There is something nice about waking up in a quiet campsite after a good night sleep. It was cold but not too cold and since most people have finally gone back to work after their long weekend it was silent… well apart from the sounds of nature of course.
Since most of the good hikes are still closed due to snow or avalanches we settled for the next best thing, a hike around Phelps lake. The hike was fairly easy since it’s mostly in the plains so no big altitude gains.
We walked along the river for a while until reaching the lake. From there we did a lap around the lake keeping our eyes open for bears and moose. We did buy the bear spray just in case the said bear is not being very cooperative during the photo shoot! Anyway, the hike was scenic, we saw bear evidence but no bear. We did however see a moose resting under a tree but didn’t have the right light for photos.
Phelps lake
We finished that hike mid afternoon ready for some food and the nearest place is in Moose which boast a small grocery store, fuel station, outdoors store and souvenir store. We grabbed some sandwiches and set off to look for the next hike… We drove a ways up the road to look for the next hike.
Along the the way we did a loop via Jenny lake which has great views of the Teton but the water was stired up from wind and tourist boats so not great for photos. But… while we were there we got an idea, looking at the Cascade Canyon on the opposite shore. I did that hike some years ago and really liked it. It didn’t look like there was that much snow up there and might be worth trying to see how far up the trail we could get. So with that new plan, we decided to have an early night and head up there early. So we went back to the grocery store, got enough food to take with us and went back to our camp to get an early and good night sleep.
Looking at the Teton range across Jenny lake
On the way home we took a small detour to look for some warm springs where we could go for a swim since there are no showers at the campsite. As we drove along we came across a small heard of bison near the road. We stopped for a while to watch them and take some photos. We didn’t actually find the warm springs but wasted at least 20 minutes looking for them.
We eventually made it back to our camp and set off to cook for the next days hike. Meanwhile Zoe turned our avocadoes (see yesterdays post) into dip that we enjoyed with our vegetables purchased earlier. I made a huge omelette, enough for breakfast and to take hiking.
Small heard of Bison grazing in the plaines near our campsite
Zoe thought it would be a nice idea to go back and look for the Bison again, and to see if we could spot more wildlife seeing it was close to sunset. Meanwhile I found the springs on google maps and we set off again.
The springs we a no go, the water was dirty and signs posted to contain bacteria so no swimming there… we drove on and even though we did find the bison again they were quite far from the road so we retreated back to our humble home and called it a day.
TA
Yes, it’s nice to wake up in a quiet environment such as yours at Grand Teton or ours in MON.
This morning the birds woke me at 6AM!
Sorry to hear that you lost 20 minutes on this trip looking for a hot spring, that’s a waste of good time!
Bison, bear, moose really the outdoor life, try wasting a few minutes to consider the luck you have.
With this, baci for the day!
When I read above about Grand Teton… I remembered you already went there on your first bike ride through the USA from San Diego to Canada via the Route 66…
It’s surely worth to see it again. The first and second pictures are magnificent Tanguy !
Would be a nice poster to put in your future house 😉
If I read well, you didn’t find a nice clean hot spring … which means you both didn’t wash yourselves at all…? 😉
mmm stinky tent huh ? Ha Ha Ha ….
I have a request Tanguy …. I would like to see some selfies of you both here and there …is that possible ?
And Zoe, I read you have a blog of your own but we didn’t get the link so far….:-( Have we been missing out your stories and comments ? Thank you for accepting us to read your blog.
See you both tomorrow via ADV2RIDERS and hopefully Zoe’s Blog 🙂
Mum xxx
Love Mum xxx