Days 2 and 3 – June 2nd and 3rd
For our first stop on our big adventure, we spent 2 days in Grand Teton National Park. We had previously visited Grand Teton in 2022 during a summer trip to Yellowstone during a brief day trip. When we arrived we were amazed at the beauty of the park and decided we will have to go back and spend more time. Since it is so close to home, it made a great first stop on our grand Schlanni Adventures.
Day One – June 2nd
Weather: Sunny, highs in the 60s
For our first day at the park, our main adventure was to hike Jenny Lake. We took the Jenny Lake shuttle boat across the lake. The shuttle is $20 per person round trip, the alternative is a ~2 mile walk around the north shore. The boat ride was cold, windy, and wet, but quick and direct.
As we got off the boat our boat captain was pulled to go respond to a medical emergency, and we headed off to Hidden Falls. This was a short, but uphill hike to some roaring falls. We ventured a little further up the mountain towards Inspiration Point, but quickly realized that was more than we wanted to take on. Instead we decided to take the remainder of the Jenny Lake Loop trail from Hidden Falls back to the dock and Jenny Lake visitors center. Overall we hiked right around 3 miles.
After Jenny Lake we decided to drive around the park, heading towards Colter Bay. On the way we joined a gaggle of folks stopped on the road and caught a glimpse of our first bear sighting.
So far at Grand Teton we have seen: Moose, Elk, Fluffy Cows, and now Bears.
Baby moose from our 2022 trip.
We also drove around most of the park, stopping at Colter Bay for some lunch at the Café Court. We split a chicken bacon hoagie and potato chips, which was surprisingly delicious. They also served pizza which looked promising. After lunch we spent some time on the beach soaking up the sun listening to the waves lap on shore.
I also added my first national park sticker to my Yeti and had Cat help me line up the perfect picture.
We headed back to the RV, had some burgers on the Blackstone, and some French fries in the 11-in-1 air fryer contraption before calling it a night.
Day Two – June 3rd
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, highs in the mid-upper 50s.
We started day 2 earlier, heading straight to the Grand Teton Lodge for some breakfast at the Pioneer Grill, a 50s themed diner. Unable to decide, we split the Huckleberry Pancakes, and the egg plate for some protein. Overall breakfast was Ok, the pancakes, while tasty, were a bit undercooked in the middle, but other than that you can’t go wrong with griddle eggs, sausage, and home fries (although hash browns are in fact the superior breakfast potato).
After breakfast we were on the quest for a moose. On our past trip we had spotted a young moose right off the trail at Schwabacher Landing, so we headed there, with a few stops at some overlooks along the way. Unfortunately, no moose to be seen.
We continued on to Moose Junction where we stopped at the Windy Point overlook to park, and switch to two wheels. We took our e-bikes up to Jenny Lake, with a detour at the Lupine Meadows trailhead – just in case there was a moose. Overall we biked about 13 miles round trip. By far one of the most beautiful bike rides we have ever taken, and aside from a brief stretch of head on cold wind, the weather held up great for us.
After the ride we decided to head south and check out the town of Jackson. Jackson is a lovely town with a lot of great shops, bars, and restaurants around their central square. We happened to get lucky and find a quick parking spot, that just so happened to be in front of ‘CocoLove.’ So clearly it was fate we stop in for a treat.
I got the strawberry tart, and Cat got the chocolate on chocolate monstrosity, both very delicious. We continued walking around town popping into the various shops before going on a quest for Huckleberry Mule’s and ended up at Sidewinders. I got the huckleberry lemon drop, and Cat got a huckleberry mule. We also split a Sidewinder pretzel, which is really just cheese stuffed pizza crust shaped into an S. Not really a pretzel, but delicious nonetheless.
After the giant pretzel we decided on one more small hike and moose check at Schwabacher Landing. No moose, but I can confidently say, this hidden gem is by far my favorite place in the entire park.
We called it a day after that to head back to the RV and spend some time with the pups and get prepped for our travel day tomorrow. While we only spent 2 days in Grand Teton National Park – we had a blast (despite the lack of moose sightings).
Up next we will be on our way to Glacier National Park!