Road Trip 2019: tetons. snake river. slc. time zones

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.”

62 days away and the planning continues.  This is an outline of our intended trip.  

When our trip begins, we will take you on our journey.  We will document with photos, video, reviews and any changes made along the way.  Our hotels are booked and will be revealed and reviewed as we go.

Todd and I look forward to another trip with you!  We hope this itinerary helps with your road trip planning and inspires you to get out there and travel America!

DAY 5:  6AM out the door.  Departing Cody, WY and heading out for Grand Teton National Park  (WY).

Quick Fact:  Earthquakes gave rise to the 40-mile-long Teton Range, which sits on a fault line. Over millions of years, earthquakes shook the land, causing blocks of land on both sides of the fault to slip past each other. The west block of land rose upward to form the mountains while the east block of land dropped down to form the valley called Jackson Hole. The Tetons are the youngest range in the Rocky Mountains and some of the youngest mountains in the world.

               

With one full day at GTNP we will need to get an early start.  First stop, a hike around Jenny Lake, with side steps to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  Our steps will begin from either south Jenny Ranger Station or String Lake parking.  

*  There is an option to take the Jenny Lake ferry across to Jenny Lake, which will cut 5 miles off the hike.  This is the most popular and quickest way to shorten the hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  You can catch the boat at the visitors center. Great option if traveling with family.

The circle is 7.7 miles, but the side routes add 1.2 miles (RT: 8.9 miles).  This is not a difficult hike, it is a long hike.  However, a perfect hike for a day trip.  Wonderful wildlife and lots of photo ops adorn this circle!  

I am allotting 30 minutes a mile, this will include stop time while taking into consideration a plethora of, “oohs and awes”.    We should complete this in 4-5 hours having us done by noonish.

Here are the days hi-lights.  * If we decide to tack on Taggart Lake, a 4 mile RT hike, we may opt to use the ferry to Jenny Lake.  This will allow additional time for any add ons.

1:  Antelope Flats/ Mormon Row

2:  Taggart Lake  

3:  Schwabacher’s Landing

4:  Inspiration Point

5:  Hidden Falls

This will conclude the day and bring us into the late afternoon.  Time to check into our hotel, get cleaned up and off to dinner at The Gun Barrel Steak and Game House.  

We are not big on breaking up the day to stop and eat. We bring snacks and plenty of water.  Dinner is always a special part of the day on our road trips.  A time to have an awesome meal, some drinks and lot’s of chatter about the days events and tomorrows plans.  Being out in nature during daylight takes precedence over time spent at an eatery.

Day five will end with a trip to Snake River Overlook for a 9:00 Sunset.  We use this site to check our sunrise and sunset schedules. Time gets a little tricky out here.  

When we venture into AZ we have to be aware of the multiple time zones.  Mountain Standard, Mountain Daylight and Navajo Nation.  This can get tricky when making reservations within the boundaries of Navajo Nation.  We find it best to confer with the hotel, as our iPhones don’t always update quickly.   Trust me, it is very tricky.  Here is an example.

California and Alaska choose to observe daylight saving time (DST); Arizona does not (although 16% of Arizona on federal land, the Navajo Nation, does observe DST). … All of Arizona is one hour ahead of California from the first Sunday of November at 09:00 UTC until the second Sunday of March at 09:00 UTC

Day 6: Early hotel breakfast and out to Jackson Hole for an 8 mile white water rafting trip on the Snake River (Class III). Todd and I did this in Colorado, and it was amazing!  Can’t wait to do it again.  A perfect way to wrap up our GTNP visit.

On the road again by 3PM and head out to Salt Lake City.  Certainly will make some stops along the way.  Perhaps Antelope Island or Big Cottonwood Canyon.                                  Oh! The freedom of driving.

After some exploring we will check into the hotel and grab some dinner and cocktails.  Speaking of dinner and cocktails.  Did you know the drinking laws in Utah have been somewhat normalized?  It all depends on which county you are in.  SLC allows booze to flow freely and actually has 192 bars!  Read about the state alcohol laws and changes.

Thanks for reading!  Days 7 & 8 will follow soon!