Jenny Lake Trailhead:
Moose Pond Loop - No moose this trip but the wildflowers were amazing!
Hiked Thursday, July 17, 2014; reviewed November 23, 2014 See this review on Trip Advisor or the hike details on EveryTrail.
From the reviews it seems that when most folks hike from the Jenny Lake trailhead that they are heading to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point and perhaps even further up Cascade Canyon. These are lovely sites to see, but considered taking the boat across the lake to save some time and a few miles of hiking, particularly for the hike up Cascade Canyon (we did this the previous day and it was an outstanding hike). Keep in mind that there are other options for nice hikes from the Jenny Lake trailhead, and the loop around the Moose Pond makes for a nice walk that is not too long or overly difficult.
After two days of long, strenuous hikes in Grand Teton, my wife and I were looking for a more sedate trail for a late afternoon stroll. We reviewed the hiking guides and maps and finally decided that the Moose Ponds trail adjacent to Jenny Lake looked like the best option for today. As we were visiting in mid July, we still had plenty of daylight left when we departed Signal Mountain Lodge a little before 5:00 PM. It was just a short drive along the park road from Signal Mountain Lodge to the trailhead at Jenny Lake and we were on the trail at 5:10.
We hoped that starting a little later would enhance our chances of seeing some big critters but that theory did not hold up. We did saw a couple squirrels early in the hike, not far from Jenny Lake and a Great blue heron perched in a tree across the ponds, but no moose. However, the wildflowers were amazing, particularly in the area immediately around the ponds. Yellow was the dominant color but there were several varieties competing for top honors in the brilliance category with flashes of red, white, purple and lavender.
The trail is fairly easy and mostly level, with just a little elevation gain. It starts working along the left shore of Jenny Lake from the boat dock. The trail is just dirt with a few exposed roots and is level along the lake. Once at the southern point of the lake, the trail cuts away from the water and starts to climb a bit as it leads toward the Tetons. We did take a wrong turn here as there is an unmarked intersection; the left fork in the trail just runs out to a service area and boat trailer parking, so the right fork is the way to go. There is one short but steep climb over a little ridge and then a drop down over that ridge into a bowl containing the ponds. At the peak of the ridge or maybe just a little ways down the slope into the bowl are nice views across the ponds. The skies were grey when we made the hike, so the lighting was not the best, but it was still a pretty scene. The vantage point coming down from the ridge allowed us to search for critters but as mentioned all we saw here today was the heron in the trees across the ponds, and we probably would have missed him if he was not talking (we were probably disturbing his afternoon siesta).
As we walked down into the bowl, we were engulfed by the wildflowers. Some of the plants towered over the trail, almost forming a tunnel in places. I have no idea what they were, but they had large yellow flowers, kind of like a sunflower. There were also stands of bright red Indian paintbrush, little purple asters with golden centers, white Columbine…you get the picture. The flowers were everywhere and they were putting on a spectacular show.
We continued on around to the other side of the ponds, crossing a couple of slightly muddy areas were the run off drains to the ponds. Once to the opposite side of the ponds, the trail works through some wooded areas and crosses a creek and generally looses elevation at a slow rate. We came out of the woods into an avalanche field where most of the trees had been snapped off by the weight of the snow, but there were still a couple of survivors in the area. It was fascinating that one or two trees would still be standing when all around them similar trees were snapped off like so many toothpicks. Perhaps the ones still standing were more flexible than their brethren? The trail worked along the edge of the debris, which was six feet deep in places. The Park Service crews had done a nice job in keeping the trail clear. There was still deep snow packed in the debris, feet thick; perhaps the layer of debris provided some insulation. Anyway, the whole scene was a bit surreal.
Once past the avalanche area, the trail crosses the creek again then crosses Lupine Meadow Road and finally makes a bee-line across a large open meadow back toward Jenny Lake. This was just a flat walk through a rather nondescript area with not much of interest (at least not when we walked through; there is always the potential for wildlife in these areas). We were back in the parking lot right at 7:00, so a little less than 2 hours to complete this 3.5-mile loop. This trail would certainly be worth trying again sometime to look for wildlife, perhaps hiking in the morning. We only saw two other hikers on the trail once we got away from Jenny Lake, and they were moving swiftly so we only saw them for a very few minutes, so we basically had the trail to ourselves the entire time…sweet!
From the reviews it seems that when most folks hike from the Jenny Lake trailhead that they are heading to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point and perhaps even further up Cascade Canyon. These are lovely sites to see, but considered taking the boat across the lake to save some time and a few miles of hiking, particularly for the hike up Cascade Canyon (we did this the previous day and it was an outstanding hike). Keep in mind that there are other options for nice hikes from the Jenny Lake trailhead, and the loop around the Moose Pond makes for a nice walk that is not too long or overly difficult.
After two days of long, strenuous hikes in Grand Teton, my wife and I were looking for a more sedate trail for a late afternoon stroll. We reviewed the hiking guides and maps and finally decided that the Moose Ponds trail adjacent to Jenny Lake looked like the best option for today. As we were visiting in mid July, we still had plenty of daylight left when we departed Signal Mountain Lodge a little before 5:00 PM. It was just a short drive along the park road from Signal Mountain Lodge to the trailhead at Jenny Lake and we were on the trail at 5:10.
We hoped that starting a little later would enhance our chances of seeing some big critters but that theory did not hold up. We did saw a couple squirrels early in the hike, not far from Jenny Lake and a Great blue heron perched in a tree across the ponds, but no moose. However, the wildflowers were amazing, particularly in the area immediately around the ponds. Yellow was the dominant color but there were several varieties competing for top honors in the brilliance category with flashes of red, white, purple and lavender.
The trail is fairly easy and mostly level, with just a little elevation gain. It starts working along the left shore of Jenny Lake from the boat dock. The trail is just dirt with a few exposed roots and is level along the lake. Once at the southern point of the lake, the trail cuts away from the water and starts to climb a bit as it leads toward the Tetons. We did take a wrong turn here as there is an unmarked intersection; the left fork in the trail just runs out to a service area and boat trailer parking, so the right fork is the way to go. There is one short but steep climb over a little ridge and then a drop down over that ridge into a bowl containing the ponds. At the peak of the ridge or maybe just a little ways down the slope into the bowl are nice views across the ponds. The skies were grey when we made the hike, so the lighting was not the best, but it was still a pretty scene. The vantage point coming down from the ridge allowed us to search for critters but as mentioned all we saw here today was the heron in the trees across the ponds, and we probably would have missed him if he was not talking (we were probably disturbing his afternoon siesta).
As we walked down into the bowl, we were engulfed by the wildflowers. Some of the plants towered over the trail, almost forming a tunnel in places. I have no idea what they were, but they had large yellow flowers, kind of like a sunflower. There were also stands of bright red Indian paintbrush, little purple asters with golden centers, white Columbine…you get the picture. The flowers were everywhere and they were putting on a spectacular show.
We continued on around to the other side of the ponds, crossing a couple of slightly muddy areas were the run off drains to the ponds. Once to the opposite side of the ponds, the trail works through some wooded areas and crosses a creek and generally looses elevation at a slow rate. We came out of the woods into an avalanche field where most of the trees had been snapped off by the weight of the snow, but there were still a couple of survivors in the area. It was fascinating that one or two trees would still be standing when all around them similar trees were snapped off like so many toothpicks. Perhaps the ones still standing were more flexible than their brethren? The trail worked along the edge of the debris, which was six feet deep in places. The Park Service crews had done a nice job in keeping the trail clear. There was still deep snow packed in the debris, feet thick; perhaps the layer of debris provided some insulation. Anyway, the whole scene was a bit surreal.
Once past the avalanche area, the trail crosses the creek again then crosses Lupine Meadow Road and finally makes a bee-line across a large open meadow back toward Jenny Lake. This was just a flat walk through a rather nondescript area with not much of interest (at least not when we walked through; there is always the potential for wildlife in these areas). We were back in the parking lot right at 7:00, so a little less than 2 hours to complete this 3.5-mile loop. This trail would certainly be worth trying again sometime to look for wildlife, perhaps hiking in the morning. We only saw two other hikers on the trail once we got away from Jenny Lake, and they were moving swiftly so we only saw them for a very few minutes, so we basically had the trail to ourselves the entire time…sweet!