Grand Teton Park

 I was lucky enough to go into Grand Teton Park twice in June. Steph had a couple vacation days she needed to use up, so she asked Joyce and I if we wanted to go spend the day in the park. Heck yes! It was stormy and overcast, and other than the Tetons being hidden in the clouds, it was a perfect day! We saw a few deer, a moose, and a bachelor herd of elk before we even got into the park. Joyce is a photographer, and knows where certain bears and their cubs hang out, so we drove around, going down all the dirt roads looking for animals. We ventured down a dirt road she hadn't been down before, and ended up at a trailhead, and the most beautiful lake. Of course we had to do a little hiking. We hiked part way along Two Oceans Lake, and we all loved it. There was a mile long connector trail that goes to Emma Matilda Lake, so we decided to go there too. Right as we got near the second lake, we saw a bear run into the trees. We looked for it for awhile, but never found it again. We dove a couple more passes through the park looking for animals. Joyce drove us up the Signal Mountain Road, because Steph and I had never been up it. On the way back down, we saw two bears walking along just a short distance from the road. We got to watch them for a long time. So fun! We made one last drive by a pond that moose often go to, and bingo, we saw a moose in it. Joyce is in the park taking pictures all the time, so for her, the amount of animals we saw was a bit of a let down, but Steph and I were thrilled. 😃 It was such a great day!

The flowers this year are nuts!

Everywhere we looked was like a postcard!

Two Oceans Lake

Here's my two photographer friends working their magic, and then there's me standing beside them with my trusty cell phone camera. 😂

Hiking along Two Oceans Lake.

I knew I needed to bring Mark back to hike all the way around this lake.

Sometime durning our bear chase, it started to rain on us. 😂

The two bears we watched on Signal Mountain.

I love ponds with lily pads. This one was so pretty.

Although we couldn't see the Tetons, the clouds gave the park a cool look.

I don't remember the name of this spot, but it's where a lot of people go to get reflection pictures of the Tetons. They were covered in clouds, but the tree reflections were cool.

Cute little moose eating in the rain.

gorgeous!

I got so fixated on the awesome day we had in the park that I was dying to go back with Mark. I talked him into taking a day off work, and we headed back to the park the following week. Mark and I have spent a lot of time in the park, and we have hiked the majority of the trails. The one area we haven't spent much time in is around Jackson Lake. We decided to retrace the steps of what I had done with the girls the previous week, and play tourists in that area. We added a little more hiking, and had such a great day. We had a beautiful, sunny day, with amazing Teton views, but not as much luck with the animals. We hiked all the way around Two Oceans Lake, and it's now one of my new favorites in the park. We stoped at all the viewpoints and lookouts, drove down all the dirt roads, and did another touristy hike behind the Jackson Lake gift shop that ended up being amazing! The whole day was amazing! You would think those two times would get it out of my system, but nope, I'm dying to do back again, because I have another hike I really want to do. It never gets old. I'm so blessed to live where I do, and I just want to soak it all in, and experience it all!

We saw the same bachelor elk herd in the same area that we saw them in the week before.

Blue skies and sunshine around the Tetons this time.

Spalding Bay

Mark looking for animals on top of Signal Mountain. He actually found an elk through is binoculars.

I was excited to show him the lily pad pond I loved so much.

We drove down to the river and saw this eagle flying around.

The Oxbow Bend reflection area.

We did a short hike out to Emma Matilda Lake. It's a pretty trail, but just can't compare to Two Oceans Lake that we did next.

Emma Matilda just doesn't have the lake views we were hoping for. We had to bushwack our way through trees and bushes to get this picture. 

This is the trail around Two Oceans Lake. This is the point that I had made it to with the girls the week before. I Was amazed when it just kept getting better. The other side of the lake was my favorite.

We had blue skies with big, puffy white clouds, fields full of pink wildflowers, a gorgeous Teton view that we weren't expecting, and a beautiful lake. It was perfect!

Mark had made a comment that maybe this hike wasn't as well known because you can't see the Tetons, and then there they were!

I have a feeling this trail would have a totally different look in the fall, so now I want to come back and do it again in September.

`The week before, it was the yellow flowers putting on a show. This week it was the pink flowers. The pictures and videos don't do it justice, but they were so pretty!

This is a Teton view from a pullout along the road. The clouds were nice enough to stay on the Idaho side, giving us a beautiful backdrop.

We stopped at a visitor's center at Jackson Lake so I could get a scrapbook kit for these pictures. We decided to do a two mile hike called Lakeshore Loop that goes along Coulter Bay. We honestly weren't expecting much. We thought it would be a little touristy hike that would be kind of lame. Oh how wrong we were! It had one of the best views of the whole Teton range that I've ever seen! Incredible!

This hike made me excited to go back and do another hike that we snowshoed before. I think it will be a longer version, very similar to this one.

So glad he's always on board for the adventures I want to do. We had a great day together!

I love the park so much! I feel so blessed that I live close enough, that a day trip is all it takes to see all this stuff.