Traveling with Blue Cat: Grand Teton National Park

At the end of the summer Blue Cat took a camping trip to the Grand Teton National Park. (He also went to Yellowstone National Park – but that will be another blog.) He and his friends camped in the park itself and used it as a base of adventures of the mountainous kind.

Getting there was a bit of an adventure – besides being about an 8 hour drive from home, there was a fire to the southeast of the Park. The roads were open going in but there was a lot of firefighting traffic along the way that slowed things down. And some spectacular smoke.

This was the Fish Creek Fire – here’s a brief summary from Blue Cat’s friend ChatGPT:

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The Fish Creek Fire, started by lightning on August 16, 2024, in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, has burned over 26,000 acres. Due to the remote, rugged terrain, and safety concerns from dense timber, firefighters primarily focused on containment through natural barriers and point protection. This strategy minimized risks to nearby structures and infrastructure, such as along Highway 26. Currently, the fire is 87% contained, with residual smoldering and occasional flare-ups, while nearby areas remain under varying evacuation statuses.

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(Blue Cat loves that ChatGPT – it makes researching things so much easier)

Here’s what the park (through the smoke from the fire) looks like approaching from the East.

The campsite was less smoky – Blue Cat stayed at the Lizard Creek campground on the north end of the park. By the lake, shaded by trees, and pretty flat.

The next morning Blue Cat took a cruise on the nearby Jackson Lake. There are cruises throughout the day where you can learn about the area and see the Park from the lake, but Blue Cat recommends the breakfast cruise as it’s a great start to the day, was cold but calm, and included a stop on Elk Island for a super breakfast (trout, scrambled eggs, pancakes, pastries and more) and some hiking. How about this for your first day in the park?

(Sorry again about that darn smoke. This is what it looks like in the brochures.)

After a great breakfast and boat ride back Blue Cat went out of the Park to Jackson Hole for a tram ride to the top of Rendezvous Mountain. The tram is only available in the summer for sightseeing – in the winter it gets you to the top of the mountain for some extremely serious skiing. Here’s the view on the way up and what it looked like at the top.

And one of the many interesting items was that ladybugs (Coccinellidae) go to the top of the mountain to breed. Blue Cat likes them because they are pretty and also carnivorous predators. Can you see them in this picture?

While at the top Blue Cat stopped at Corbet’s Cabin for waffles. Yes – waffles at 10,450 feet above sea level. They were really good…and mostly eaten by the time Blue Cat remembered to take a picture.

Back down the tram and back to the park – for a hike around Jenny Lake. Well – most of the way around Jenny Lake as parking was so bad at the Lake that Blue Cat and his crew had to park south of the Lake and hike in. Blue Cat’s goal was Inspiration Point, but it was too far up for him and he ended up stopping about 300 feet below his goal. Still, the view was pretty good.

And one last thing – there was a lot of wildlife. Blue Cat saw a bull Elk on the side of the road (driving so he couldn’t take a picture) and a cow Moose in a river on another side of the road (still driving). And then on the hike folks warned him about a bear on the trail – which he didn’t see on the trail (thank goodness – it was a very narrow trail) but did see on the drive out (this time he stopped).

So that was Blue Cat’s day in Grand Teton National Park. He also used the Park for his base of operations for the next two days that he spent in Yellowstone National Park – but that’s a story for another blog.

What’s your favorite national park? Leave a comment for Blue Cat below – and don’t forget to subscribe in the Menu Bar if you like Blue Cat’s adventures.

© William P Doyle Jr, 2024