Grand Teton National Park, I have a bone to pick with you (as my mother used to say when she was mad at me).
A few days ago the Good Hiker crew was looking for a nice short morning hike. Someone suggested we take a boat across Jenny Lake and hike up to Hidden Falls. Sounded lovely. We drove to the Jenny Lake Visitor Cent
er and bought our boat tickets. Had a beautiful ride across the lake and started up the trail to Hidden Falls. It was nice, but it was crowded. Really crowded.
By the time we got to the falls, the trail and the “viewing area” were overflowing with people: tourists throwing snowballs; people wearing sneakers slipsliding all over the snow; dorks harrassing the only wildlife in the area, a lonely marmot. Hiking back down the trail later, we had to stand on the side of the trail several times to allow throngs of people to pass. A peaceful mountain hike this was not. It was more like Disneyland.
I understand that national parks attract a lot of people. And certainly, we added to the mass of people. But can’t something be done to try to control the crowds on popular trails? A simple solution in this case would be to limit the number of boat trips across the lake. The boats ran several times an hour, and every trip disgorged a dozen or more people onto the trail.
We had a nice hike and lunch at the falls. And we saw a beautiful moose up close at the dock. But I wouldn’t go to that area again.
Next up, an area in Grand Teton National Park that does manage to limit visitors, making for a peaceful wilderness hike.
