Eventually we got on the road around 9 am. Driving through the western part of Idaho and into Wyoming didn’t seemed a lot like our trip as we left the Rockies a couple weeks prior. That all makes sense considering it’s the foothills of the western side of the Rockies. Wyoming was the 13th state on our trip.
We entered through the south entrance of Grand Teton National Park and planned to either set up camp at Jenny Lake immediately or do some hiking and sight-seeing through the park and camp at some other campsite.
The biggest thing I can remember from this park is the stunning backdrop of the Teton Mountains against green fields and blue lakes.
Camping in Grand Teton is on a first-come, first-serve basis. We had a feeling that getting into the park around 2 or 3 pm would mean that some sites and campgrounds might be full, but we had the fact that we were camping on a Monday night on our side. We thought it wouldn’t be too busy.
When we got the park, we saw that Jenny Lake campground was full, but at least four others were still open. The decision was to drive through the park, make our way north, and stop at the first open campground.
This is were things started going bad.
As we made our way through a very beautiful park, we stopped at the first campground only to notice that it was full (it was originally open). So onto the next campground we went.
When we got to that campground, the same thing happened (it was originally open). So onto the next campground we went. By the third time this happened, we were starting to get pretty anxious and nervous.
We tried calling campground that can be reserved in Yellowstone, but there weren’t any available that night. Things were starting to get tricky and sight-seeing took a backseat to finding a place to camp that night. Our travels took us all the way to the northern end of the park. There, we saw the Flagg Ranch lodge and campground. It was about 5 or 5:30 pm at the point. Only one site was available. It was an RV site and $76 for the night. None of us really wanted to spend that money on the site, but we were also getting desperate.
The group decided to pass on the site and try our luck in either Yellowstone or a national forest campground outside either national park.
But as our dejected faces were leaving the site registration, we ran into another couple with a similar disposition. Curious, we asked what they were up to. Apparently, they were in Yellowstone all day, driving south, and hoping to find a first-come, first-serve campground in that national park. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t find anything and had to leave Yellowstone into Grand Teton. That basically told us that we wouldn’t have any luck finding a site in Yellowstone.
Our next plan was to leave the park and finding a site in a national forest (this could mean up to another hour or two of driving). The other couple had similar ideas.
That’s when I tossed out the idea of sharing the one remaining site in Grand Teton. They were a very chill couple and agreed. A few minutes later, all six of us were setting up camp. A sigh of relief on everybody’s face.
By about 6, we figured we had time for one small hike. There was one near our campground, and we drove over there.
Now, here’s where things went from bad (no campground!) to good (we found one!) to really bad. On our trip into the park, we went through some construction where they were laying down gravel. A work truck plowed through on the opposite side and shot a rock up to our windshield. A quick inspection showed no damage. However, as we were going over some bumps on a back road to this hiking trail, a foot-long crack appeared on the windshield. With this being a rental, we knew that this fix needed to happen as soon as possible. The only problem with trying to get car issues fixed in national parks is the fact that there isn’t any service or strong wifi.
Cara and I had to drive ten miles in the park before finding a bar or two of service. An hour of researching places to get things fixed and making calls later, it was almost 7:30 pm, and we were beat. We did have a plan, though. Get to Mount Rushmore in the early afternoon on Wednesday in order for Safelite to meet us and fix it up.
Before leaving Jackson Lake, which is where we had to stop for cell service, I snagged this photo.
It’s one of the only photos I took on such a rough day intertwined with beauty. By the end of the day, we were thankful for a place to stay. It was also a place that had showers. We all fell asleep fairly early that night.
Tuesday’s gameplan was to get up early (hopefully on the road by 7 am) so we could get to Yellowstone and get a campsite. If we could do that early enough and secure a site, we could spend the rest of the day driving around the park, doing hikes, and taking in the scenery.
That is exactly what happened on Tuesday. It was a much less anxiety-filled day. But that is a story for another post.
No comments:
Post a Comment