Betty

Grand Teton National Park – Day 3 – Boats to Bulls

Map of Jenny Lake, shuttle boat path and hiking trails

So, here’s the plan.

We are going to arrive early and take the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake. Then we are going to hike to Hidden Falls and after that, we are going to continue on to Inspiration Point.

We’ll come back down after being inspired, hike 10 minutes or so into Cascade Canyon just to see what it is like. Then, rather than take the boat back, we’ll hike along the lower trail alongside Jenny Lake back to the boat dock area. After that, we’ll go back to the camper for lunch. One problem. We forgot that we aren’t 20 years old anymore.

But, while we aren’t 20, we are still hardy and mostly stubborn, and we did accomplish most of our plan.

Jenny Lake shuttle boat filled with people ready to cross the lake.

We arrived early, purchased our one way tickets with morning optimism, and easily made it onto the Jenny Lake shuttle boat.

It was a beautiful morning for a glide across the lake. There were some young men on our boat with climbing equipment. Now that would be an adventure!

When we arrived at the other side of the lake, we both looked up and saw some tiny people who were way up on the mountain. Dan said, “We are not going way up there.” It did look pretty far away and really high up. I was pretty sure “up there” was “Inspiration Point” which was exactly where we were headed, but I didn’t say a word.

We just started hiking, following others along the path. It was a crisp and sunny morning. The scenery was beautiful, and we made it to Hidden Falls in good time.

Hidden Falls
Betty and Dan standing on bridge at Hidden Falls.

We continued on the path, making our way to Inspiration Point. The closer we got to our destination, the steeper and more rocky the path became. I thought of how we hiked up to Diamond Head when we were in Hawaii back in 2018. Back then and on this day, I thought the same thing. If I don’t hike this now, I may never.

Rocky path going up to Inspiration Point. Jenny Lake is in the background.
Are we almost there?
Betty and Dan standing at Inspiration Point.
We made it!
Inspiration Point Elevation 7200 Feet
People on a bridge over Hidden Falls
Photo credit
Dan Chambers

What goes up, must come down, and it certainly wasn’t any easier going down on that steep part. But we made it back down, through the beautiful forest and past the Hidden Falls once again.

We decided to pass on our tour guide’s recommendation to hike just a bit into Cascade Canyon. It was a nice idea, but this had been a challenging hike.

In fact, we wondered if there was any way on this earth we could take the shuttle back across the lake, rather than take the trail alongside the lake. When we got to the boat dock, Dan asked the ferry worker. Sure, just pay for a one way trip when you get to the other side.

Betty and Dan on shuttle boat going back.
So Glad to be on the Boat Back!

It turns out about one third of the passengers on the boat back did the exact same thing! I think our optimism cost us about $14, as the round trip ticket gives a discount. Oh well. The only thing I have to say is the hike on the map sure looked a lot shorter and easier. Check out the feature photo to see if you don’t agree.

Back at the camper, we rested a little before heading to Jackson Hole. We walked around Jackson Hole a bit and found a nice spot to play a few games of Scrabble. The nice thing about Scrabble is that you get to sit down while you play.

After a couple games, we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we walked to get ice cream where we paid about $25 for two ice creams. Dan had a chocolate sundae, and I had two scoops on a waffle cone. Later on our trip, a tour guide described Jackson Hole as the place where the billionaires were kicking out the millionaires.

After our ice cream, we made our way to the Jackson Hole Rodeo.

Dan and Betty at Jackson Hole Rodeo

We enjoyed the rodeo. We were a bit surprised by the age of some of the bull riders – they were kids! And I mean kids – I think one was ten or eleven years old! We also thought the event where all the kids went down and tried to tag a sheep wasn’t worth the time it took. A lady next to us left. Other than that though, we liked it. I can see attending another rodeo in a bigger city – like Cody.

Here’s a 30 second video I took at the rodeo. Watch the guy go down in the barrel!

We also chose the rodeo for another reason. My cousin, Brian, has a home in Bozeman. It happened that his daughter was getting married later in the week at Jackson Lake Lodge. The only time we could meet up was at the rodeo. Since Dan wanted to see a rodeo anyway, we chose this day so we could visit with Brian – even if for just a bit. It was good to see him, and Best Wishes to the happy couple!

Brian and Betty
Bryan – Still Wearing a St. Louis Cardinals Cap!

After the rodeo, we made it back home to our campsite safely, carefully observing the 45 mph speed limit along the way. While I saw some smaller animals on our way home, thankfully, we didn’t see any elk, bison or bear on or near the road.

Tomorrow though, our last day in Grand Teton National Park, would be a different story.

Opening ceremony at the rodeo. Three horses with people on them holding flags. The U.S. flag is in the middle.

38 comments

    • It was an awesome hike! Getting to Hidden Falls was pretty easy, but the rest… oh my! I am glad I pushed myself to do it though. We did enjoy the rodeo – the only issue – the bleachers did not have backs. Ug! I don’t know if any rodeos have seats with backs, but I would look for this next time. The only other alternative is to sit up at the top – with the fence as your back. Hope you have a great day, too!

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  8. Nice write-up and pictures when we were in the Tetons years ago. We did all the same things! We made it to Inspiration Point and I think we hiked all the way back, but of course we were much younger then. On the way back from the rodeo, I was driving around 10 PM back to our site, and a large elk slooooowly crossed the road in front of us. I was able to stop, but it was both a scary and exciting moment all at the same time!

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    • Good for you guys! I bet the hike back along Jenny Lake was so pretty. Maybe we will go back someday and do that hike and the one a bit into Cascade Canyon – but break it up over a couple of days. One thing we did not see was elk. I would have loved to have seen elk. But not at night on that main road! Thanks for your comment! I am sure you treasure your GTNP memories!

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  17. I thought that was an ambitious itinerary when I was ready it. I was like Wow! Glad you decided to save something for the rest of your trip. We went to a rodeo near Bryce Canyon when we were there. We also saw kids participating. There were 5 years olds wearing padding and helmet riding sheep like they were busting a wild bronco. It was funny, but at the same time I was concerned for their safety. Glad to see you were having a good time.

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    • Well, we didn’t realize it was that ambitious of a plan. It does leave some for next time. Yes, kids participating in rodeos seems very odd to me. The kids we saw were riding bulls. Now, the bulls seemed calmer than usual, but still…. We did enjoy our time at the park and at the rodeo very much. Thanks for reading and your comment!

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