Grand Teton National Park

We thoroughly enjoyed our memorable two week stay in the quiet Gros Ventre Campground of Grand Teton National Park.  Because the campground is located way out in the National Park, Internet connections there were very slow, so loading up photos to the blog didn't work.  Here now is a photo intensive recap of our amazing time, filled with majestic mountain scenery and lots of relaxed auto hiking journeys.

Entering the Grand Teton National Park, located on the northern side of Jackson, Wyoming, you are greeted with sweeping views of the Teton Mountain Range.

Our quiet campsite in Gros Ventre Campground was just barely long enough to fit our motorhome.  No hookups in this site meant we had to be conservative with water and battery power.  Thankfully the campground had a central fresh water fill, dump site and generous generator hours.  We made do just fine.

Little Boy had a ball! I'm sure this was his most favorite campground of all.  He went hiking and exploring everyday around our campsite.

My morning walks throughout the campground were quite scenic too.

We just had to make the drive, in the Jeep of course, up over Teton Pass.  We did see trucks and a couple of motorhomes on the road but we passed on coming into Jackson using this route.

The top of the Pass offers great views of Jackson, WY.

Going up that steep road is not for our motorhome.  We used an alternate route to arrive to Jackson and Grand Teton National Park.

Jackson was filled with interesting sights, sounds, great food, breweries and lots and lots of tourists.  We just joined right on in...

We made lots of day trips out to explore the auto-accessible natural areas of Grand Teton National Park.  There is a lot to do here from hiking to biking..boating, wildlife viewing, museums.. so many choices.  We seem to enjoy auto-hiking best.  Ronnie would seek out Forest Service Roads, we would explore them.  Of course the main roads throughout the Park are also filled with incredible views of the Teton Mountain Range.

As seen one afternoon from the Gros Ventre Campground Road.

Mountain wildflowers were glorious after the wet winter and spring.

Views of Jenny Lake.

Views of the Snake River as it winds its way through Grand Teton National Park.

So many roadside pullouts to choose from and each one comes with unbelievable views of the Teton Mountain Range.

More Later
from our Jackson Hole Aerial Tramway experience up to Rendezvous Mountain and of course more scenic Grand Teton photos.

Grand Junction, CO: Part Two

We discovered the small town of Palisade.  It's located about 15 miles eastward of Grand Junction by way of Interstate 70.  Here we found several delightful wineries with their acres of vineyards, miles of peach orchards (although no ripe fruit, we're too early in the season) and a quaint, inviting downtown.  We checked out the art galleries, took a drive on the scenic Fruit and Wine Byway and had a nice bottle of wine at the Colterris Winery.

 

Actually, we made more than one trip back to Palisade.  We visited the Carlson Winery with its down home relaxed atmosphere. Of course I loved the cats that strolled their grounds.  We also found the Restoration Winery, the newest one in Palisade, wonderfully unique with the old Mercedes Benz cars used as a distinguishing characteristic.




We also made a day trip up to the Grand Mesa, the world's largest flat-topped mountain.  The 63 mile Grand Mesa Scenic Byway drive took us from a desert ecosystem up through some of the most beautiful aspen and alpine forests.  We were so surprised to see so much snow!  All of the side roads were still closed.  The two most scenic side roads, Land-O-Lakes and Land's End were covered in snow and of course, closed.  By the appearance of the deep snow drifts, it may be awhile before they are plowed and opened.

The Scenic Byway slowly gains altitude.  We will eventually be just over 10,000 feet above sea level.

The sky was filled with puffy cumulus clouds this day.

There were pull offs to see the valley area below.

And no guard rails in some places..

The higher we traveled, the more snow pack we found.

We saw several lakes still frozen over.

The Grand Mesa Visitor Center.

We brought our lunch and enjoyed it in the Jeep as we looked out over this frozen lake.  All of these vacation homes, located on the other side of the lake, had high snow drifts and the few people we saw were using snowmobiles to get to their homes.

As we traveled back down the Grand Mesa, we noticed many of the aspen groves had not even budded.  We made the long trip around back to Grand Junction on Hwy 50.  This drive took us through the town of Cedaredge.

So long Grand Junction.
More Later from the Grand Teton National Park.

Grand Junction, CO: Part One

Our next stop, the city of Grand Junction, was welcomed relief.  The warm sun and moderate temperatures were what we had in mind.  We found a lot to explore here too.  The shaded city center lined with shops, restaurants and art, Colorado National Monument, Fruita, the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway and the wine country of Palisade were all on our list to check out. Of course we needed more than a week's stay to see all we wanted.  This is Part One: exploring Grand Junction and the Colorado National Monument.

The city center of Grand Junction is a wonderful place to view outdoor art.  With over 100 different sculptures scattered about, one can be found on almost every street corner.

Grand Junction's downtown sculpture collection, called Art On The Corner, was initiated in 1984 by a local sculptor Dave Davis. Consisting of permanent and temporary outdoor art exhibits, this 35 year old program was one of the first in the country. 

A trip to the Colorado National Monument was first on the list when we arrived to Grand Junction.  Established in 1911, this area of high counrty rises over 2,000 feet above Grand Junction.  Amazingly, the Rim Rock Drive was completed in 1932 by the Civilian Conversation Corps.  Stopping by the Visitor Center, we saw interesting old photographs of the road's construction.

We began our 23 mile climb on the eastern side of the Park.  The red rock formations reminded me a lot of Sedona's landscape.

We made the drive twice.  Once we arrived to the western side, we just turned around and drove the road in the opposite direction.  You get a different perspective each way.

The highway goes right through this split in the rock!

There are lots of overlooks with views of the marvelous rock formations and grand valleys below.

I think these formations were called the "Coke Ovens" because of their appearance.

Monument Canyon View

Independence Monument View

This particular rock formation, the Independence Monument, is a highlight of the Park. It stands 450 feet high.

Wait, do we see rock climbers on the top??

Yes..What a feat to climb to the top of that rock!

Due to all the spring rains, this area was filled with a variety of wildflowers.

The Grand View Overlook offers a spectacular view of the immense valley and the city of Grand Junction.

If you look closely, you can see Interstate 70. 

There were a couple cloudy days where the views were not as clear.  We decided to make the Rim Rock Drive a third time since the National Monument wasn't as crowed.  As we continued on westward towards Fruita, we passed by the Dinosaur Hill Trail head.  We pulled in and made this one hour easy walk which traveled through a barren, hilly landscape.  The information plaques tell us this is also called "Riggs Hill".  In 1901, paleontologist Elmer Riggs found the fossiled bones of a giant Brachiosaurus.  The trail lead us to the cave used for the excavation of the bones and a bronze plaque signifying the event. 

More later
 from our time in Grand Junction.