On our last day in the area, after exploring Grand Teton for half a day and making a day trip up to Yellowstone, we still had one day to enjoy the park.
We woke up a bit later after our long day the previous day. Our main plans for the day were to go on a hike and see some more wildlife.
We drove back to Jenny Lake. The rangers suggested that if we wanted to see a moose, we should go on the short hike around Moose Pond, which was right next to the lake.
The hike was really nice. We got to be in the forest a little bit. We were very aware of the danger of running into a bear. We talked the whole time – speaking louder than we normally would – to deter the bears.
We spotted the pond and some other visitors had already spotted a moose standing in the water having a drink! We had only just started trying to see a moose and we were successful!
We also saw the work of a beaver or two!
We walked down and around the pond, and we could still see the moose.
The rest of the walk was really relaxing. We only ran into one group of fellow walkers and got to enjoy being in the forest.
Then we walked back to the car. As we were getting close to the parking lot, we had to pass the lake again. We decided after 3 days of not having a shower (we didn’t feel like taking a shower at the other campsite, where it would also be really expensive), that a swim in the lake would be amazing. We changed into our swimsuits and washed off in the lake. The water was so cold, but after our toes went numb, the feeling of being clean made it totally worth it.
Then we decided to dive up to Signal Mountain, which has a good view over the mountain. On the way up the mountain, we spotted a male elk and some deer.
From the top of the mountain, we got some views of the dramatic storm brewing over the mountains, with the sun peeking through a bit.
Then we headed back to the other side of the park.
We then headed down Moose Wilson road, which the rangers also said would be a good place to see moose, but closer to sunset. We parked and looked out over a creek for a while, but didn’t see anything.
Then we finally headed back to the campsite. The weather was starting to clear up. We got some firewood from the warden of the campsite and made a fire to warm up after our chilly swim.
That was our last night on this part of the trip. From Grand Teton, we were heading west to Seattle to meet up with friends. We were also going to civilization properly for the first time in the whole trip. Teton was one of my favorite parks we visited. It was just so classically beautiful – snowy (glacier-y) mountains, crystal clear lakes, lush forests, etc. Other than the constant fear of bears and moose, it was relaxing to not worry about sun stroke and dehydration.
