Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (State #41)-Colter Bay RV Park

August 21-28,2016

The Grand Tetons were named by French trappers, “Les Trois Tetons”, and put nicely means The Three Breasts. I'm still not sure which three they were so impressed by because there are definitely more than three peaks. But they are truly beautiful. And yet, we were unable to see them in their full splendor. The day we arrived a fire that had been burning over a month began to spread. The campgrounds to the north of us were evacuated and the road to Yellowstone was shut down. Fortunately, we were able to stay but some mornings the haze and smoke were so bad that we just stayed indoors.

This picture is a perfect example. The same enormous mountain range you see in the above picture is totally obscured by smoke in this one.

In the afternoons though we were able to get out and as the week progressed, the views became better.

We stayed at Colter Bay RV Park which is located in Colter Bay Village and on Jackson Lake. We didn't have a full view of the lake but it was a short walk to get there. Greg loved watching the sunsets and I think Jacob and Jordan can find endless fun with driftwood.

One evening, we were even able to see the fire that had come over the ridge.

Here are some general pictures:

Willow Flats Overlook

Jackson Lake Overlook 

Signal Mountain Overlook

Our hikes included:

String Lake

Inspiration Point

(not as inspiring as I hoped but still nice)

Taggart and Bradley Lake trail

(Bradley Lake)

 (Taggart Lake)

(Taggart Lake)

We also went in to Jackson one day for lunch, went to a couple of the visitor's centers, checked out the Jackson Lake Dam and learned about the engine used to open the gates and how to read the gauges,

celebrated the National Parks Service's 100^th Birthday with rangers and had some cake,

and attended a few ranger programs. My favorite program was actually done by author Kenneth Thomasma who wrote The Truth About Sacajawea. He retold the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition focusing more on Sacajawea and her extraordinary skills at such a young age resulting in some very significant contributions to the Discovery Group which certainly improved their chances for success.  

I love hearing this story over and over again. Each person, book, or video presents it slightly different and adds a few extra details I haven't heard before. Mr Thomasma also had a key role in recommending Sacajawea for the dollar coin to replace the Susan B. Anthony one and then tirelessly working for that to come to fruition.  We bought a couple of his books (some additional historical fiction ones) for the kids and he signed them and gave us Sacajawea coins.

And Jordan was able to assist in the flag ceremony

Our stay was nice. We need to come back in the future for a better look. We've heard September is great when the elks are moving and bugling and the fall foliage begins to show.

We have yet to see a grizzly! Maybe that will happen this week as we move to Yellowstone!