Sun July 31, 2011. Grand Tetons; Lost Lake, Bridger-Teton National Forest; Grizzlies!

We woke up to a relaxing morning in the Tetons, and hit some of the major vistas in Grand Teton, namely Oxbow Bend, best known for sunrise shots.  Our view was a bit more subdued given the rain clouds overhead.

Oxbow Bend

After a pizza lunch at Leek’s Marina, we picked Guinness up and headed to the Bridger-Teton National Forest for some dog-friendly hiking. 

The Bridger-Teton National Forest is just east of the park a few miles, but we drove out hwy 26/287 looking for forest road 30020.  Without GPS, the road would be easy to miss: it’s an overgrown dirt road behind a construction staging area (near mile marker 23ish).  We drove up the road – and by drove, I mostly mean crept.  The ruts in the road, probably from years of spring washouts, were deep and decorated with huge boulders.  A 4WD, high suspension vehicle is definitely a must.

We reached a “road closed” sign to the left, which marks the beginning of the Lost Lake trail.  The Lost Lake trail is about a mile in length down a former forest road that is now overgrown with lupine.  The trail was a great place to let Guinness off leash to sniff to her heart’s content.

We were surprised to find Lost Lake surrounded by patches of snow and full of cutthroat trout and whitefish.  The scenery was beautiful, but the mosquitoes were horrendous.  Even with bug dope on, they were swarming us looking for any patch of skin or clothing that was missed by the bug spray.  We didn’t stay at the lake long, but on a bug-free day, this hike would have been a great break from the bustling Tetons.

Lost Lake reflection

On the way back into the Colter Bay campground, we drove up to a 1-car critter jam.  We slowed down and saw a big brown blob slowly making her way along the ditch just on the other side of the road: a huge, healthy, brown grizzly!  As she walked along, now coming parallel to us, two cubs came tagging along behind her from in the brush.  One of the grizzly cubs took a break next to the side of the road.  Sitting back on his behind seeming to check us out with as much excitement and interest as we had in him!  After playing with a few long blades of grass, mamma started calling to him from down below in the gully.  He obliged just as the rangers pulled up with lights flashing to move traffic along and send people back to their cars.  A mamma grizzly with cubs is an animal best left alone to go about her bear-business.