Yes another one of those cheesy song connections that i sometimes use for my titles…Chicago’s Saturday In The Park. Can you dig it? Yes I can…And I’ve been waiting such a long time…For Saturday! Anyway think this one fits pretty good, don’t you?
Fourth of July weekend in Grand Teton National Park! We took an extra day to the already long weekend. Packed up our hogs with camping gear and headed out on the open highway! SuzAnn riding her Harley-Davidson Road King and me on my new to me Kawasaki Vulcan 2000…made me feel young again! We had a great ride north up through the mountains to GTNP. Secured what was the last campsite in our old standby campground on Jackson Lake. Not our first choice, but it has not let us down yet. Weather was good the whole trip, and the bikes made for a great way to see the landscapes!
After setting up camp, we headed to one of favorite spots to catch the evening light, Oxbow Bend on the Snake River. Surrounded by wildflowers we soaked up the grandeur of sunset from the banks of the river.
The following morning we headed south through the park taking in the views and making a stop at Jenny Lake. Such a beautiful lake situated right at the base of the Grand Teton!
Then I couldn’t help myself to go out to a location I have been meaning to visit for a very long time. It is called Mormon Row. It is named so due to the Mormon settlers who homesteaded here in the 1890’s. They established 27 homesteads and chose the location for it’s fertile soil, relative shelter and proximity to the Gros Venture River. Today there are only a few of the original structures still there. The most iconic being the Moulton Barn which has been captured in countless photographs with the Teton Range as a backdrop. Yes of course I had to have some of my own in my collection and you will find some of them here.
After the trip out to Mormon Row we spent the balance of the day on a relatively short day hike out to Taggart Lake. Had never been there either so it was an easy choice. The trail starts out by crossing sagebrush flats into the forest, where it then climbs what are old glacial moraines that contain Taggart and Bradley Lakes. It is a beautiful lake that offers great reflected views of the Grand Teton. We found our own secluded little cove to tuck ourselves away, rest for a bit and have a bite to eat.
When we returned to camp we tried to cook our dinner, but it turned out to be not very palatable. so we ditched it and headed over to the nearby Trapper Grill for something a bit more tasty.
And this left us just enough time to ride out to the infamous Snake River Overlook (made so by Ansel Adams) for sunset. The view is always breathtaking and majestic, but would have preferred a few more clouds to add some more drama to the scene.
The following day was a wonderfully casual day’s ride up into Yellowstone’s geyser basin area. Of course we had to catch Old Faithful, but this time decided to witness from a bit farther back which gave an interesting point of view with all the tourists in the foreground. The other geothermal areas provided some very interesting abstracts to photograph.
We spent our last evening resting in camp and of course were presented with the most spectacular sunset of the trip as it reflected off the waters of Jackson Lake. Another day in the park…I think it was the Fourth Of July!
