Bradley Trail Hike

Aug. 26: It is hard to believe it, but we started our day rather slowly. Awaking about 5:30 then a leisurely breakfast. We planned to hike a trail to two lakes in the southern part of the park. Since this is such a linear park, it takes a while to go from the north to the south. We drove about 45 minutes to the trailhead. This trail is at the base of “Grand Teton”, 13,770’. Our trail began at 6500’ then we had an easy hike of 6 miles to Lake Bradley at 7000’ and back to the car by way of Taggart Lake. Hikes in these mountains are a lot easier than the Smokey Mountains. They aren’t as steep nor are they hard to follow. Almost every step of the way we could see Grand Teton, then the lakes reflected it and the adjoining peaks all framed by beautiful lodge pole pines. Even when we walked through the open meadows with the sun beaming down on us, we were greeted with a soft breeze to keep us comfortable. When we started on the trail the temperature was about 45 and it climbed quickly as the sun intensified. It becomes boring to tell, but these peaks are overwhelming in their beauty (this is a starkness against the darkest blue sky you have ever seen). Whatever we do, we continually check out the peaks. They are framed by pines, dead trees, rocks and just whatever is around. I can go on and on about these peaks but I’ll just bore you.
Visiting the three national parks, we have on this trip, Glacier, Yellowstone and Tetons, it is hard for us to choose the one we like the best. However, we would put Yellowstone last on the list. Glacier for the outdoors enthusiast would be the top, but if you are just driving through, it would be second to the Tetons. The trails are the most beautiful with more diverse scenery. Every turn gives a different feeling (some of it is fear, because of the animals). Here in the Tetons, the view of the mountains is first and foremost. There are a lot of trails here and we only scratched the surface but the feeling is not that of Glacier. Yellowstone is the most diverse of the parks, but it lacked the feeling of awesomeness that we got in Glacier and Tetons. We thoroughly enjoyed the Canyons of Yellowstone, but as Jan says it is so vast it is overwhelming.