Hike Info : Description Extra Photo's : Animals
Trail head:Gros Ventre Campground
COOOOLD! Sherri says it's 37. I wake up after 6 and see no lightning in my area of the Sierra (we are in the Grand Teton). I am glad there is none both from the standpoint of the forest-two fires have broken out-and I. was wondering how I was going to do it in the cold.
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| Andrea-Brithday |
I stay in my sleeping bag for another 45 minutes after looking at the lightning activity until my body says to get up. After I take care of my body, I start repacking the car-this seems like almost a daily occurance. But today we are moving from Gros Ventre to Colter Bay this morning. Sherri gets up shortly afterwards. We finished breaking down camp, then headed over to Andrea and Lawrence’s place.
It is Andrea's Birthday today! Happy Birthday Andrea. This is the big reason why Sherri and I came up here (also this is an area we wanted to see.) French toast for breakfast. Then we finished packing their campsite. It is a little after 10 when we leave.
We talked about the route up
to Colter
Bay.
There is the straightforward route of going back to Highway 26 and
following that. Or we can go the more rural route. This consists of
going further east up Gros Ventre Rd and swinging around the Mormon
Row/Mouton Barn area.
That is our way. We talked about going towards Lower
Slide Lake.
There was a recommendation for it in a book I have been looking at,
but there is the issue of getting Samwise, the trailer, up it, so we
decided not to.
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| Turnout at border of the National Forest |
We take off with Samwise in the lead. The mountains to the west. including the Grand Teton is stunning to look at. I signal for Lawrence to pull over at a turnout. Many pictures are taken. Andrea and Sherri notice several cars have turned up the road to Lower Slide Lake. So maybe there is something up there. We clear room in our car and leave Samwise and Lawrence's Subaru at the turn out.
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When we get on the road up to Lower Slide Lake, we understand the attraction. It is a spectacular drive. The Gros Ventre River has cut a channel through the mountains. So we rise up pretty good-the first part of the drive is on pavement, which quickly changes to dirt, but pretty well graded. But the real eye-catcher is the trees with its greens turning to yellow colors. It is worthwhile traveling up the road just for that.
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| Lower Slide Lake |
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| Pronghorn Antelope |
We return back to SamWise, all secure and ready to go. Our next stop is the Moulton Barns, or sometimes on the maps called the Mormon Bar area. But before we get there, Sherri spots a pronghorn antelope. We are able to stop and watch-but Andrea and Lawrence missed it.
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| Moulton Barn in front of the Tetons |
There is a settlement to the south of the road, but we walk over to the ones on the northside. Not only are there the two barns, but also some housing. These buildings look newer than the Cunningham cabin we saw yesterday. My guess is that these were working farms until a little while ago. Particularly when there is electrical wire on the inside of the building. I do not think I do these barns justice. They are an interesting contrast with the Tetons in back, the flat valley surrounding them and the image of human presence and drive to tame where he is. We look around and wonder.
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| View of Mount Moran from OxBow Bend |
Back at the vehicles, we have a quick lunch. Afterwards we head to Highway 29 and go north. We make a stop: Oxbow Bend. This is the site of a famous Ansel Adams picture. He took his in the early morning light and now it is early afternoon, so there will not be the shadows which makes his images so startling. Mine will be more flat with less depth. Still it is a beautiful point to see the Snake River pointing at the Tetons.
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| Gary at rest |
We pile into our cars and go
to our campsite at Colter Bay. Andrea has reserved the site, so we
just go in without a problem. We set up our tent while SamWise is
opened up and got ready for our stay. The campsite is pretty flat
with grasses behind our tent. Separating us from the camps on each
site are some trees. So while not isolated, we do feel a measure of
privacy. It also helps that throughout our three night stay our
neighbors are quiet.
Andrea and I set out hammocks and take an hour’s rest in them. Apparently Lawrence has much more energy as he walks to the village on a mission of reconnaissance. When he comes back, he reports on the laundry and shower situation.
We have dinner, then get our clothing ready to be washed. We decided that we would hit the showers first thing in the morning. While the clothes are being washed, we scarf up the Wifi. That is one thing our campsite lacks or maybe it is a blessing-cell phone connection. So we take advantage of the airwaves while we wait.
After we get back, I separate and fold our clothes, while others get our camp ready for the night. We go to bed, snuggle down and fall asleep soon afterwards.
Extra Photo's
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| The Wedding Tree |
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| View from the Wedding Tree |
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| Andrea and Lawrence looking for a new scene at the Wedding Tree |
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| Turnout at the National Forest border-across the fence is private property |
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| Turnout where we left Samwise |
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| Lawrence, Andrea, Sherri and Gary at the turnout |
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| Morning shot of Mount Moran |
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| Lower Slide Lake |
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| Lower Slide Lake |
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| Moulton Barn with the Tetons in the background |
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| Moulton Barn with the Tetons in the background |
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| View of Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend |
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| View of Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend |
Animals
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| Pronghorn Antelope |
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| Our camp dear at Colter Bay Campground |
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