Each year we must hike the Tagaert Lake Trail. Its trail head is easy to find, just drive the Teton Park Road and look for the traffic jam. It’s one of the spots that’s so loved that the parking lot is full before nine am and this day was no exception. Our friends Becky and Fred got the last spot, and we ended up parking alongside the road.
Grabbing our bear spray and day pack, we met them at the trail head and up the trail we went. While we hike a lot, Fred and Becky are in better shape and so we were in our usual position at the tail end.
Becky patiently stopped Fred until we caught up and they only had to stop for us four or five times until we reached the top of the terminal moraine, (that’s the pile of rocks that marks the lowest elevation the glacier reached and forms the dam for the lake.
The lake was perfectly calm, and they shared the above picture of the reflection of the Tetons in the still waters, (Fred posted it on his photo sharing site and at last count he had over five thousand likes, one of his highest totals). There were quite a few other people, and we took turns taking pictures of each other.
Crossing the foot bridge, we parted ways as our friends were on a time constraint, (their dog was at home alone and sometimes has an accident). We loved having our dogs but decided that we will not get another as dogs are not allowed on the trails as they attract bears. Our friends returned down the trail, and we continued up and over the high point. Renita posed at the high point for a picture.
The leaves had not turned yet and so the image was not as colorful as last year.
Suddenly we heard an elk bugle, and it was close! Stopping, we scanned the forest but did not see it. Another elk bugled in answer to the first and we hoped to see them fight but we never did. The elk are in rut right now and its one of the reasons we hike the trail, so we can hear them challenging each other.
We passed the spot where in the past, we had encountered a bear. The bear was so close that it almost ran over Fred and he was staking its picture! As usually happens the bear fled when he stood up, he is over six feet tall. If you encounter a bear, get big, always carry bear spray and do not run! We have only been charged once and that bear stopped before we had to use it but still….
Look for the two sets of ears
As we walked along the trail section, we noticed moose tracks. Another hiker told us there was a cow and calf moose very near the trail and sure enough there was a moose jam as other hikers stopped to take their picture. They were too close to the trail for comfort, and so we continued past them before taking pictures. Both were watching us and at one point I thought the cow was going to stand up, a scary thing as moose kill/trample more people than bears.
We finished the hike and Renita saw that Becky had texted us.
She wrote that a large bull moose was at our favorite pond and so we drove there to join the crowd. It was where we had seen a bear before but no bears just a bull who was pestering a cow and calf moose.
From there we drove to other bear spots, but we didn’t see any, (our friend Vicky was also looking for bears and ended up taking pictures of three black bears and one grizzly bear! Talk about a lucky day)!
It was time to head home, we could now check the Taggert Lake hike off this year’s list of hikes, to do in Grand Teton National Park. Clear skies
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