To Signal Mountain

We left Fishing Bridge mid-morning driving south to Grand Teton National Park. South of West Thumb, the road was narrow and winding but the good news was there wasn't much traffic.  We made a few quick stops along the way while we were still in Yellowstone.  One was at pretty Lewis Lake right beside the road. Just beyond the lake were Lewis Falls. There wasn't a place big enough for us to pull over but I managed to get a couple of decent photos from the motorhome. Just before the south entrance of Yellowstone, we stopped at another small falls where I took a picture of the motorhome and car, something I don't think I had ever done before.

Before reaching the Grand Tetons, the road travels through the J. D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Rockefeller donated a lot of land to the Grand Teton National Park as well as contributing to many other parks around the country including Acadia National Park in Maine.  We stopped at the Flagg Ranch Visitors Center and got information from the rangers there on camping and kayaking.

On into Grand Teton, we followed beautiful Jackson Lake for quite awhile before the road veered away from the lake into sage brush covered flat fields. The incredible, jagged mountains to our west were almost indescribable and so different from what we have been seeing. The variety in this country never ceases to amaze me.

Early View of Tetons North End of Jackson Lake

We crossed Jackson Dam at the southeast edge of Jackson Lake. The Snake River feeds into the lake in the north and continues south of the dam. This is the same river we spent so much time following and staying beside in Idaho two summers ago.

We pulled into the Signal Mountain campground and were told that the length limit was thirty feet but if we could fit in a site, we could stay. We drove all the way around the campground and only found one site that looked even possible for us to stay in. After much finagling, we fit a third-five foot motorhome into a thirty foot site. Because the underneath back of the motorhome slants upward and the back tires are quite far forward of the rear end, we were able to hang over the log that is the end of the site. I thought we might not be able to put out the dinette slide but somehow we managed to get that and the other slides out with just enough room for the car as well. When we step off the step, we are in the bushes but it is a great location and we are glad to be here.

Tight Squeeze

We Need to Walk Through the Bushes to Get In

View From Lodge Next to Campground

We took it easy for awhile, Ted checking out where he could get an internet signal and me working on a sewing project. Ted took some photos across the water from the lodge. We went out early evening to Oxbow Bend Turnout where we were told we would probably see wildlife. While waiting and viewing we had a good time chatting with the people around us. There were people from France, Italy and another countries as well as people from all over the U.S. We saw three elk come out in the field across the water and saw three Sandhill Cranes on the other side of the bushes as well as heard the squawking of many more . A hawk was flying around and just after sunset we saw three beaver swimming in the river. The sunset behind the mountains was beautiful and for once I got some pretty good pictures of it.

When we left to return to the campground, we took a dirt side road that was marked as river access. We saw five white pelicans and a mule deer on this road. It was a fun night of animal watching.