Travel Recap #7: Tetons & Full-Circle

 

“We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” 

~ Mother Teresa ~

Our visit to Grand Teton National Park was almost postponed due to our need to be back in the Springs for appointments; thank goodness we left the Getaway event earlier and made the time to stop over!! So. Worth. It.

Instead of making a trip through Yellowstone again, we drove south from Island Park and ran parallel to the backside of the Teton range until we could head over the pass and down into Jackson. What a pretty town, surrounded by so much natural beauty!! Not to knock Wyoming, but who knew?! The drive up along Hwy 89 toward Moose was fantastic, and the Tetons really are just like a picture you only see in a calendar or magazine spread. Autumn was a perfect time to visit as well, with the park being less crowded and the trees all gorgeous fall hues of yellow and orange. A female elk and her baby crossed the road as we made our way to a great boondocking spot known as the “Upper Teton View.” Although there were a few other campers nearby, we still had a lovely view of the peaks in the distance and couldn’t wait to visit the next day. We took a quick drive back down to see the sunset behind the mountains and stopped to watch a heard of elk in rut. The male in the group would rub his rack against a tree, then spend time chasing his chosen lady. We didn’t get to see any moose or another bear (much to Justin’s chagrin), but this was a neat alternative!

We rose early to catch the glorious sunrise as it lit up the range, and although a light layer of frost had settled overnight, everyone around us stepped out of their warm campers to also witness the first light of morning. My kids do enjoy moments like these, but occasionally I wish I could instill just a little more awe for the natural glory they’re blessed to witness. After breakfast, we made our way to the Moose Visitor Center to pick up Jr. Ranger books and a hiking map, then we stopped to snap a few photos at the iconic Chapel of the Transfiguration (which was actually in service, as it was Sunday… if we weren’t in our outdoorsy/hiking garb we might have tried to join!) We continued on to Jenny Lake, which was still covered in mist from the morning cold. The ferry wasn’t yet running and we didn’t have time to hike all the way to Hidden Falls on the other side, so we instead took the forested path along the edge of the lake to Moose Ponds and back. We got to witness the clouds unfolding around the mountain peaks at the end of our hike, and the fog burning off the lake on our return trip. Our drive around the scenic road after the hike led us to a sweet spot in front of Jenny Lake with a picture-perfect framing of the Tetons behind the tree boughs. I suppose I should have thought ahead and planned for this to be our family Christmas Card photo background, since the peaks had just been dusted with snow and it was a stellar day. I'm just not that perfect. 

After collecting Jr. Ranger badges and National Park passport stamps, we booked it out of the Park, hitched up the RV and hit the road again; it was a long drive ahead. The scenery in the northwest part of the state continued to impress, until we got to the flatter, mid-east region on our way to Douglas, but by that time it was dark and we couldn’t see much anyway. We don’t typically plan to drive at night (which is just a little stressful with a big rig in a new area), but we had time to make up. We stopped over at a little town park which not only provided parking for RVs and a little green space by a river, but also had bathrooms with showers, dumpsters for our trash, and a dump and fill station, all for free. Amazing! Justin met and befriended a talkative veteran man named Mike before we left for Colorado the next morning.

We stopped to do chores & grocery shopping in Loveland, then continued through Denver back to the Springs. We spent a couple days there taking care of business and appointments, then headed back to Pagosa to land and rest for several nights before heading out West again. Our first two months on the road brought us back full-circle!