The Melancholy of The Grand Tetons
This trip was originally supposed to take place in Telluride, Colorado. Instead, last minute changes gave us the freedom to choose where we spent the next four days. I’ve always wanted to see the Great Tetons, to bask in their looming glory, to soak up the intense grandeur the park offers.
I had spent the weekend in Buena Vista at an off-roading event, enjoying all the adventure and camaraderie, so our trip was a little longer than anticipated as we set off around lunch time for Wyoming.
We stopped in a beautifully remote campground outside of Steamboat Springs. I’m convinced one of my magic life skills is finding incredible, remote, free, campsites. Hit me up for tips.
No matter how tired I was as we arrived, it was all whisked away as I saw the ever-stretching desert before me.
“Guess what?? We’re in the desert!!” I exclaimed more than a dozen times in the time it took us to set up a too-big tent and watch the sun dip lower and lower in the sky. I said goodbye to el sol as the pinks and oranges of the dusk sky began to peek out.
Morning in the desert is a stillness that’s completely indescribable. Nothing stirs, not the wind, not the mosquitos, nothing. As we packed up for our final short journey to the Grand Teton National Park, I threw together berry oatmeal and slightly less than perfect camp coffee.
Oats and coffee taste a hundred times better in the chill of early mornings at camp.
Driving into the park, we pulled over every few miles to take in what views we could. The smoke shrouded the Tetons in a gloomy grey. Regardless, they were worth trying to capture as they peaked out.
One of my favorite places was the shore of Jenny Lake. The crystal clear water was just the right chilled contrast to the last warm days of summer. I highly recommend visiting the park during the slower weekdays as we had the beach mostly to ourselves as we took a long afternoon dip.
We woke up early the next morning to capture the sun as it rose over Snake Bend. Although the fog covered the mountains, the early morning chill was well worth it.
I was enamored with the bison rolling in the dust. They didn’t mind the attention from passerby’s as we laughed and documented their play.
The last day in the park brought immense sadness as we drove to the edge of Jackson Lake. Being the end of the season and an incredibly hot summer, there was little water left. I got out of the car and sat on the shoulder of the busy road and took in the hazy reminder of our destruction.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as my heart broke for the constant stress and destruction we cause the natural world around us. The world that sustains us. It was oddly melancholy, feeling joy to be in the natural world but sorrow for the desert that now crept over the lake.
I thanked Madre Tierra for her love and kindness, even as we lack empathy towards her.
On the way back into camp, we stopped at the southern entrance one last time. The smoke had cleared substantially, allowing the Grand Tetons to stand tall and proud.
As we packed up camp the next morning, I stumbled upon a massive grove of wild mushrooms. Stoked to finally live out my foraging dreams, I collected as many as I could fit into the old camp pot my grandpa had gifted me.
To be honest, I’m still not sure if they were poisonous or not.
I’m thankful for the majesty of the Grand Tetons and the earth that continues to sustain us.
Head out to the Grand Tetons to experience the beauty and glory that the world shows us. Leave No Trace and love Madre Tierra deeply.
Have you visited The Grand Tetons? Let me know in the comments!
