Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming - Hiking and Kayaking

Roger and I spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend camping in eastern Idaho and exploring parts of Grand Teton National Park in nearby western Wyoming.  I have passed through Grand Teton several times and spent time in Jackson Hole, but this was my first opportunity to travel within the park and explore this spectacular mountain range.  We left Salt Lake on Wednesday morning and made our way to the Falls Campground in Swan Valley, Idaho, located within the Targhee National Forest.  After setting up camp, we made the quick trip over to Fall Creek Falls and the spectacular overlook of the Snake River Valley.

Camping in Swan Valley, Idaho

Fall Creek Falls and Snake River Valley

My preference is generally for desert scenery and red rock canyons, but the view of the Teton Range was breathtaking as we drove into the park on Thursday morning.  We headed to Colter Bay Marina and rented a kayak to paddle around a part of Jackson Lake for a few hours.  This was a ton of fun and the views of the Teton Range were even more spectacular than the drive in, with the added benefit of total solitude in an otherwise bustling national park.  We finished our paddling just in time to avoid a late afternoon thunderstorm that rolled through the valley.

Roger kayaking on Jackson Lake

Enjoying the paddle on Jackson Lake

Great views on Jackson Lake

On our way back to Grand Teton National Park on Friday morning, we passed through the town of Victor, ID just in time to enjoy their Fourth of July parade.  It was a much larger event than I expected given the small size of the town and the street was covered in candy.

Famous Idaho potatoes

Tall Uncle Sam

We spent the rest of the day hiking around Taggart and Bradley Lakes, enjoying the endless views of the Grand Tetons and the rainbow of wildflowers that filled the lush fields surrounding the lakes.  We had a late start, but managed to hike the entire loop along with a portion of the Amphitheater Lake trail before a bear sighting made for a good stopping point.

Views of Grand Teton

Bradley Lake

 Roger enjoying the views of the Tetons

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Taggart Lake

To top off a great Fourth of July, we stopped in Jackson for dinner and a bit of wandering around the main square before driving up to Teton Village to enjoy some beverages at the Mangy Moose Saloon and watch the fireworks display.

Happy Birthday, America and Roger!

We decided to try a more challenging hike on Saturday after reading that Table Mountain, on the west side of the Tetons, offered one of the best views of the mountain range.  We knew that it was early in the season for high elevation hikes so we brought along our snowshoes and microspikes, but ended up not needing anything as the trail was packed down in most places.  Hiking poles, however, came in extremely handy on the slippery snow for most of the hike.  It appears that there are two routes to the summit, with one being less-official, shorter, and steeper.  We chose the longer, more traditional route and enjoyed the trail very much with it's ever changing views of forests, mountain peaks, and streams.

Roger crossing a stream - this bridge was nearly under water on the return trip down

 On the way to Table Mountain

Grand Teton in the distance on the way to Table Mountain

Table Mountain

Lots of snow near the summit

The view from the summit of Table Mountain was spectacular and well worth the long hike through mud and snow.  Grand Teton looked close enough to touch, and the panorama of snow covered peaks in all directions was an unusual sight in July.

At the summit of Table Mountain

Grand Teton from Table Mountain

Roger on Table Mountain

At the summit of Table Mountain

The three days that we spent around the Teton Range were spectacular and a reminder that "green" places can be just as enjoyable as the canyons of southern Utah.  One of the best parts of the trip was having four nights of camping, giving us ample time to actually relax and enjoy the experience instead of just collapsing into the tent after an exhausting day of adventuring.

Evening light while relaxing at camp

Sunset on another great adventure

Green River, Utah - Kayaking

Hunter, Col, and I discussed the possibility of doing some sort of river trip in the Moab area a few months ago. There were many different options on the Green and Colorado Rivers, but we finally settled on the best option for us: a self-guided kayaking trip down the lower portion of the Green River in Labyrinth Canyon. We would put in at Ruby Ranch and travel about 45 miles to Mineral Bottom, both accessible by shuttle vehicle and eliminating the need for a jet-boat pickup or travel through any significant rapids.

We arrived at Dead Horse State Park on Thursday night with lightning flashing in the distance and obvious signs on a major storm just hours before. The air was completely saturated - an usual feeling in the desert - and my tent was soaking wet by morning despite the clear skies.


Dead Horse State Park on Friday morning

We arrived at the river touring company, Tagalong, to hear the bad news on Friday morning - the road to Mineral Bottom, along with numerous roads throughout Moab, had been washed away in Thursday's storm. It was decided that we could still go on a river trip, but we would go from Green River State Park to Ruby Ranch instead - less scenic but much better than not going at all!


The group ready to launch at Green River State Park

My first river trip in Utah begins

Heading out of Green River State Park

With a shorter trip than originally planned, we had plenty of time to cover the miles. We took an easy first day and made a few stops at some random islands and floated leisurely down the Green with little effort. Some shallow water in the beginning made for some interesting moments, but once we got going it was smooth sailing and perfectly clear weather.


Col

Hunter

Denise and Frank

Along the way we stopped at a place called Crystal Geyser - a rare cold water geyser formed when and oil well went wrong and water came out instead. The minerals deposited by the geyser were beautiful and we were lucky enough to see it erupt while we were there.


Travertine deposits near Crystal Geyser

Oil well gone wrong - now a rare cold water geyser

Eruption

Beautiful mineral deposits around the geyser

We found a great place to camp along the Green River on Friday night and I had one of the best night's sleep ever, thanks to the sound of the river and perfect nighttime temperatures. I even got to sleep in for a change. We only had to cover about 15 miles so there was no rush to get started in the morning. Very, very relaxing!


I love my new backpacking tent

Green River

Taking a nap

Our second day was a bit longer on the river. We traveled about 16 miles at a fairly leisurely pace and enjoyed a few stops along the way at various islands and shady spots. It was great to see the rock layers and formations change as we headed downstream. We found a nice sandy dune to camp on Saturday night, high above the river with great views of the river and the surrounding area. It was also full of critters like scorpions - another first for me.


Day 2

Group shot - me, Denise, Frank, Col, and Hunter

The view from our second camp site

Denise, Col, and Hunter .. Hunter is fussing with more wine

Scorpion friend (with dinner)

We exited the river on Day 3 and immediately headed to Moab Brewery for some delicious beer and food. We camped at Fisher Towers, near Castle Valley, on Sunday night before heading home to Salt Lake on Monday morning. We were treated to a spectacular sunset against the red rocks of Fisher Towers and even caught a glimpse of a rainbow from a passing storm.


Fisher Towers

Fisher Towers at sunset

Rainbow over Fisher Towers

Sunset

Hiking around Fisher Towers before returning to Salt Lake