Grand Teton NP – Jenny Lake/Hidden Falls 6/2/19

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Grand Teton NP – Jenny Lake Shuttle Boat to Cascade Canyon Trailhead then to Hidden Falls and Lower Inspiration Point

Ian, Court, Doc, Suz

This was the beginning of our week long visit to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Doc, Suz, and Court went when she was a kid, but I had never been to either park and both were phenomenal. We did 3 hikes total, but I’ll blog a few of the other days as well to document the highlights of the trip, as there were many.

After driving in from Salt Lake City to our cabin in Teton Village the day before, we started off the morning at the Visitor Center in Moose, which had great views of its own, as well as a ton of great information about the park. I love National Park Visitor Centers. They are always very well done. I got a photo of the Stephen Mather plaque that is at every park. The last line is so good.

Afterwards, we headed to Jenny Lake and took the boat across to hike up to Hidden Falls. Jenny Lake was pretty, but a little underwhelming. Maybe I was just expecting too much after having been in the Canadian Rockies a couple of years ago where every lake was the stunning glacial blue color. I’m probably splitting hairs though.

The hike up to the falls was beautiful and followed a fast moving creek. There was still some snow on the ground in places, but it was melting fast, sometimes turning the trail into a small creek itself.

The falls were only about a mile in from the trail head. It was a bit crowded, but the falls were great and after hanging out for a few minutes and getting pictures, we continued up to Lower Inspiration Point, which had great views back across Jenny Lake. Court saw our first bear of the trip on the way up. Court saw it the whole way, but I just caught the back end of it as it scampered into the woods up the hill. This would be one of ten bears we would see on this trip. No pic, sadly. Did get a marmot pic though!

The remainder of the trail to Upper Inspiration point was closed, so we headed back down to catch the shuttle back across the lake. We would spend the rest of the day in the Tetons and it was gorgeous (continued in next post).