Jenny Lake Twice, and Once Around.

The Grand Tetons viewed from Jenny Lake Trail

Date: July 16, 2020

Place: Grand Teton National Park

Coordinates: 43.751653, -110.725414

Length: 7.7 miles

Level: moderate

My previous post was about the Lake Taggart hike I did with my sister on our road trip to Great Tetons National Park last fall. On the following day my sister and I went hiking at Jenny Lake, one of the biggest highlights in the park. Writing about that hike however, won't be complete without posting about the previous hike I did there with four youth in company, in July of 2020. Although in the same locale, these two hikes were different enough, in the actual trail hiked, in the season and in the overall atmosphere, that each of them merits a separate post. 

Back in July of 2020: 

There are many types of adventures, many types of trip challenges. In the summer of 2020, at the height of the covid fright I embarked on the craziest trip I ever did - in an almost spontaneous manner I took my chikas snd two of their childhood friends whom I felt were as close as my own, and went on a two weeks long, minimally planned long road trip. Crazy in the sense that we had only one general goal - Yellowstone National Park, in the sense that we relied almost completely on camping, without having any site booked ahead other than the first night of the trip, and in the sense that I was the only adult in the group and at that time, the sole driver too. In hind sight, it was probably crazy of me to take such a responsibility upon myself, but I knew well enough all the youth, and I knew I could trust them to be on board with the plan. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't difficult to convince their parents too. In fact, after being cooped up in the houses for so long because of the pandemic, the other parents were ready to push their kids out the door and away from the screens. 

Our trip was quite challenging and eventful, and I won't be describing all details of our escapade in this blog. I will however, post some of our highlight hikes from that trip. Looping around Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park was definitely such a highlight. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The night before the hike, which was our forth camping night in a row, was a tough one: all campgrounds in the Grand Teton area were full, and finding a suitable place for dispersed camping was challenging as well because of the overflow of campers. Eventually we did find a spot which, although not ideal, had nearby potable water and a pit toilet, and enough flat space to set up three small tents. It was late when we were done with everything checked in for the night. To commend the youth for their exemplary behavior I promised them that the following night we'll check into a hotel room. Cheered up with that prospect (me included) we were all ready for  the big hike of today. 

Like most of the tourists who flock to this place, we started at the lake view place behind the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. It was a lovely summer day, all sunny and bright. On any other summer there would probably be many more people there, but it was covid year so we had no problems finding parking. There were other people there, but it wasn't crowded. 

Jenny Lake View

 We started our hike going north, counter-clock direction. We walked at a pretty good pace, but I paused frequently to take photos of wildflowers, which were numerous. 

Aspen Daisy, Erigeron speciosus

Jenny Lake is a highlight for the other park visitors as well. Other hikers walked north and south on the trail but none of them seemed to notice the delicate orchid that was blooming nearby. I of course, had to stop for a photo, and to share the excitement of my finding with the not very concerned youth in my party, as well as with random passers by. 

Western Coralroot Orchid, Corallorhiza mertensiana

The first part of the hike was on paved and very tamed trail segment. There was asphalt and there were even stairs of rock and wheelchair accessible vista points on the lake shore. For many visitors, especially those who are limited in time and want to see much of the park, this would be the only part of the trail they'd walk. 

Mountain Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia

Abut half a mile north of the visitor center the pavement ended and with it, the number of other humans dropped considerably. Along the less trained hiking trail we saw very few other people, and those we did see where mainly sitting by the lake shore where it was accessible from a different part of the Jenny Lake Road. 

Jenny Lake Trail

Past the paved part, the trail continued through long segments that were separated from the lake itself. Whenever there was an opening in the trees however, we got a nice view f Jenny Lake and of the Teton Mountains beyond. 

I was just as focused on the vegetation then as I am now. I did take much fewer photos  on that hike than I usually do. I guess I was more focused on keeping up with the rigorous youth I was hiking with, having to make sure they won't vanish down a choice of the wrong trail junction. 

Twinberry

The kids were good though, and waited for me whenever the reached a trail junction, or whenever I called out to them to wait for me. Perhaps it was all for the best that I didn't end up with many photos of the same thing.  

Serviceberry

More to the north the trail ascended higher over the lake. We were past the accessible vista points and by then we established a good, steady hiking pace, with me brining up the rear. 

Jenny lake Trail

It was a warm day and whenever we had a good view on the lake we used it for a water break. 

Jenny Lake and the Grand Tetons

My first visit to the Grand Teton National Park and jenny Lake was 17 years ago, with Pappa Quail and the chikas when they were a toddler and a baby. We didn't to a big hike all around the lake then. We took the ferry across and hiked to the Hidden Falls and even a little higher up the saddle that's between the Teton Mountains. That trail continues into the Grand Teton Wilderness but we didn't. Looking over at the mountain pass I felt the call of that wild within me again. 

The mountain pass

The trail in the eastern shore of Jenny Lake passed through patches of forest interspaced with sunny forest clearings. There were many wildflowers but it looked like they were past peak bloom in that area. 

Jenny lake Trail

Just as well as I knew the youth in my company they knew me. When they saw something they thought would interest me they'd stop and wait for me to catch up with them. Giant ants certainly fall in this category of things that are interesting to me. 

Giant Ants

Mushrooms are also in my category of interesting sights. In this case, bolete mushrooms. The pine bolete is probably the only wild mushroom I can identify with a 100% assurance as edible. We didn't harvest any on that hike though. 

Mushrooms

Another cool find was an inchworm hanging from its silk thread that the youth in the lead nearly walked into. Inchworms (which aren't worms at all but caterpillars) move around by ballooning on their silk threads, hoping to land in a better spot from where they'd taken off. 

Inchworm

We reached the north end of Jenny Lake and the trail curved west toward the creek that flows into it from String Lake on the north. From an opening in the vegetation we could see roughly the area where we started as well as the mountains southeast of the park. The lake surface was stirred by the wind into multitude of small waves. 

Jenny Lake View

Our heading was now towards the Teton Mountains. There were some snow patches up the mountains but my understanding was that is was pretty low for the season. 202 wasn't only a COVID year but also plagued by droughts and mega wildfires. Here in Grand Teton however, it was easy to forget all that in sight of the green, lush vegetation all around. 

Jenny Lake Trail

The day was heating up. One of the things I promised the youth in my company was a chance to dip in the lake. In my mind I had an image from my visit there 17 years ago of a sunny shore with my elder chika as a toddler wading in the blue. blue lake with the majestic Tetons in the background. I was hoping to find that shore now, the only problem was, I had no memory of in which part of the trail it was. I kept my eyes open to see if any scenery would click in my memory, and meanwhile I was on the lookout for wildflowers as well.

Yerba Santa

There was no wading across the creek to the other side. We followed the trail north, looking for the bridge across.

The trail scenery didn't change much except that now we were seeing behind the trees the creek instead of the lake, and there were more wildflowers to look at.

The youth were getting hot and a bit tired. I started looking for a shaded place to stop for a break. It probably would have been better to do that while being near the lake still, but the creek side was just fine for this purpose.

Exploring the pile of flotsam across the stream

We sat by the creek for a good long while, eating, chatting, and doing some local exploration. I looked at the Teton Mountains knowing we would soon be just below them.

The Grand Tetons

From where we were sitting we could see much more snow, possibly glaciers down the north-facing slope. I took a photo at maximal zoom. On my trip with my Sister last October, the snow cover was bigger.

The Grand Tetons

Back on the main trail we continued north toward the creek-crossing. The forest was left behind and distanced from the creek . There were some charred tree sumps along the way, indicating a past fire that ravaged through this part. 

Lupine

We reached the bridge and took some time to look around and at the water. On my hike with my sister last September, we had come from String lake on the north - a different entry point to the Jenny Lake Hike. 

I paused in the middle of the bridge and looked down at the water. The stream was flowing well, not telling at all of the drought that was going through the west that year.  

On the other side we picked up the trail going south, back towards Jenny Lake. The forest on the east side of the creek was of relatively young trees and many large bushes - probably a later stage of recovery from an earlier fire. 

Jenny Lake Trail

There were plenty of wildflowers on the eastern side of the cree, probably because the area was much more exposed to the sunlight. 

Clover

Some of the plants that were blooming I kinda wished were in fruit stage at the time. Thimbleberries are one of my favorite wild snacks on hikes. On my Jenny Lake hike last September I did get to enjoy these great-tasting bits of nature. 

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus

Other bushes in bloom were not as stimulating to my senses as was the thimbleberry. Even without thinking of supple, red and delicious berries they were pretty to look at.

We reached the place where the creek spilled into Jenny lake. There was enough opening between the trees to get a good look at the lake from this direction. I could barely see the area where wer had started the hike at. 

Jenny Lake

From that place the trail curved and continued southwest. We were already high above the lake but the trail continued ascending. Ahead of us loomed the Teton Mountains. The area we walked through was well on the way of recovering from a past fire. There were still a few charred remains of burnt trees but between them the earth was covered with high, green bushes, and many young trees were already protruding above the bushes level. I remembered my environmental studies teacher from high school telling us ubout the succession of forest recovery from fire. Here was an excellent example of it. 

Jenny Lake Trail

Eventually the trail pulled closer to the lake but remained above it for a long distance. there was no dipping in the lake anywhere on its northwest side. 

Jenny lake Trail

There were plenty of wildflowers to look at though. I kept pausing, then having to run ahead in order to catch up with the rest of my party. 

Fireweed, Chamaenerion angustifolium

The youth in my company, not as excited as I was with every blossom, moved ahead quickly. I didn't take as many photos as I otherwise would have if I didn't have to keep chasing them up the trail. 

Phacelia

This part of the trail on the lake's northwest side was nearly all exposed to the sun, and it was a hot day. The youth wanted another break but I convinced them to continue on until we have found a shaded place to stop at.

Horsemint

Since the forest hasn't fully recovered yet in that area, we had a clear view of the lake throughout that northwest segment of the hike. The lake was quite far down below us which make me think that what looked from above as small ripples were actually waves, fairly strong for a lake that's not very big. 

Jenny Lake

The trail curved to the south. We left the fire-affected area and the trees became more numerous. Also, we were now walking right at the foot of the mountains so we started meeting small runoff creeks at regular intervals. Near the creeks in wetter soil, grew water-loving plants, such as the lovely bog orchids. 

White Bog Orchid, Platanthera dilatata

The forest wasn't contiguous yet and we moved through clearings and tree stands interchangeably. The difference in the wildflower communities between these mosaic parts was very bug. 

 Great Red Paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

Not all the wildflowers were conveniently close to the trail. On top of that, the wind that stirred the waves in the lake below also shook the plants, making them a moving target for the camera. Eventually I moved the setting to sequential takes, as I would when taking photos of birds. 

Checkermallow

So far I didn't see any place suitable for a break so we settled for short, standing water breaks. We were heading again into a wooded part of the trail and I hoped to find a place there where we could sit for a while. 

Jenny lake Trail

It was in that wooded segment of the trail where I hit the botanical jackpot - yellow columbine in bloom! It is such a beautiful flower, and it was a lifer for me. 

Yellow Columbine, Aquilegia elegantula

We reached the ferry landing area. I don't remember if the ferry was even running that summer of 2020, I suspect that it didn't because the question of taking it back didn't even come up. I saw the stairs leading up to the hidden falls and brought that up, but a quick discussion with the youth shot the idea down - they were tired and hot and wanted to complete the loop trail quickly. No one said it, but I'm pretty sure that the thought of a nice cleansing shower was at the top of everyone's mind. 

Trail to Hidden Falls

I did take a few shots of the creek coming down from the Hidden Falls. I didn't remember the falls from my first visit there and I regretted a bit not going up there this time. Last September with my sister we did go up to see the waterfall, but that's for the next blogpost. 

Creek 

Hot and tired, the youth moved ahead quickly on the southbound trail. This part of the trail was completely forested and I took almost no photos at all. The trail however, did come down closer to the lake. I have given up on finding that vaguely remembered beach where me and my family enjoyed a warm afternoon in the water. As soon as I found a place where we had access to the lake I stopped and told the kids that now was their chance. The water was very cold and only two of them actually got int the water. The other two, as well as me, were content with simply taking our shoes off and dipping our feet. 

Dipping in Jenny Lake

We had a nice, relaxing time there by the water. Not quite the lake swimming experience I was hoping for the kids to have, but it was a well passed time nonetheless. Chilled and rejuvenated, we got back on the trail and completed the loop hike around Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake

I was glad to have booked a hotel suite in Jackson earlier that morning because I was sure that by evening there was no vacancy left anywhere near the park. On our fifth day on ur crazy road trip we all got to enjoy restaurant food, a nice, hot shower, and a comfortable bed. On the following day we would go back to the daily hopping between one campground to the next, all within Yellowstone National Park 

When we drove away from Jenny Lake after the hike I didn't imagine seeing it again only three years later, and hiking a trail that overlapped a big part of it (but was different enough too).