A Hazy Visit to Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole

This is the last in the series of four posts about our trip in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Our final night before heading home was spent in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Unfortunately after wonderful weather the entire time in Park City and Yellowstone, we hit the haze caused from the smoke of the many wildfires that started to burn this summer.

We started off the day driving south from the West Entrance of Yellowstone heading to Grand Teton and eventually Jackson Hole. It’s only about a 2 hour drive so we had the day to make some stops.

Our first stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is the largest hot spring in the US and the 3rd largest in the world.

The picture on the left is mine. The picture on the right is from a similar angle and is one I found on the internet, not mine. Look how beautiful it is with all the color which is why it’s called the grand prismatic. It represents the colors of a prism or rainbow. The day we were there it represented various colors of mud!

Check out the steam rising all around the hot springs. It was about 45 degrees on this July morning. Between the haze from the smoke and the steam meeting the cold air the view was really obstructed.

Another hazy picture. Did someone lose a hat? See it in the lower right of the picture? You would not want get off of the boardwalk to get it as the mud temperature is well over 100 degrees.

The heat of the ground does not bother the bison, as you see lots of hoof prints all around the hot springs in the park.

Last hazy picture of Grand Prismatic Spring. A disappointment for sure. Guess we’ll have to go back!

The next stop on this day trip was the Grand Tetons. What makes this park special is the spiked mountain range with peaks rising to over 13,000 feet. This is considered a “young” range of mountains within the area.

This is the Colter Bay area. There is camping, picnicking, boating, a visitors center and a restaurant. As we saw through every park of the National Parks we visited it was busy. And, like the rest of the day, it was very hazy.

A similar shot below. The photo on the left of Colter Bay is mine. The photo on the right is one I found in the same location on a sunny day. The beauty of the Grand Tetons is you should see the reflection of the mountains in the water. This is something we did not see all day.

There was still snow on the mountain tops that we could just make out through the haze.

In our next top we visited Jenny Lake. There are great hiking trails around here, so we took a small hike around part of the lake. You actually can take a boat tour of this lake and stop on the other side for additional hiking. We did not have time and honestly, we’ll wait for better views next time to take a boat tour.

The sun came out a bit and it had warmed to about 75 in the afternoon, but the haze remained.

The Southern Entrance to Grand Teton at Sunset

We thought this was an appropriate picture, covering up the sign since the haze had covered our view all day. ;)

We stayed in Jackson Hole for one night. I would highly recommend staying at least two nights as it just was not enough time. At this time of year, it was mega expensive and very crowded. We found it to be a cute little town that we’d like to explore some more at some point. Perhaps in the off season.

These elk antler arches were on all 4 corners of the town square. Perfect Insta moment for sure.

We loved walking around the square, that was a combination of old buildings with modern shops.

We then took a drive to Teton Village; about 15 minutes away. Teton Village is a ski resort, smaller than many of Colorado or Park City. If we come back I would probably stay somewhere here. It was beautiful with a lot of open restaurants right in the Village.

Steve saying “why in the heck did we not stay here?” We’ll just have to come back!

After a great dinner in town that evening we drove back to the park at sunset. The next morning we headed home.

Our trusty Yukon drove 3,000 miles across 5 states (6 if you count dinner in Montana) in just under two weeks. Like all trips we take, we felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to venture out. We look forward to another trip sometime!