Day 11 (6/30/21): Grand Tetons National Park

This morning I woke up at the dispersed campsite that I had found yesterday in the Grand Tetons National Forest, at 5:00 to the sound of coyotes. At 5:30, I decided to get out of bed and get ready to head out. I made breakfast, packed up, and was on my way by 6:15. It was a long drive down the mountain, but the park was close by. I had decided to drive the loop clockwise to see the entire park, with the best views of the Tetons in the morning with less crowds.

While driving, there were absolutely spectacular views of the Tetons. It was a blue sky with not a cloud in the sky. The Tetons were aw-inspiring. I was absolutely captivated. 

I could see the Snake river, which I never knew flowed all the way into Wyoming.

By 9:00, I made it to the visitors center, where I stopped to get my passport stamped. Then, I headed across the street to get my paddleboard inspected. This was required to be able to paddle on the lakes in the park. Little did I know, I also needed a permit to paddle too. So back to the visitors center I went. $17.50 and an hour later, I had went from "maybe I'll go paddleboarding today" to "I'm definitely going paddleboarding today".

 

From there, I setout on the loop north towards a hiking area that was also next to a lake. I decided to go here because I could park for the day. To get both a hike and paddleboard in. With it being summer busy season, I tried to limit moving my camper around for the sake of finding parking. Being able to spend the majority of the day here would be perfect. I decided to go for a hike first, while it was cooler. Then, come back and paddleboard. I was a little nervous to hike by myself due to the bears. But I spoke to the rangers before heading out on the hike who said that this trail is trafficked enough it will be fine and that making noise helps.

 

By 10:30, I was on my way to a waterfall! It was about 3.5 miles each way. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. Part of it was along a river. Another section was next to a lake, and the last bit was through the woods. I saw a few people on my way, but it wasn't crowded at all, which was great.

 

 

Once I arrived at the waterfall, it was much busier than I had anticipated. It turns out that there is also a water taxi that takes people across the lake, making the hike to the waterfall only about 0.5 miles. I stayed for a few minutes, enjoyed the view, and headed back.

On my way back, I saw a large bird (that I don't remember what it was now). It was getting hotter too, so I was excited to paddleboarding. I went back to my camper to get my chair, lunch supplies, and change to go paddleboarding. 

The lake was extremely busy so it was difficult to find a spot. But I found a small one next to the lake where I could launch my paddleboard. I was very hungry from my hike, so I ate first. This was also so that I could put all of my food back in my camper while paddleboarding. Everything has to be stowed in a bear locker here to prevent them smelling something yummy and venturing through the park. After eating lunch, I put all of my food back in my camper. Then, I went back to my lake spot and took a short nap. It felt great to relax in such a beautiful area.

 

Afterwards, I went paddleboarding. I went out around the lake, which was surprisingly very shallow. In some spots I even had to be careful to not run aground. I even saw some fish! There were a lot of people out paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, etc. There were some rocks that people were jumping off of too. It seemed like a popular local hangout as well. 

When I headed back to my spot, I found a ranger taking my backpack to put into a bear locker. It turns out that not only food has to be stored, but all personal items do due to the smell that might be on them from humans. I told her that I misunderstood and thought it was only food items, but since I was coming back to my spot, she left it there for me.

 

I hung out at the lake for a bit before continuing on. Tonight, I am headed towards Yellowstone National Park, however, I still didn't know where I am parking for the night. They're only a few miles apart from each other, so I hope to find somewhere in between to stay. 

On my way north, I saw some elk! One group was a heard and another was a big guy by himself. I decided to stop at Colter Bay, which is like a little village in the park. It was a great spot to cook dinner and figure out where I should go for the night. It was also on the north side of the park, and right on my way to Yellowstone.

While I was there, I made dinner in my camper and then decided to splurge and get some ice cream at the country store. I walked down by the lake while enjoying my ice cream and before heading out for the night. I also used the opportunity to use the WiFi to try and determine where I would stay for the night, since I didn't have service. I found two potential spots and headed out.

The first was a road side dirt parking lot for the river. Maybe for hiking or fishing. It seemed like a spot where no one would bother you. However, I had also heard of a resort further up the road that allows people to park there. Since this parking lot was right on the main road, I decided to try and keep going. If that didn't work out, I would come back. It turns out that this resort allows RV's to park in their back parking lot. I checked with the front desk, and with their approval, stayed the night. There were several other RV and campers parked there as well. There was also a large group of people playing kickball! 

As usual, I made dinner and got ready for bed. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, going through Yellowstone NP and making my way north. For one of my last days on the road. Almost to Washington!