Cascade Canyon. It was a destination for every Grand Teton trip, but a destination that was never reached. Most years, the shuttle across Jenny Lake had closed down for the season and the extra 4 miles made the hike up Cascade Canyon beyond reach. Two years ago, the shuttle was still running, but the fires across the crest in Idaho filled the sky with smoke. There was no use in putting forth the effort to hike up the canyon if we couldn't enjoy the view. Today, we finally reached the destination.
We slept in until 7:30 to try to conserve energy for our hike up Cascade Canyon. We shot briefly just below
our campsite on Jackson Lake and then drove over to Oxbow Bend. We
soon discovered we had missed two female moose and a calf swimming
across the river and a bull moose standing off shore in the river.
We really need to sleep in on some days, but the fear is that
it will be the day that something incredible happens in your
absence. Oxbow Bend was still absolutely calm, and the aspens
surrounding the river were at their peak. It was a warm sunny
day, but there wasn't anything that really made it special...until
the grizzly bear suddenly appeared on the sand spit in the river
and then swam across the river. I was caught unprepared with
nothing but wide angle lenses. Carol, however, had her long lens
and got a great shot at the bear.
The next stop was Elk Ranch Flats.
Carol missed shooting the horses in front of the Tetons yesterday,
so we we were hoping the bison or horses would be in the meadow
beside the highway. When we reached the parking area, the horses
were even closer to the highway than yesterday. The paints were
still my favorite and posed in front of the Tetons to make for
some great photos.
We returned to camp and got ready for our hike to Cascade Canyon. When we arrived at Jenny Lake, the
parking lot was packed. Obviously, we weren't the only ones wanting
to take advantage of the warm clear weather to hike the canyon.
It only took five minutes to take the shuttle across Jenny Lake,
but it saved us two miles of hiking each way. As
we approached the boat dock on the other side of Jenny Lake,
we saw a bald eagle at the top of a dead lodgepole pine. We didn't
have the right lenses to shoot the eagle from the boat, but at
least we got to see it. From the boat dock, we hiked to Hidden
Falls and then to Inspiration Point. We saw a pika on the way
to Inspiration Point and a moose just above Inspiration Point.
Otherwise, the hike up Cascade Canyon was a little disappointing.
Other than Inspiration Point and the view across Jenny Lake,
most of the hike up the canyon was in forest and didn't really
provide any exciting views. We caught the 3:45 shuttle boat back
to the other side of Jenny Lake and struggled back to the car.
We were beat!
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Our evening was grilled steaks, watching the Presidential debate, and enjoying showers.
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