Two more pearls - Taggart and Bradley Lakes Loop Trail

Today's hike was one of the best we've taken and included a cascading creek and two more serene lakes at the base of the Tetons. Our favorite kind of trail, a loop, we hiked along the east shore of Taggart Lake and then on to Bradley Lake.

As you might be able to tell from the picture, it was cold - we had our winter jackets on under our windbreakers/rain jackets, winter hats and gloves. You might also be able to see that there were snow  squalls up in the mountains.

We crossed cascading Taggart Creek on a two-log bridge. From quite a ways down the trail we could hear the roar of the water which is high this time of year with winter melt-off.

Beautiful Teton hiking trail.

Taggart Lake. Across the lake we had an excellent view up Avalanche Canyon.  On the left side of the canyon lies Mount Wister, named for Owen Wister, author of The Virginian, a turn-of-the-century novel set in the Tetons, which made famous the expression, "When you call me that, smile!" The right side of the canyon is dominated by Nez Perce Peak, named in honor of the proud Indian tribe which traveled this part of the Rocky Mountains. 

Taggart Lake and the hill we climbed to reach it owes their existence to glacial action which ended just over 10,000-years-ago. A powerful glacier flowed out of Avalanche Canyon and spread onto the valley floor. Over thousands of years it scooped out the hollow now occupied by Taggart Lake and built up the 300 foot moraine which completely encircles the lake. Here we have climbed up another glacial moraine and can view Taggart Lake from above.

Along the trail we passed through a number of aspen groves with their new, chartreuse leaves. Aspens rarely reproduce through seeds, instead they sprout from the roots of other trees. That's why aspens usually grow in clusters and in the fall the leaves of interconnected "clone" trees simultaneously turn to gold.

On the other side of the glacial moraine we climbed to have the overview of Taggart Lake in the picture above, we dropped down to glacier scooped Bradley Lake. Both of these beautiful lakes were named by members of the 1872 Hayden Survey. Frank Bradley and W.R. Taggart were geologists on the expedition. 

We walked a little ways around the lake and were able to get down by the shore for this spectacular picture of the mountain peaks across the water. 

On the way back to the trailhead we had another overview of Taggart Lake.

As we passed through one of the lodgepole pine forests we encountered a deer. Can you find her in the picture?

We were also charmed by this snag "hotel" which is home to a number of animals. 

Today's hike:

Length - 5.45 miles

Duration - 2 hours, 40 minutes

Elevation gain - 650 feet (79 floors on the Fitbit)

The real String Lake Loop Trail or, hiking in the snow

Leigh, String and Jenny Lakes lie along the base of the Teton Range like "pearls in a necklace." Shaped by valley glaciers that occupied many of the park's canyons 14,000 years ago, they were gouged out of rock and soil which was transported to the mouths of the valleys to form moraines. As the remnants of the ice melted, the terminal moraines held meltwater that created today's lakes.

Since we got tricked into taking the wrong trail last time we attempted the String Lake Loop Trail, we decided to travel counterclockwise around the lake. As we began the hike we notice infrequent snowflakes. You may be able to see the approaching snowstorm coming down off the mountain behind Frederick who is standing on the shore of String Lake.

Not too far along the trail we encountered this cheery fellow, George, a Park Service employee. He was setting-up a "people counter", you may be able to see it on the tree to the left of George. I asked him if this cold, snowy weather was unusual. "No", he said, "what would be unusual would be warm, sunny weather, nice weather - this time of the year". 

As we hiked along these two boats came by going in the opposite direction. I think they had gone out and camped at one of the remote campsites that are accessible only by boat. It must have been cold camping!

Here comes more snow!

Just before we got hit by the snowstorm we crossed the stream flowing out of Leigh lake into String Lake. Frederick is standing on a bridge the crosses the connecting stream.

On the opposite side of the lake the Tetons begin their dramatic mile high-rise from the valley floor and this string of lakes. Until relatively recent geologic time there were no mountains here. Then, about 9 million years ago, the earth's crust began to slip and break into the separate blocks on either side of what is now called the Teton Fault. The western block rose to form the Teton Range while the eastern block dropped dramatically to form the valley. Actually, the valley block fell far more than the mountain block rose. However, subsequently deposited glacial debris have filled in much of the valley. This section of the trail we were following closely parallels the Teton Fault. 

Looking north east toward Leigh Lake.

Looking southwest toward String Lake.

As we began the climb along the western shore of String Lake we became engulfed in a snowstorm. Here is the beginning. I wasn't able to take any more pictures of the storm because I was trying to keep the snow off the camera. Unfortunately I had not brought along the protective cover I use on the camera when we are out in the rain, or, like today, in the snow.

Almost a quickly as it began, the snow ended and the sun came out. By this time we had covered the west side of the lake and had joined the trail that we took last time we attempted to travel clockwise around String Lake. Here is our old pal again, the friendly marmot. Today he was not whistling.

Deja vu - Frederick at the beginning of the String Lake trail - same scene as on Thursday.

Today hike:

Length - 3.9 miles

Duration  - 1 Hour and 45 minutes

Elevation gain - 250 feet ( 27 floors on the Fitbit)

Where are the mountains?

Today was the 143rd running of the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Nyquist, the winner of the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, was the favorite to win the Preakness. But the track in Baltimore, Maryland, was a mud puddle, and those conditions favored Exaggerator, who came in second at the Derby. Exaggerator won the Preakness; Nyquist came in third.

Our thoughts today are about Don Rohr; he was a big fan of the Triple Crown races and he was very knowledgable about the sport. We miss him.

In order to watch the race (there was no chance whatsoever of getting any TV reception at the campground) we drove over to Jackson Lake Lodge. There was a television in the Blue Heron bar off the lobby. 

The Blue Heron has arguably the best views of any bar in the world.

The television was turned down low when we first came in (we ordered one regular coffee and one decaf coffee), but 15 minutes before the race, Mike came over to turn up the volume. Mike had a small wager on Exaggerator.

Here's Nyquist being led to the post. I have a picture of him because we thought he would win.

You might have been able to tell from the picture out the window at the bar that clouds pretty much covered the mountains today.

I feel badly for anyone who had just one day in the park and it was today. It rained pretty steadily during the day. 

Three in a row

It was drizzly all day today with thunder and a downpour this afternoon. A good day to stay inside and catch up on business. We were also able to watch the Airstreams roll in, and one roll out.

The Airstream in the foreground, from Wisconsin, came in about 10 a.m. this morning. If you look carefully (or click on the picture to enlarge it) you can see another Airstream in our row; center right in the picture. That Airstream belongs to Mike and his wife who have sold their house and have been fun-timing for seven months. They are from Michigan. Another Airstream was across the road from us, but they pulled out earlier this morning. 

Valley Trail

We started out to take the String Lake Loop Trail, a mere 3.6-mile loop around the lake that connects Jenny Lake to Leigh Lake. We began at the String Lake Trailhead, but, at 0.3 miles there is junction with the Valley Trail which runs along the northwest side of Jenny Lake at the base of the Tetons. We missed the trail markers at this junction and turned left along the Valley Trail instead of the String Lake Loop. It was a pretty enough hike along a portion of Jenny Lake and that leaves the String Lake Loop Trail for another day.

At the trailhead of String Lake Loop with the Tetons in the background.

The first section of the Valley Trail follows the outlet stream from String Lake to Jenny Lake. Here is where the streams joins Jenny Lake.

Looking back up the outlet stream. I'm trying to show the cascade at the top of the stream, but I don't think it shows up very well. It sure provided a nice sound as we hiked along.

Beginning the trail along the west shore of Jenny Lake.

About 45 minutes into the hike the clouds began to roll in and we could tell that rain was on the way.

Looking east across Jenny Lake. When there are no clouds, and the sun is shining, Jenny Lake is a beautiful shade of blue - but not today.

Since we missed the loop trail we had to come back the same way we went out. As we were hiking along the outlet stream we heard a series of loud whistles. At first we thought it was a big bird, but then we located this marmot. (He was probably looking for us to supply his lunch.)

Close-up

Today's hike:

Length: 3.3 miles

Duration: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Elevation gain: 200 feet (28 floors on the Fitbit)

Two Ocean Lake Loop including Grand View Point

The original plan was to take an easy, moderate length, tune-up hike, our first one of the season. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Coulter Bay and a nice Ranger, Cassandra, showed us some hikes here in the north end of the park; some around Jenny Lake; and, others at the south end, nearer to Jackson.

We were intrigued by the hike that is closest to the campground and that had a spectacular view of the Tetons and the surrounding area. When we checked in our three Teton hiking books, we noted that the distance around the lake and the hike up to the viewpoint was listed as 10.5 miles. But, we had a beautiful day, and after all, we have hiked 10+ mile hikes before.

We drove the seven miles to the Grand View parking lot and climbed the .9  mile trail to Grand View Point, elevation 7,594 feet,  for this classic view of the Grand Teton Mountains with Jackson Lake in the foreground.

When we turned around we had this view of Two Ocean Lake, 700 feet below. We descended the viewpoint on a series of rather steep switchbacks, all the while telling ourselves that at the end of the hike we were going to have to climb back up these same steep switchbacks.

Down at lake level, 6,896 feet, it is still early spring. Notice the cat-tails in the foreground. Even though the sky looks cloudy, there were patches of blue and occasional sun. The temperature was in the sixties; perfect hiking weather.

The north and east side of the lake is fairly open and we passed through Aspen groves where the trees were just beginning to leaf out.

About half-way down the east side of Two Ocean Lake we paused to take this picture of an open meadow across the lake with the Tetons in the background.

We had our lunch at the south end of the lake, about half-way through the hike. Then we began the hike along the west side of the lake. The trail was quite different on this side of the lake and travelled mostly through lodgepole pine forest which means that there were lots of roots in the trail, a real tripping hazard.

Two meadows interrupt the forest trail along this west side and these little white flowers are just beginning  to blossom.

This is actually the meadow that we took a picture of from across the lake. You might be able to see the little white flowers beginning to blanket the meadow.

We completed the loop around the lake and slowly climbed the switchbacks to the top of Grand View. This is the view of Two Ocean Lake in the afternoon light, and...

the Grand Teton Mountains and Jackson Lake in the afternoon sun.

Today's hike:

Length: 10.68 miles

Duration: 5 hours, 25 minutes (including lunch)

Elevation gain: 1600 feet; 162 floors on the Fitbit

Ah, trees! And mountains!

After spending the night in Rock Springs, we said good-bye to I-80 and headed north on 191. The drive began with more clouds and flat landscape.

There were few towns, and not many people.

Ranch art

For almost 100 miles we drove through this desert basin. Every 5 - 7 miles the road would expand to two lanes and we drove in the right lane for about 1/2 mile so anyone who wanted, could pass us on the left. An efficient system.

After 75 miles, we were tantalized by the snow-covered mountains on the horizon.

We passed under a number of these road crossings for animals.

We stopped here for lunch, site of the Astoria Camp. Here, in 1811, sixty-one Astorians of the Pacific Fur Company camped for 5 days. They were on their way to the Pacific Ocean from St. Louis and were the second group to cross the continent, just 5 years after Lewis and Clark. 

Very soon after lunch, we crossed The Rim, a pass at 7921', just before a fox crossed the road.

On the other side of the pass we entered Bondurant Scenic Byway and noticed these pronged-horn antelopes on the hillside and...

just a little further along a small heard of the pronged-horn.

As you can see, the scenery definitely began to change.

The Hoback River and Canyon.

A ribbon of highway, following the contours.

Just north of Jackson, the Grand Teton Mountains came into view.

We have been to the Tetons many times but we have never seen so much snow on the mountains.

A view of the mountains just before we turned onto the road to our campsite. 

We are happy to be in a campground that is in a National Park with trees all around us and some

separation between sites.