Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range.To get great views of the mountains we drove to the top of Signal Mountain.  Signal Mountain is an isolated summit standing 7,720 feet above sea level with sweeping views of the Teton Range, much of the northern Jackson Hole area as well as the Snake River.

Grand Teton National Park is an awe-inspiring mountain range stretching some 50-miles in length.  With beautiful peaks high overlooking the valley an great variety of wildflowers and wildlife its a wonderful place to visit.

Besides Grand Teton, the other most recognizable mountain in the park is Mt. Moran. This mountain is 12,605 feet in height and has a distinctive flat top, quite different from most other mountains in the range.

From the top of Signal Mountain we had great views from the top north over the Snake River. 

You will also see the Teton Range to the west.  Using our binoculars, Kathy and I both observed Elk walking and grazing along the range. 

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you will see I also caught a bald eagle flying near our location.

This is a great example of Jackson Lake a beautiful alpine lake with crystal clear water, undisturbed shorelines and great surrounding flora.

One of the many comments made by park visitors is that the mountains seem to grow right out of the lakes as evident in this photo. 

The Cathedral Group

The easiest way to view the Cathedral Group is to visit the Cathedral Group Turnout, just north of Jenny Lake.

Rising above their surroundings, the pyramid peaks of the Cathedral Group of Grand Teton National Park contains most of the Teton Range’s tallest summits.

“More than any other erosional force, great Ice Age glaciers sculpted this mountain skyline. Today, a dozen glaciers flow from hollows cut by Ice Age giants. Teton Glacier, the largest in the park, lies below and northeast of the Grand Teton.”

“For a glacier to remain a constant size, snowfall at the top must equal melting at the bottom. More snowfall causes a glacier to advance, meaning to grow larger. Less snowfall results in retreat. At any size, to be called a glacier, snow fall compacted into ice must flow under the pull of gravity.”  You can see the glacier directly in the center of this photo.

Teton Village Aerial Tramway

Jackson Hole Aerial Tram is located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and has become an iconic symbol of the town. Located at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, it takes people to the top of Rendezvous Mountain.

It can hold up to 100 people plus an operator.  Kathy thought the ride was smooth except when the tram traveled over the five support stanchions.  The car drops for just a moment.  Kind of makes you think?

This is what flying feels like. In 9 minutes, the Aerial Tram glides 4,139 vertical feet from the base of Teton Village to the top of Rendezvous Mountain. 

 

Kathy was a little reluctant about taking this tram all the way up to the 10,450 ft elevation but did it anyway. Proof to follow.... 

Take a jacket - it's cold up there.  As if the stunning views on the way up aren't cool enough, there is a cabin at the summit (Corbet's Cabin) that serves three different kinds of delicious waffles, hot chocolate, and some other snacks.  Kathy opted for the hot chocolate while I devoured an ice cream bar. 

The first tram started operation on July 31, 1966, while the current tram started operation on December 20, 2008. The current tram is 12,463 feet in length. Starting at an elevation of 6,311 feet, it takes passengers up to an elevation of 10,450 feet in approximately nine minutes.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's the proof!  

With snow still around we were limited to the Top of the World walk, but the whole view was breathtaking. To the north is the Grand Teton, and the south the Wind River range.

 The summit offers a staggering 360-degree view of the Snake River Valley, Grand Teton National Park and the Gros Ventre Range in the distance.

Here we are starting our descent. Since our visit was in early June, we did not have to wait in any lines. Although I thought the price was a little expensive, I hear you can get discounts in local advertisements but the trip up to the top of the mountain was well worth our time and effort. 

You can see several dwellings along the road on the way down the mountain.  

Back at the bottom, we decided to check out the cabling, left of Kathy's hand.   Do not miss this attraction! Bring a camera and get ready for a fantastic time.

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

Indian Tunnel Cave Tour 

Explore a lava tube cave with a Ranger. A paved trail leads through seas of lava. At the end of the trail descend into the strange underground world of a lava tube. Tours begin at 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Daily.   

The park was one of the best maintained parks we have visited.  From newly paved roads to great walking paths as you see in this photo, a lot of U.S. dollars were spent updating this facility.  

Our Ranger discussed many features of the park as we walked along our path to Indian Tunnel.  

At Craters of the Moon, structures representing both inflation and deflation of the lava surface can be seen along with hot and cold collapses of the roofs of lava tubes.  This photo depicts what is call a cold collapse. 

A stairway provides easy entry to Indian Tunnel.  The size of the tube (30' high, 50' wide and 800' long) allows you to walk around but be on the lookout because you can trip easily.

Collapses in the ceiling allow sunlight to enter so a flashlight is not needed to travel in most of the cave. 

On the ceiling of the tube you can see lava stalactites formed as the river of lava pulled away from the ceiling, and molten material began to drip from the hot ceiling.

You can see in this photo, its easy to trip with all the debris on the floor surface. 

If you are willing to scramble over a large pile and climb through a small opening, you can exit this cave at the far end.

Here you can see visitors climbing to exit the tunnel.

At last, I make it out of the tunnel.  

Follow the rock cairns with posts across the lava to return to the paved trail.

North Crater Trail Hike

Here I am at the North Crater Trail head.  This trail is especially interesting for its variety.

The trail leaves directly from the parking lot and mostly over cinders with a short amount of paving at the far end.

The trail traverses North Crater and drops into the crater's mouth.

An eruption tore the wall apart, and a series of lava flows rafted the fragments away.

Kathy found an interesting tree root and decided it would be a great photo op.

The trail continues to the rim of Big Crater.  This Crater was so huge that I had to take several photos to show the entire Crater.

This shows the middle section of the Crater.

Here's a photo of the walking trail along the ridge of the Crater.

This photo shows a side to side picture of the Crater.

While walking, we met a group of geologists from Indiana University. 

The trail is an out and back with a fair amount of climbing and descending throughout the hike. The hike could be a one way if you can arrange for a ride at the Spatter Cones parking lot.  We decided to leave our bikes at the Spatter Cones parking lot and ride the bikes back to the campground. 

Wilderness Trail Hike 

The Wilderness Trail begins at the Tree Molds parking lot.  You walk about .8 miles to the intersection of the Broken Top Loop and the start of the Wilderness Trail. 

This lava field is the largest of several large beds of lava that erupted from the 53-mile south-east to north-west trending Great Rift volcanic zone.

The trail continues past Big Cinder Butte, which rises 700 feet above you.  

Here's the marker showing where the lava trees are located.

The trees were incinerated but as some of them burned they released enough water to cool the lava to form a cast.

Dense shrubs and uneven lava make the going slow and sometimes unpleasant. Wear long pants for bush whacking or your legs will get shredded!

A plant commonly seen on the lava field is the dwarf buckwheat,  a flowering plant 4 inches tall with a root system 3 feet wide. The root system monopolizes soil moisture in its immediate area, resulting in individual plants that are evenly spaced.

The Wilderness Trail hike is 8-miles long however, we decided to hike back following the Broken Top Loop Trail which added another mile to our total hike.  

Balanced Rock - near Castleford-Buhl Idaho

I have to give the credit to seeing Balanced Rock to my Mother-in-law Beverly, who mentioned it to Kathy.   She noticed it in her Atlas and suggested we stop by for a visit.  

 It was an easy thirty minute drive from Twin Falls, ID on old Highway 74 which took us first near Castleford and Buhl. The drive was quite pretty and took us through lots of farm land.  We could not believe how many huge dairy farms we noticed along our route.

  We eventually descended into a canyon that was eerily reminiscent of Bryce Canyon in Utah with it's perpendicular rock formations. We drove along the base of the canyon for less than half a minute, stopped by Balanced Rock State Park, then drove back up out of the canyon to see the Balanced Rock right above us to the right.

We actually thought Balanced Rock was located at the Park but that was not the case.  Had we took a little more time to look at the sign to the bottom right of this photo, we would have known we had to continue another half-mile to Balanced Rock.

Balanced Rock Park may be the narrowest park we have ever seen, with a mere sliver of lawn and a small stream squeezed between the towering walls of the canyon. 

The park boasts a picnic shelter, playground equipment, and restrooms with a canyon view that was quite spectacular.

Every state has it's quirky landmarks, and here in Idaho in addition to it's "famous potatoes" it is Balanced Rock. 

At the base of Balanced Rock is a little picnic shelter, a small parking area large enough to hold half dozen cars, and several unimproved trails leading directly up the hill. We decided to climb up to the rock which only took about five minutes. It wasn't until we reached the base of Balanced Rock, that we realized how huge it actually was.

Balanced Rock is absolutely impossible to miss. It is perched on the edge of the Canyon's rim.  It stands 48 feet tall balanced on a stone 19 inches x 39 inches.

I can tell you that this is the closet Kathy gets to the edge of anything.  I think she is telling me she can push the rock off the base.  It's an amazingly geographical anomaly, and one that has you wondering how it has not managed to fall over after some 20,000 years.

Thanks Mom. It was worth the trip!