teeth. It was exhilirating and really tiring. I took zero pictures the entire time but MFD snapped a few. At least the views were really beautiful when I had to pull over and rest every 50 yards. High altitude is no joke. I don't do well in it. I loved how I felt at the bottom though - loose and on a natural high.

Boat ride over / me at the top of Inspiration Point / Jenny Lake

We tooled around after that, stopping at overlooks to marvel at the grandeur of the Tetons from all angles.

We headed out of the park to get to Mormon row. The infamous barn roof is under construction as you can see in the first shot. Can you imagine settling in the backyard of the Tetons? Yeah this spot looks good.

We ended the day by driving up to the summit of Signal Mountain. Wonderful views of the valley and glimpses of the sun setting behind Grand Teton.

And saw this show back at our room:

On the way out we stopped at the Menor homestead and saw a moose! MFD almost crapped his pants he was so excited. I had tears as we were leaving. I was just so grateful for everything on the trip, and to end it in a place of stunning natural beauty was just the absolute icing on the cake.

Last photo bottom left - Moose! Directly next to that is the cabin where Grand Teton National Park was voted into conception, and the rest of the photos are Menor's Homestead

The Dirty Details: 
Days 7 & 8: Grand Teton
Hotel: Signal Mountain Lodge Upper Lakefront Cabin ($374/night tax included)

Day Nine: Teton checkout and day in Jackson
Hotel: Elk Refuge Inn ($207/night)

I definitely expected things in Teton and Jackson to be further apart based on how far things were in Yellowstone. That was not the case. We definitely could've stayed another night at Signal Mountain and made our way to the airport relatively easily, although it's a little less of a straight run than it was from Jackson. It is also definitely feasible to stay in Jackson and go to the park each day without missing much in terms of drive time.

All posts in the Road Trip series:
Badlands, The day we saw it all, Little Bighorn & Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson Hole

If you've read the road trip series all the way through, thanks for traveling along with me. If you're considering any portion of the trip and would like to discuss hotel or money particulars, let me know. I am going to do an overarching National Parks trip blog about things that were important for me to know or things I didn't know and wish I did sometime in the future, so look out for that.

MFD tagged me in a post with this quote on Facebook, and it can sum up this trip perfectly:

“The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown.” ― Paul Theroux