Grand Teton National Park

The apex of my road trip--the farthest north and farthest west from where I started--was Grand Teton National Park in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The Tetons are famously a mountain range without foothills, rising thousands of feet almost vertically out of Jackson Hole's circular valley floor.

I arrived on a gloomy Saturday afternoon and immediately nabbed a campsite at the Jenny Lake campground. Although it was almost 6 p.m. I had been on the road all day and wanted to stretch my legs. I hiked halfway around the lake to Hidden Falls then on to Inspiration Point as clouds rolled by overhead, releasing a light but frigid rain.

After a chilly night and an early morning campsite visit from an antlered elk, I hiked as far as a could into Death Canyon until snow ten feet deep blocked the trail. Before I began the hike, I was given a GPS tracker as part of a study to understand better how visitors use the park.

Next, I drove in to the city of Jackson where I enjoyed a warm meal and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I returned to the park that afternoon and stayed overnight in the Gros Ventre campground.

I awoke early the next day to take in sunrise at the Mormon Barns, a favorite spot for photographers to congregate. A handful of them were poised there that morning with their tripods and expensive cameras waiting for the sun's rays to pierce the morning clouds and strike the mountains. They laughed at me talking pictures with my iPhone. I laughed back at them taking a picture that's been snapped a million times before.

Before beginning my drive back to Colorado, I stopped at a few more distant overlooks of the craggy, jutting peaks and hiked the couple miles to Grand View Point, overlooking Two Ocean and Emma Matilda Lakes to the east. One of the rangers I'd spoken with when I arrived said it was her favorite hike in the park. I came away impressed, but not nearly as awed as I'd been by Death Canyon the day before.