Friday, September 18, 2015

Grand Teton Part 1: Chillin' at Colter Bay

Yes, chillin'...as in low 40's during the day with light rain and grey skies accentuating every bit of color starting to pop as the temperatures drop. It may not actually be autumn quite yet, but in Grand Teton National Park is certainly feels like it!

We've spent the past few nights at Colter Bay Village RV Park, making little forays into the northern half of the park when weather permits, catching up on little things inside the RV when we feel the need to cozy up to the warmth that our full hookups offer.


Knowing that the weather was about to turn, we hiked Two Ocean Lake trail the afternoon we arrived at Grand Teton NP.
This is an easy 6.5 mile loop that had some lovely, early fall color.


Glowing Trumpeter Swan.

Color splashed the hillsides and meadows, elk bugled in the distance and the air was crisp...fall has arrived.

Cricket?


I love rainbow trees!

Mt Moran looms mysteriously in a light rain.

Snake River.

Jackson Lake was about 100 yards from our RV.

The entire beach consists of various sizes of these beautiful rocks.

We saw our first live porcupine on the beach at Jackson Lake!



We hiked a nice three mile loop right from our RV, through dripping green forest, along Jackson Lake, with lots of wildlife viewing opportunities.



With everything damp, the colors popped everywhere.

Each day we had different views of the mountains across the lakes.

This bald eagle seemed to pose just for me at String Lake.

The creek flowing into Jenny Lake with its first blush of fall color.

After a day of off and on light rain the clouds lifted just a bit off the Tetons giving us a hint of what lay underneath.

Campground Review

Colter Bay Village RV Park is the only full hookup RV park in Grand Teton National Park. Sites are gravel/dirt in pull through rows in a lodgepole forest. We had one of the best sites in the park, O-108, situated so we had a slice of Jackson Lake view and a direct path to the lake about 100 yards away.

Satellite service is very difficult here due to all the trees, but we were lucky to have a tiny slice of southern sky and get ours to connect. We had 4G Verizon signal using our booster. Though still quite busy, the park was quiet at night and wildlife walked through regularly.

This campground closes at the end of September and parts of the dry camping section had already closed during our stay. Attendance seemed to diminish daily at this time of year.

That's our Montana in site O-108, with only one rig between us and the path to the lake...
though it's easy to see our neighbor was not blocking our view. 

The path to the lake directly across from our site.
The mountains are hiding behind a bank of clouds.

We saw two foxes walking through the campground in the middle of the day.

Though a little skittish, they weren't too concerned about the watchers.




Today, under clearing skies, we head to the southern end of Grand Teton National Park and perhaps full views of the Grand Teton range...fingers crossed!

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful colors, I wish we would have had the time to see the Tetons on our trip but the smoke wasn't helping either. What a great place to stay to see it all. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope your weather improves. We were there last year at about the same time in September and it was in the 70s during the day. If you get a chance I think you would like the hike to Garnet Canyon.
    What did Rosie think about the fox out her window?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rosie has been entranced by the wildlife! Perhaps moose at the next stop...

      Delete
  3. We were at Colter Bay at that time of year in 2009 and I loved it! Though I didn't get to see porcupine and fox, how lucky you were. Lots of little hiking paths there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Once again...a beautiful post Lisa. Just full of all the things I love...especially the wildlife. You certainly captured a nice variety! Love the last picture of the fox. And the picture of the creek flowing into Jenny Lake is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice post. Pictures of the foliage, scenery and wildlife much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are getting some nice colour! Still all green here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow Lisa these are great pictures. How did you get that fabulous site? Hope it wasn't just luck. Love the picture of Hans against the color and those fox and eagle and porcupine shots, just terrific. What a beautiful view you have so close by. I loved Gros Ventre campground but I can see now that I need to try Colter Bay as well. Thanks for showing me what I missed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh those fall colors! The next few weeks are going to be amazing!
    Nina

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good job on getting satellite in that site! It's a beautiful area. I like the lichens on the rock. It's damp here, we're finding them on the RV. Those fox pictures are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Steve is jealous with your Porcupine sighting! We are still on the lookout, and my you have an array of wildlife! that Fox is handsome as is the Bald Eagle.
    Air is crisp here in CO and leaves are turning gold as well.
    We will note this campground,the Tetons could be in our route next year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Brrrrrrrr! That's a beautiful campsite.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those fall colors are gorgeous and nice captures of great wildlife. The fox is particularly handsome. Hope the weather improves so you can enjoy. Careful... winter is coming and that snow can accumulate fast.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gee, I recognize this weather!! Your fall colors are magnificent! We've never seen a live porcupine...so cute. But the fox is so beautiful. I'd love to pet that tail.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The fall colors are gorgeous -- and how cool that you saw a porcupine! We've never seen one in the wild. It's amazing how quickly winter comes to the high mountains. Time to head south?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Brrrrr.... What great wildlife sightings. We've run into similarly habituated foxes in Idaho. Such beautiful animals. I think Honey is part fox.

    ReplyDelete