Our 2020 Wind River Range Fall Foliage Tour: Day Three/Part Two
It is sixty-three and a half miles from Pinedale to Hoback Junction via US Highway 189/191. And it was a nice fall-foliage drive in its own right As an arterial highway, however, pull-offs are uncommon. Aspen and, in river valleys, cottonwoods accentuate the landscape, in some areas, as islands, and in others as narrow ribbons of color or sentinels that high-light ridgelines. In Laurence Parent’s Scenic Driving MONTANA, this is Scenic Drive #7; Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (South): Hoback Junction to the Rim.
We arrived at the outskirts of Hoback Junction a little after 1:30 PM and found a nice pull-off to eat lunch. I even took several nice snapshots of some beautiful fall color. On our way to my favorite place in the entire world, Grand Teton National Park, we stopped off at the Jackson Hole/Snake River KOA, which by the way, is no longer under the KOA umbrella, rather it is now called the Snake River Park (www.snakeriverpark.com), to sign in for the night. The campground was just a little over one mile north of the junction.
We departed Hoback Junction with the trip meter sitting on 103.4 miles, and according to Google maps, it was 1.3 miles to Snake River Cabins and RV Village, or Snake River Park (formerly known as the Jackson Hole/Snake River KOA).
The Jackson KOA, just north of Holbach Junction. To quote Doug’s notes: “Bob will be able to get detailed, close-up photographs of peak-color and transitional phases of aspen and cottonwoods in the Hoback Junction KOA Campground, including some really pretty orange-leafed aspen, all of which still carry lush foliage. Red-leafed trees located here are poplars, which are closely related to aspen.” This is quite possibly the most scenic KOA I have visited, especially in the fall. I can’t remember the St. Mary/East Glacier KOA because the last time I visited it in the fall would have been the 2005 trip. When we got out here in 2018, it was late in October and the leaves had long sense fallen. Our 2019 trip, or course, had been derailed by the four feet of snow that hit the eastern side of the park.
Jackson town square, with its elk antler arches. We departed Hoback Junction with the trip meter sitting on 103.4 miles. It was just over twelve miles to the town square of Jackson. Wyoming, with its elk antler arches. The hillsides on the west and valley bottomlands were, respectively, lavishly adorned with aspen and cottonwoods, all of which were at or near peak color, as we headed north toward Jackson. Four and one half miles later, we entered Grand Teton National Park.
Entering Grand Teton National Park!
We arrived at, what I have always called, my favorite place in the entire world, Grand Teton National Park about ten minutes before 4 PM. That left us with about three hours of viewing opportunities of these majestic mountains. I was a happy camper.
As I like to say, there are no bad pictures of the Teton Mountains. Anyplace that you can have a view of those magnificent peaks is alright with me. It’s a bit confusing, but the main road through Grand Teton National Park is US Highway 191/89/26. Although there are plenty of great places to take photographs of the Tetons, this roadway is the major artery through the area and is just far enough from the mountains that you can take really great panoramic shots with your camera. It is about eight miles from the entrance to the Moose Visitor Center, and the Jackson Hole Airport is about halfway between the two points. Grand Teton National Park is the only national park to have an airport within its boundaries. I doubt if a jumbo airliner such as a 747 could land at this airport, but the smaller ones such as the 727 definitely make ports of call. I flew into this airport during January 2008. Of course, it helps that many wealthy and famous personalities, such as actors Harrison Ford, Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt reside in Jackson. Even Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and pro golfer, Tiger Woods have property there.
The Chapel of the Transfiguration was just inside the Moose entrance. The aspen in that area were at peak color and still quite lush in terms of foliage. I was able to get some great pictures of these aspen in their fall glory.
There are two major roads through Grand Teton National Park, the outer, or main drive, US-191/89/26, and the inner, Teton Park Road. This one takes you in closer to the mountains, skirting several lakes, most notably Taggart, Jenny, Leigh and the largest of them all, Jackson Lake, named for famed trapper, fur trader and explorer, David Edward Jackson. Jackson, who responded to William Ashley’s advertisement for 100 men to participate in a fur trade venture in 1822, took part in several of the early rendezvous in what would become the states of Utah and Wyoming. His father, John Jackson fought at the Battle of King’s Mountain during the Revolutionary War. His nephew would win greater fame during the American Civil War. His name was Lieutenant General Thomas J. Jackson, more commonly known as Stonewall Jackson.
Jackson Lake, at an elevation of 6,772 feet above sea level, is one of the largest high altitude lakes in the United States,
Windy Point Turnout, on the Teton Park Road, takes you in closer to the mountains. I got some great shots of the mountains, much better than those I took just a few weeks before, which were hazy at best, due to the wildfires of California. However, the haze returned the next day.
Jackson Lake Junction. After traveling along the inner, or Teton Park Road, we came to the point where the inner road reconnected with the outer, main highway, US-191/287/89 in the northeastern part of Grand Teton National Park. We had, while traversing the Teton Park Road, crossed over the Jackson Lake Dam about one mile from the present junction of two roads. One of the best vantage points of Mount Moran is from this dam. Of course, this time of the day, looking due west, into a rapidly descending sun is not conducive to taking good photographs.
The Oxbow Bend area, of Grand Teton National Park, is one of the best vantage points to get that “perfect poster picture of a mountain reflection on a body of water in the foreground” if the conditions are just right. Despite trying several times, I still have not succeeded in recording the type of image that would warrant blowup to a poster. An oxbow is a crescent-shaped section of river lying alongside a flowing, winding river. The oxbow is created over time as erosion and deposits of soil change the river’s course. This area, and the area around the Oxbow Bend is, without a doubt, the best fall-foliage viewing area in the park. As Doug would say, it is the “Mecca of fall-foliage destinations in the Tetons.” I took some pictures, but with the setting sun, I decided to try again in the morning with more favorable conditions.
After a long day, it was time to call it quits and head back to our beds in the KOA cabin at Hoback Junction. Along the way we stopped at the Wendy’s for supper. We had one more day in God’s Country (Wyoming). So, it was time to hit the hay.
