The majestic Teton mountain range offers adventures galore: hike, bike, paddle and horseback ride as you explore one of the US most famous national parks. Lorna Miller, an adventure enthusiast, shares why she loves Teton National Park and invites people to the area’s wonderful sites. Just like any natural park in the US, there are many activities that you can do at Teton. Lorna explains what hikers can enjoy and what trails are waiting for them. She also shares vital tips on understanding the wildlife in the area, knowing the weather, and what items to bring with you. Don’t just take Lorna’s word for it. Discover why Teton National Park in Wyoming is one of the top ten US national parks visited each year!

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Listen to the podcast here:

Where and What is Teton National Park?

The Teton mountain range, located outside of the fun town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a stunning mountain range about 40 miles long.  Tectonic plate activity caused these massive granite peaks to jutt out from the plains, so you get incomparable views from down below, or hike and climb to see the world from above.  Some peaks are over 10,000′ elevation!   The park has more than 300,000 acres to explore and is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Yellowstone National Park is close by, so if time permits, visit both!).  Teton National Park ranks in the Top Ten of visits to the US national parks with over 3 million visitors per year.  It is managed by the National Park Service.

Things to Do in Teton National Park

 The Tetons are famous for its more than 200 miles of trails to hike and climb (some easy and some difficult), you can bike right from Jackosn Hole to the Park for some great views from down below, the popular Jenny Lake is great for kayaking, canoeing and fishing.  You can also take a boat tour of the lake or rent a boat to tour or fish on your own.  Consider taking a horseback ride in the park.  

 The Snake River runs through the park, offering great fishing and with it’s mild rapids, a safe and fun floating opportunity – and a great chance to see wildlife! 

Hiking 

Biking – If you don’t bring your own, you can rent a bike in Jackson Hole 

Horseback Riding 

Rafting 

Floating the Snake River 

Boating 

Fishing 

Kayak and Canoe Rentals 

Climbing and Mountaineering

Backcountry Camping By permit only (Book early – registration opens in Feb)

Important:  This is bear country and you need to carry bear spray and use bear canisters or use the boxes if hiking.  Check out our companion podcast and webpage on Safety Tips for Hiking in Bear Country on the Adventure Travel Show Podcast.  It’s best not to bring your dog.  Plus dogs are not allowed many places.

 Permits are required for many activities and for crowd control.  Check with the Rangers.  Try to book your permits 6-9 months in advance so you won’t be disappointed!  

Wildland Trekking

You can plan this vacation yourself, but if you prefer hiking with a small group and want to get in to the back country (permits are required and sell out quickly), consider trekking the Tetons with my affiliate, Wildland Trekking.  Wildland offers several Teton backcountry trips where YOU carry your full backpack OR let a LLAMA trek most of your gear for you!

Full on backpacking requires more training, of course.  But if you’re short on training time or simply choose not to backpack, the llama treks are a great alternative!

If you choose to use Wildland Trekking, please use my links on this page or on the free Travel Planner.  It’s a free, no cost way to help support the show and to keep us ad free – thanks!

Wildlife Viewing at Teton National Park

This pristine ecosytem is host to a vast variety of wildlife and there are plenty of opportunities to see animals big and small in their native habitat.  You are likely to see elk, deer and bears, and while rare, possibly even a wolf.

Peregrine Falcons have returned to the park!  When they are nesting, trails nearby might be closed, so check with the Rangers before you head out.

Oxbow Bend

Otters, osprey, bald eagles, pelicans and mergansers can be found fishing for suckers and trout.  You might also see beavers and muskrats, or  moose or elk grazing in the open areas.

Timbered Island
In this forested area, you can see pronghorn antelope, the US’ fastest land animal.  At dawn and dusk the elk leave the trees to graze the grasses nearby.

Mormon Row
It’s common to see bison and the pronhorns along Mormon row ans Antelope Flats from spring – fall.  

Snake River
Be on the lookout for moose, elk and bison grazing on the grasslands along the river.  Look up to see large nests of the osprey, eagles and great blue herons that call this river home.

Cascade Canyon
Songbird heaven!  You can see mule deer and moose grazing.  The squirrels can be a pest and beg – DO NOT FEED THEM!  

Blacktail Pond
When it’s cooler, you might see elk grazing on the grassy meadows, and moose on the willow along the river.  Many ducks frequent the pond.For you best chances to see what you are looking for, check out this NPS link.

Other Fun Things to Do in or near Teton National Park

Tram:  Get an unparalled view of the Tetons and Jackson Hole from the 12 minute tram ride up over 4000′ from Teton Village (fee).  It runs mid-May through early October.

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar:  No trip to Jackson is complete without a stop at the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.  You’ll see how friendly and welcoming the locals are, too!  It’s located in the heart of town and features regular live music (see link above).

Piste Mountain Bistro:  Our guest, Lorna, also recommends checking out Piste for pizza.  Open late June to early September.

Breakfast and Dinner Cruises:  Starting from the Colter Bay Marina, enjoy a great meal while getting a tour on beautiful Jackson Lake on a breakfast or dinner cruise.  You’ll learn about the history of the area and gain insights about this magnificent region.  Runs May to early Sept.

42 Mile Scenic Loop Drive:  A great way to see Grand Teton National Park!  You drive Teton Park Road, the one-way Jenny Lake scenic drive and some of Hwy 89 to visit Jenny Lake, the Craig Thomas Visitor Center in Moose, Schwabacher’s Landing, Snake River Overlook, Cunningham Cabin, Oxbow Bend,  and the Signal Mounain Summit Road.  This drive will give you a great overview of the park.

Teton National Park Accommodations

You can go rustic and camp at one of the more than 1000 campsites in the park, or rent a cabin or splurge and stay in a lodge.  It’s great that you can tailor your trip to your budget when you visit Teton National Park!

Here is information on the various cabins and lodges.  Some are open year ’round and others just for the summer season.

Here is information on Camping at Teton.  There are RV facilities, basic campgrounds and backcountry camping opportunities.  Limit 30 days per year total (10 days at Jenny Lake) and max 14 days at a time at most, except for Jenny Lake which has a 7 day maximum.  Jenny Lake is the most popular campground and is TENT ONLY!

Jackson Hole is another option for those who would rather stay in town.  Here’s a link to Jackson Hole accommodations and hotels.

Links Mentioned on this show:

ATA 026 Olympic National Park (Also with today’s guest Lorna)

ATSP 02 Backpack Emergency Kit

ATSP 04 How to Choose, Fit and Pack a Backpack

ATSP 05 Hiking Safety Tips for Bear Country

Adventure Travel Show Podcast Directory

Active Travel Adventures Podcast Directory

Teton National Park Adventures with Lorna Miller

Hike, Bike, Paddle And Horseback Ride In The Tetons

I have a friend who is a retired colonel from the Marine Corps disabled and he spends his summers working as a park ranger in the National Parks. Over the years he’s done many parks, but he finally settled on one in particular and said, “This is the where I’m going to spend the rest of my summers,” and that is Teton National Park. In this episode, we’re going to find out why the Teton National Park in Wyoming is so impressive and has captured Gary’s heart.

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In this episode, we’re heading to Northwest Wyoming to Teton National Park. This is outside of Jackson Hole, which is a really cool town and actually probably the prettiest airport I’ve ever been in. It’s part of the Greater Yellowstone. It’s got pristine conditions throughout and species that have been around there since prehistoric times. What’s cool about the Tetons, and you’ll hear from Lorna, who you may recognize from Olympic National Park, is that you’re out in the striking planes. It’s flat and then just jutting out of nowhere are these massive 10,000-foot peaks. It’s amazing. There are over 200 miles of hiking trails. There’s biking, horseback riding, kayaking, paddling down the rivers. There are tons of fun. We first met Lorna on Olympic National Park and she’s been to a ton of national parks. For those that may not know that, Lorna, can you please introduce yourself?

My name is Lorna and I grew up going to the Tetons with my family. We went out there for family vacations to visit one of my dad’s cousins. From a very young age, I’ve hiked the easy trails. As I got older, I got to go to the harder trails and it’s been a place that every time I go there, there’s something new to try and something new to see. I love visiting there and I love taking people there too.

When we first met, and we met outside of Glacier National Park, you had been on a walkabout and had gone to loads of the National Parks and monuments and all that. You have a basis of comparison. What makes the Grand Tetons and the Teton National Park so special for the visitor that’s not going there with the historical memories that you have and the family memories of what makes them say, “I’ve got to go to this park.”

One of my favorite things is how the Tetons were developed with plate tectonics. There’s one plate that slips underneath the other. You have this very flat open valley area and there are 12,000-foot mountains in front of you. It’s a very dramatic view all the time because there’s nothing impeding your view of the mountains. It’s a unique formation that I think most people, when I bring them out there, it’s the wow factor of just all of a sudden you come over this little hill and then there are these giant mountains there that you’re not expecting. It’s stunning. You can stand there and look at them for hours because there’s so much detail and it’s a really long range. It’s about 50 miles from north to south in the park and no matter where you stand, it’s a beautiful view.

It is striking. I remember when I was out with Venti, because she lives in Jackson Hole, which is the access town pretty much for the park. It literally is like a flat plane and then there are the mountains. It’s so cool. It’s very different than my North Carolina Mountains where you have the rolling hills before you get to the middle of the mountains and then you get to the tall mountains. It’s quite striking. There are lots of things to do there and to see. We’re both hikers. Do you want to tell us a little bit about the hiking activities there and some of the trails?

The Grand Tetons are great because there are a lot of little lakes at the foot of the mountain, so there are lots of options. If you’re not great at doing a lot of uphill stuff, you can hike around all these little ponds to all these little points out on Jackson Lake and they’re very flat and they’re very easy to do. Jenny Lake has been making some improvements on their lakeshore trail and we had a couple of people with us last time I was out there and they couldn’t walk very well. They were completely entertained for hours while we ran up in the Cascade Canyon because the trail was so nice and so flat, they were able to handle walking on that trail. There are lots of stuff down in the valley around the lakes and then every canyon that you go up into the mountains, there are multiple ones. There is Granite, Death, Cascade and Paintbrush. Every one of those canyons that you go up into the mountains in, it’s these beautiful sheer cliffs and stunning views all the way through. You can do a lot harder stuff.

The Tetons enthrall with grandeur and remarkable wildlife that you can see up close via hiking, biking, paddling or even horseback riding! With options making it accessible for all, it's no wonder Teton National Park is in the US Top Ten! Click To Tweet

There’s a great hike that goes up Paintbrush Canyon, past Holly Lake, and then you can go up over the top of the path and then you come down by Lake Solitude, and that gets into a little bit more technical climbing. You might want to bring an ice ax or something that you can walk on snow and ice with on your feet, like crampons. You can do the simple stuff down by the lakes and enjoy the view or you can actually get up into the mountains or you can go up to Garnet Canyon. If you’re a climber, go up into Garnet Canyon and go enjoy yourself. It’s just the variety of physical activities that you can do that I really like about this place.

I know because it does go straight up. Do you have the choice only of easy or hard or are there some medium trails as well?

There are medium trails. There’s a trail that goes over by Phelps Lake that starts off fairly easy and then you go up to this climb and you look down onto the lake. Going up and down that hill over by Phelps Lake can be strenuous, but it’s great to where the energy out of young kids, which is why my parents I think brought me out there. We’re the kids out walking uphill, we had our picnic lunch at the top and then we came back down. There are things in between.

In addition to day hiking, you can also do some backcountry and backpacking in there as well. Can you talk a little bit about that?

The backcountry options are amazing. There’s a shelf that runs the Teton Crest Trail, runs at the higher elevations. There are tons of backcountry there. I did a little bit of backcountry in Death Canyon with my cousins and it was inexpensive. The permits weren’t crazy. The hard ones to get are the ones that go from Paintbrush and over to Cascade and back down. Those you have to try and reserve usually at least six to eight months in advance but most of the other stuff you can get permits on.

We should make note too because the park is so popular, almost everything is permitted. Whether you’re using the kayak, you need a permit for that. They aren’t expensive but they’re trying to do crowd control by permitting.

Probably it’s getting more and more popular and if you don’t have your own boat along, there’s also Leeks Marina. You can go down to Leeks Marina or go down at Colter Bay and rent canoes or outboard engine boats like Jon Boats and you can go out and toodle on the lake for a little while if you want to. I did that one year with my brother and we enjoyed that.

Our research said that there are ten different lakes, but only one or two of them they allow motorized boats. All the rest of them, only human-powered boats. You’ll have the quiet. None of the lakes do they allow those jet skis, which are noisy. I like that a lot. I’m sorry to the jet ski owners, but they’re obnoxious. Any other things about hiking that you’d like to tell us about?

It’s pretty beautiful. Probably the most popular place to hike is that Jenny Lake and up to Cascade Canyon. They’ve been doing a lot of work over at Inspiration Point and I think that construction on that trail up to Inspiration Point has been going on for a couple of years. Make sure if you’re planning a trip, there are areas that get closed for construction like Inspiration Point has been. They’re also closing areas for animals. If you go up into Cascade Canyon, there’s a particular section that’s closed off because there are peregrine falcons that are nesting there. Different times a year you will have different areas where you do have trail closures due to animals. Make sure if you pick a hike, make sure you know whether or not those trails are closed for animals or for construction.

They have six different ranger/visitor centers and information centers and a great website, so it’s readily assessable to know what the situation is there. I saw in one of the trails, they closed in November until the beginning of May because of elk migration or something so that’s cool. Let’s talk about elks. There are lots of wildlife there too. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

The Tetons are one of my favorite places to see big animals like elk and bison. It’s about every evening, you can go out to the northern part of Antelope Flats. It’s from the Moran Entrance down to Triangle X. There’s a nice area through there that no matter what night it is, it seems like if you drive that little section on Highway 191, you always will see a herd of elk and you will always see a herd of bison.

Down by the water it looks like you can see otters, osprey, bald eagles, the moose and the elk. Everybody has to come for a drink and of course the predatory birds like to get the fish. There’s also great fishing there too. There’s some great trout fishing and fly fishing. In fact, when I was out there with Venti, who is my friend, that I met you at Glacier National Park. She lives in Jackson Hole, the adjoining town. I was getting some fly-fishing lessons in the campground. It was cool.

I enjoy fly-fishing. I’ve never done it in the Tetons but I do enjoy that. There are other areas that are out there. I call it the outer loop, which is the main highway that’s out on the outskirts. It’s farther out from the mountain range. On that outer loop, there are some really great places to stop too. We stopped at Schwabacher Landing just to grab some pictures. It’s a famous area where they take pictures and there was a moose down there. A lot of people like to go out to Oxbow Bend. There are a lot of times you’ll see moose out at Oxbow Bend when if you go out to take photographs. There’s a lot of big animals. I’ve seen some big bull elks up close. I’ve seen a lot of moose up close. I’ve seen several bears, thankfully not as close as some of the other animals.

Do you get to see lots of bears?

There's always something new to try and something new to see. Click To Tweet

All the time. We like to stay up in the cabins up at Colter Bay and they basically have a resident black bear and she’s one of the more successful black bears in the area for raising cubs. The reason she frequents that area is that the grizzlies don’t like the noise of the people. She’s acclimated herself to the crowds of Colter Bay. Be aware that there are going to be bears around you if you are in the Tetons and always carry your bear spray.

I did an episode on the Adventure Travel Show, Safety Tips for Hiking in Bear Country. I encourage you to check that out. It’s a treat to see a bear, but you just want to see it from a respectful distance and don’t make any animals nervous. If they start changing their behavior, you’re getting too close. There are certain guidelines of how far is considered a safe distance to get near the wildlife so you could enjoy them, but without ruining their natural behaviors. According to my research, the pronghorn antelope, which is the fastest mammal in North America. Have you ever seen one of those? I didn’t even know he had anything like that. Are they common?

They’re very common. In the area that’s on the inner loop and then between the inner loop in the outer loop, there’s a flatter grassland area where the Snake River goes through and you see them out in those. They’re more of an open area animal. You’ll be driving along and they’re like, “There’s another pronghorn.” They’re abundant in the area, but they don’t travel in herds quite like the bison and the elk do out there by Triangle X.

Another good way to see the wildlife is by floating down the Snake River. From what I understand, there are no big rapids. It’s more like a calm scenic river. Have you ever done any rafting? Can you talk about that?

I love the scenic float. Different times a year, you’ll see different animals. The last float that I went on with one of my friends, we saw a moose and we got really good views of up close to some beaver and it’s a really nice float trip. Your feet might get a little bit wet in the boat, but it’s typically very calm water and very beautiful osprey, eagles, a lot of that wildlife and small river wildlife. We happened across the moose that night. There are always animals around you in Grand Teton National Park.

The Grand Teton is part of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. It’s all part of that. They have some of the same animals that you would see at Yellowstone, from what I’m gathering, is all part of that same ecosystem. Yellowstone is very close. You could do both parks if you wanted to and had the time to.

I was out there maybe years ago and there’s an area called Hermitage Point. I want to say they had that area closed down for hiking. It took me asking a couple of times to get people to finally start telling me that some of the wolves had come down from Yellowstone and had made a den out on Hermitage Point. I don’t know if they’re still there, but there had been at one point in time some of the wolves had migrated down into the Tetons from Yellowstone.

I don’t know anything about what to do in wolf territory. Are there other special precautions like you do bear spray or do you use the same bear spray if you’ve got yourself in a pickle?

I think wolves are typically pretty shy. You’re not going to have any confrontations with the wolves.

We’ve talked about hiking. You can float down the river or you can paddle or a motorized boat in the ten lakes, but you can also bike. They don’t let you go on the trails but there are lots of great road biking. Can you talk a little bit about that?

It seems like every time I go out there, there are more and more bike trails. The bike trails are out along the roads, which are out more in the open flat areas. You’re going to have some areas that have some steeper rolling hills. There’s not going to be any shade. If it’s a hot summer day, there’s no place for shade out there, but it’s pretty awesome to ride your bike in front of the Tetons. You have to plan ahead and make sure you pack along your own water and food and stuff like that. If you’re biking early morning, you might encounter some of the bigger animals like deer or elk or pronghorn along the way. Be aware of that and make sure you’re looking ahead of you and being aware of your surroundings that you don’t accidentally ride your bike into a larger animal. It does get hot in the afternoons out on those main roads and there is no place to pull off and get to shade. Keep that in mind. If you’re a hardy biker, it’s beautiful.

They did say dehydration is one of the biggest problems they have out there because of the elevation. It’s so dry out there that people tend to get really dehydrated. You always want to carry more water than you think you need. For those that like to horseback ride, I see you’ve got some ranches there, they can go out in horseback rides. I guess even bring your own horse if that’s a possibility for you, but you can also go on one or two-hour horseback rides. Have you ever done that? Can you talk about that?

That’s always been one of our family traditions. There’s a chuck wagon ride where you ride horses for about an hour out to an area. They cook you dinner and you enjoy the scenery and enjoy the view and then you get back on your horse and come back up. That’s one of my favorite things to do is to go out on the horses, have a meal out in the wilderness and then pack up and then ride back in. There are lots of options for different places. Most of the ones that I’ve done have been out of the Grand Teton Lodge.

I think the one I’m going to be recommending in the travel planner as well because they do the horseback rides and also the floating. The floating trip also has a lunch/dinner option as well, which sounds fun.

Always pay attention to the weather. It can be a little tricky when you get up to the elevations. Click To Tweet

Another one of my favorite family traditions is there’s a breakfast cruise that you take a boat from Colter Bay and go out to Elk Island and you eat your breakfast out on Elk Island. There are these beautiful views because from that west side of the island, there’s nothing between you and the mountains but water. It’s this big beautiful view and you can see all the way up and down the mountain range. They serve trout for breakfast. They serve Idaho trout for breakfast. Who doesn’t love fresh trout for breakfast?

We’ve covered hiking, biking, horseback riding and rafting. Is there anything else that we should be talking about?

Definitely one thing I would recommend to people is down at Teton Village, that’s where the ski resort is. There are some trams that will take you from the base of the mountain up to some of I’ll call them the lower-higher elevations and they will give you these big beautiful panoramic views down into the valley. If you don’t have the physical ability to get the elevation for these views, I would really recommend going down to Teton Village. There’s one big tram, it’s a little bit more expensive but you can spend as much time as you want to up there. They do have some food up there. One of the new things that I did the last time I was there, there’s a smaller tram that takes you up to a really beautiful restaurant and it’s got a big deck on the front called Piste Bistro. There’s a deck out there and if it’s a beautiful summer day, I think after 5:00, it was either a reduced price or it was a free ride up there. We took that up to the top and we sat in the fancy restaurant and ordered all this fun fancy food and looked out over the valley and it was gorgeous and beautiful. That’s an opportunity to get at a higher elevation if you don’t have the physical ability to hike to the 10,000-foot elevation. Consider those two. There are other ways to get up into the mountains without necessarily having to hike up there.

Let’s talk a little bit about accommodations. It looks like it runs the gamut.

If you’re on a budget, like I have been, I camped for a week down at Jenny Lake. I stopped in Jackson, picked up a week’s worth of groceries and I ate all my meals out of my campsite, which was very affordable. Medium range is there are some cabins and stuff up at Colter Bay and then you can get into the higher priced lodges. If you stay down in Jackson, be ready to spend at least $200 a night for some place in Jackson. Some of the ski resort areas, they get a little bit expensive too. The ranches are beautiful if you can get into a ranch. They’re a little bit more expensive but it’s a beautiful experience. From what I’ve heard, the chefs at a lot of these ranches are really spectacular. You can do it on a shoestring budget, but be ready to camp and bear out whatever weather you have or you can go out there and spend lots of money and have all. It’s definitely a variety.

They do have about 1,000 drive up to the campsites available. That makes it easier if people don’t want to backpack their junk further into the backcountry, they can just drive to the campsite, which is nice. Let’s talk a little bit about the town of Jackson Hole itself. It’s a fun town.

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, that’s always a good time.

I think that’s where Venti took me.

That’s always a good time. There are a lot of nice places in town. There’s something always going on. I enjoyed the farmer’s market. They have a Saturday morning farmer’s market. That was nice to go down and see that. If you’re into a lot of different kinds of art, there’s definitely any Western art that you could ever think of. The locals are very nice people. A couple of years ago, I was with a friend who had gotten in an accident, so I spent a little time with her in town while she was recuperating and we got to meet some locals and they are very nice people.

I found them to be very warm and accommodating when I went to visit Venti. Venti, I might add, has traveled all over the world, probably been just about everywhere. When she made it to Jackson Hole for the first time, she was like, “This is it. I’m home.” I think she’s Australian. I believe she was Australian, not British. After seeing homes every place in the world, Jackson Hole is where she chose to move. Any other bits of advice that people should know? One thing we forgot to talk about is the best times of year to go.

Keep in mind that at the higher elevations, like if you’re going to do some of the higher passes and stuff, that some of that snow doesn’t leave until early August. I’ve been out there twice in June and tried to go up Cascade Canyon up to Lake Solitude. It’s been a goal of mine to see Lake Solitude. One was early June and one was late June and both times we couldn’t get up to the lake because there was still too much snow on the trails. Keep in mind there’s a very small window that even if you do get a permit to go up and over the past and camp up there, there might be so much snow that you can’t even make it up there. That’s also why that particular section is always in high demand and you want to plan your trip a few months ahead of time because there’s always a very small window of when that snow has gone. Be careful when you get into the higher elevations if you’re out there in July and August. Everything has gotten melted off.

I’ve heard about people who have been up there in July and gotten snowed on. It’s the mountains and it’s high elevations. Always pay attention to your weather. It can be a little tricky too when you get up to the elevations. If you’re hiking up into the mountains, always bring a rain jacket and always bring something warm to wear. The last time I was there, I got hailed on twice because the storms come over the mountains, you can’t see them coming from the west. Always pay particular attention. Stop by your ranger station centers and question them about the weather because you do not want to get caught in bad weather up on top of the mountain. You can’t see the bad weather coming because if bad weather comes from the west and you are on the east side, definitely watch your weather.

To me, anytime you go up in elevation, you ought to even if you’re not planning on it, be prepared to spend the night. You should have thermals, you should have a heat blanket. All the things that you need in case something goes wrong, you can spend the night in safety.

I always get made fun of for over-packing for day hikes. It’s like, “I know I’m going to be warm tonight. I’m going to be warm and dry. I don’t know about you.”

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I can always spend the night when I go. I’ve learned my lesson from two sorry incidences that have scarred me, but it doesn’t keep me from going to the mountains. It makes me cautious and aware that the mountains, it’s not Disneyland. Things can go wrong, so you need to be prepared to take care of yourself. Speaking of unexpectedly spending the night in the woods, I did on the Adventure Travel Show an episode on Backpack Emergency Kit Essentials and also How to Choose, Fit and Pack Your Backpack. It’s some helpful information on the things that you should always have in your pack before you go into the woods. Adding these items are only a couple of pounds, but they sure will come in handy if you find yourself in a bit of a pickle. Always make sure somebody knows where you’re going so that if you don’t get back at a reasonable time, they know where to start looking for you as well.

They’ve gotten better. The cell phone reception on the front range and the cell phone reception at the base of the mountain is usually pretty good. Once you get back up, then you start losing your cell phone reception. There have been times that have been amazing that it’s like I hear my phone beep and I’m like, “Do I have reception out here?” It’s gotten better out there that there’s a lot more phone signal.

You still can’t count on it.

Definitely don’t count on it.

You can’t count on your cell phone like we’re in Glacier, it never worked. We were off the grid for days at a time before we can get a signal somewhere.

Until you get higher up into the mountains, most of the Tetons you should have phone signal just about anywhere that you are.

If there’s one place, if we only have a limited number of time that we want to make sure that we go see while we’re there, what would that be?

If it’s not crowded, I would definitely recommend swinging by Jenny Lake and walking along Jenny Lake for a little bit. I would definitely go up to the top of Signal Mountain. Signal Mountain is over by where the dam is, where Jackson Lake drains. You drive up to this little area and it gets you up and above. It’s very mosquito-y but it’s beautiful and it’s one of my favorite places to drive up to in the morning. As the sun comes up and lights up the Tetons, it’s really gorgeous pictures. If you want to see one of the big older lodges, then you can also go up to Grand Teton Lodge there. That’s not too much farther. There’s my top three.

Tell us one secret insider tip that only somebody like you that’s been there many times would know.

If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat that’s not overly expensive, go to Leeks Marina. If you’re up in that area, go get some of their pizza. It’s phenomenal.

That’s a good tip. Food is really important to all of us. Any final piece of advice that you’d give anybody that’s considering going out to the Tetons?

I would definitely do research and narrow things down because there are so many options of do you want to take a tour boat ride? Do you want to rent your own boat? Do you want to bring your own kayaks? Do you want to go horseback riding? Do you want to hike? Do you want to hike at low elevations? Do you want to go whitewater rafting? There’s so much stuff to do in this area, make sure you narrow it down before you get there so that you’re not so overwhelmed with your options. Walk away later and say, “I wish I would have known about the scenic float trip because I would have loved to do that.” Make sure you do your research ahead of time because there really is a ton of options out in the Tetons. There are great trails, there are great activities and there’s a lot to do.

I’ll have links to a lot of this in the travel planner that comes free with the monthly newsletters. If you haven’t signed up for that, I strongly recommend that you do. I don’t spam you or sell your name, just every month you’ll get the travel planners for whatever we covered the month before. You can go to the website ActiveTravelAdventures.com/Tetons and you can also get the information there and you’ll see Lorna’s photos and I’ll probably have some videos and other photos there as well. Any other final thoughts, Lorna?

It’s a beautiful place. You should go to visit it before the tourists ruin it.

Hopefully, they’ll never ruin it. Thanks, Lorna, for your time. It’s been great having you back. We’ll have to get you back. You’ve been to I don’t know how many parks. I’m sure we can have you on lots of times.

I think that last loop I did, I think I hit 30 total by the end. Thanks for having me back. I appreciate it.

Lorna is another good example of what I keep talking about, how you meet some really cool people when you’re out doing adventure travels. I met Lorna when I was in Glacier National Park with Venti, whom I met in France. Venti and I became friends in France and then the following summer I flew to Jackson Hole where she lives and from there we went up to the Grand Tetons. En route, we stopped at her girlfriend, Els, whom she’d met on a whitewater rafting trip somewhere else. Els and I end up going to Bhutan together. The following summer, Lorna comes and spends a week with me, so it becomes this tangled up slinky of friendships that have been so much fun and it’s been one of the highlights of this new passion of mine of doing this adventure travel. You just meet some cool people and you bond so quickly because you have this common interest of the love of the outdoors, whether it’s through hiking or biking or paddling or whatever it is that you do. I find that each trip I go on, I tend to make one new lifelong friend. It’s one of my favorite things about going on these adventures. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to the show. It’s free and please share this with your friends. It is the best way for people to find out about the new episode. I sure would appreciate it. Thanks. I’ll see you next time. Until then, adventure on.

Important Links:

• Olympic National Park
• Safety Tips for Hiking in Bear Country – Adventure Travel Show past episode
• Backpack Emergency Kit Essentials – Adventure Travel Show past episode
• How to Choose, Fit and Pack Your Backpack – Adventure Travel Show past episode

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