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Day 3: Grand Teton West Side - Old Faithful Area
It was another night of poor sleep, and I was up at 7 a.m. Since we had already covered most of Yellowstone over the first two days, we decided to head to Grand Teton for the day.
Not long after exiting Yellowstone through the South Entrance, we arrived at Grand Teton. Strangely, no one checked our park pass. Our plan was to drive as far as Jenny Lake and then turn back rather than continue farther south. The mountain views along the way were absolutely gorgeous.
We passed a horseback riding tour; kids have to be at least 6 years old to join. That tour needs to be booked in advance. Another popular activity in Grand Teton is the rafting tour, which also requires kids to be a bit older and should be reserved ahead of time.
We first stopped at Jenny Lake Lookout. There are a lot of trees blocking the view there, and the path down to the lakeshore was not very obvious. I think you can skip it and go straight to the Jenny Lake Visitor Center.
The Jenny Lake Visitor Center is quite large and basically has everything you might need except a gas station.
We had not planned to stay long, but I casually mentioned to my travel companion that we could take the boat to the other side of the lake, and our kid overheard. The kid strongly insisted on taking the boat, and since we were not pressed for time, we figured why not.
Because we had started the day so early, it was only 10:30 by the time we got to the boat dock. Boat rides cannot be reserved in advance, so whether it is crowded or not depends on your luck. We got lucky and there were very few people these few days. According to people in the Yellowstone group chat, in the following days it got very crowded by 10 a.m.
Round-trip boat tickets for two adults and one child came to a total of $52. It only takes a few minutes one way to reach the other side, so it was not cheap. Still, the scenery along the way was stunning.
We reached the other side quickly. The main thing there is a hiking trail. Most people first go to Hidden Falls, which is a shorter segment. After that comes Inspiration Point, and that stretch has the most elevation gain, so it takes more effort. Afterward, hiking enthusiasts can continue on toward Cascade. Since we had a kid who does not like walking with us (and honestly, I do not like walking that much either), and we had not planned on hiking in Grand Teton in the first place, we just strolled around near the boat dock.
The lake water was like a mirror.
Before long, the kid started asking to ride the boat again, so we headed back.
Even the ferry entrance and exit had lots of fun little details.
These 3D maps were everywhere around Jenny Lake, and they were pretty nicely designed.
From different angles, the colors changed in different ways.
There were even relief carvings on the wooden benches by the roadside. Great attention to detail.
Before leaving, we looked around the store and found that it actually sold things like sandwiches, burgers, and instant noodles. There was also a microwave and hot water. They also sold a type of juice bottle topped with animal heads; we bought the Peppa Pig one for our kid, who absolutely loved it. After eating a hot lunch on a bench, we were ready to head back. One more shot of the snowy mountains.
On the way back, we stopped at Jackson Lake Dam. The grandeur of the dam was similar to a waterfall, and our kid really liked it.
You can cross the road to the other side, and the bridge was covered in spider webs.
We stopped for gas at the Colter Bay Visitor Center. Gas was cheaper in Grand Teton than in Washington state. Our last stop there was Jackson Lake Overlook, where we stayed for quite a while. There were boats on the lake and flocks of ducks, but they were all far enough away that you really needed binoculars to see them.
Various birds on the lake.
Our kid finally cooperated and let us take a photo. As for Dad’s mismatched outfit, Mom is not taking the blame…
Then we drove an hour and a half back to Old Faithful, took a short break, and headed out on the Old Faithful trail. The main reason we didn’t do any trails in Grand Teton was that we had already planned this Old Faithful trail for the day. The round trip is about 3.5 miles, which is basically the limit of my stamina, so there was no way to fit in another hike too. This trail is also one of the must-dos here, and its biggest highlight is Morning Glory Pool, commonly nicknamed the Morning Glory Pool in Chinese. Even though it’s called Morning Glory, friends in a Yellowstone travel group reminded us that if you go in the morning, people’s shadows will fall across the pool when you take photos, so afternoon is better. That’s why we scheduled it after returning from Grand Teton.
Also, the Old Faithful area has several predictable geysers. You can check the predicted eruption times here: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/geyser-activity.htm
The biggest and tallest of them is Grand Geyser. If you don’t want to do the trail, you can also just watch Old Faithful, which erupts more frequently. When it’s close to eruption time, everyone staying in the Old Faithful area crowds onto the viewing platform to watch.
We ran into a bison on the trail. It feels very different encountering one while hiking than seeing one from inside the car. On the trail, we were full of respect and didn’t dare get close at all, for fear of getting hurt.
As I’m writing this, I suddenly remembered that besides Google offline maps, the AllTrails app also lets you download some trails for offline use. If you’re not a member, the offline trail features aren’t especially easy to use, but they’re still very helpful for understanding the route.
As for the Daisy Geyser loop, I don’t think it’s necessary to detour in unless you’re close to its eruption time. When it’s not erupting, it’s pretty ordinary.
At the end of the trail, we finally reached Morning Glory Pool. Sure enough, in the afternoon people’s shadows didn’t fall onto the water. The pool isn’t very big, but it’s absolutely worth seeing.
For the return, we took a different route, following the path recommended by AllTrails.
There are lots of beautiful hot springs along the way back. The predictable geysers mentioned earlier are especially worth keeping an eye out for.
When we got near Grand Geyser, a big group of people were already sitting on the benches waiting. We actually hadn’t done much homework ahead of time, so we had no idea what was going on. But in the spirit of following the crowd—well, really because I was too tired to keep walking, and our kid was in the stroller for this whole stretch—we stopped and sat down to see what everyone was waiting for.
Basically, the rule is: if you see a crowd gathered somewhere in Yellowstone, stop too. Something is definitely happening.
While we were waiting, I was doing Japanese lessons on Duolingo, and before long Grand Geyser suddenly started erupting! We were so lucky.
Grand Geyser’s eruption lasts a long time, and there was a rainbow with it the whole time. The viewing spot is also very close, unlike Old Faithful, which is much farther away. Grand Geyser is currently the tallest erupting among the predictable geysers.
There are signs next to these geysers showing the times, but they didn’t seem to be updated very promptly.
After watching the eruption, I felt recharged and kept going.
On the way back, we happened to catch another Old Faithful eruption—completely by accident.
After the walk, my travel companion said they really didn’t want to eat at Old Faithful Inn, so we headed back and had instant noodles instead.
Day 4: Biscut Basin - Surprise Bear Sighting - Overlook of Grand Prismatic - Heading Home
The next morning, we finished the last pack of Master Kong noodles, checked out, and dropped the key in the key drop box by the back door.
We stopped by the visitor center to pick up a few magnets to take home. The sign at the Visitor Center also had predicted eruption times for Old Faithful.
You can also see Old Faithful directly from inside the Visitor Center.
In the morning, we first went to Biscut Basin.
After that, we had originally planned to head straight to the trail overlooking the Grand Prismatic Spring, but then we saw a group of people stopped by the roadside. As mentioned earlier, in Yellowstone that usually means wildlife. We got out to ask, and it turned out to be bears. Of course we had to stop and take a look. The bears were pretty far away, so you needed binoculars, and they were also hard to locate. I mooched off the tour guide from a nearby wildlife tour group for a bit, and eventually managed to spot them through my binoculars too. I called my travel companion over, but they couldn't find them for the longest time, so that delayed us quite a bit. Thankfully, in the end both of us saw them and got photos too. It was a mama bear with her cub, and the cub was tiny and adorable.
The trailhead for the Grand Prismatic overlook is Fairy Falls Trailhead 0K5 on Google Maps. This trail isn't very long, but if you're pushing a stroller, the path is uneven and very exposed to the sun. On top of that, there isn't much to see along the way, so it feels more tiring than expected. Once you reach the uphill section, go up from the south side and climb a bit more to get to the Grand Prismatic overlook. The viewing platform is small and usually crowded, so you may need to wait a bit for the best spot.
Because the bear-watching had delayed us earlier, we were a little tight on time for the return. We briskly walked back to the parking lot and then headed out of Yellowstone.
Along the way we passed hillsides covered with yellow wildflowers in the countryside.
As we kept driving, we spotted Seattle's famous I90.
Bozman airport is pretty small, and for things like car rental you don't even need to take a shuttle. I really do love small airports.
I forgot to include the photos taken through the binoculars lens in the previous post, so here they are.
These were taken at Yellowstone Lake, at West Thumb.
These were taken at the rapids where you're supposedly able to see trout jumping.
Summary
Here are a few more general tips that came to mind while writing this post. Anything I didn't think of, I'll just leave to chance.
- Bring binoculars
- If you see a crowd, go check it out
- Save Grand Prismatic and Morning Glory for later in the trip, otherwise everything else pales in comparison
- Reserve restaurants in advance; you can even book all the restaurants for each day ahead of time
- If your child gets tired walking, bring a stroller. Most of the boardwalks are fairly stroller-friendly, though there are also dirt paths
- Download offline maps and AllTrails in advance
- Bring good mosquito repellent. DEET30 works best, and even little ones 2month+ can use it
About the Author
This article is reposted from the WeChat public account of a reader from our WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. The account publishes original, high-quality posts, so if you're interested, feel free to follow it.