Thursday: Drawing at Jenny Lake and Tour of Eastern Jackson Hole

There is a lovely one way road from the road into the String Lake trailhead north of Jenny Lake.  The road leads to the Jenny Lake Lodge (be prepared to spend lots to be pampered while "roughing it.").  About a mile south of the Lodge, there is an outlook directly opposite Cascade Canyon.  The south face of Cascade Canyon is formed by Grand Teton Mountain.

Looking across Jenny Lake into Cascade Canyon

There are some shaded benches at the outlook, and I took advantage of one to sit and draw the scene.  Better results than yesterday's ... a long way to go, but it feels good making progress.

We went south to a picnic area close to a trout stream, and with a wonderful view of the Tetons.

Our Picnic View

We continued south, nearly to Moose, turning into the road to the Chapel of the Transfiguration.  We went past the Chapel to Menor's Ferry.  Way back when, there was a need for a ferry to cross the Snake River from the more developed east side of Jackson Hole to the inviting undeveloped west side.  Bill Menor, an entrepreneurial sort, constructed a hand powered ferry big enough to carry a horse and wagon - later an automobile - across the Snake.  The site includes Menor's cabin and a functioning general store (Menor's entrepreneurship included running the general store and being the local smithy) as well a working replica of the ferry Menor operated for crossing the Snake River, powered by the Park Ranger.

Replica of Menor's Ferry Crossing the Snake River

 When Bill Menor retired, he sold his property and the ferry to Maude Noble, herself something of an entrepreneur.  One of her notable acts was to donate the land for the Chapel of the Transfiguration.

Chapel in the 1920s (Photo in the Maude Noble House)

We left the fee part of the Park at Moose after a look at the Visitor Center there, went across the Snake, made a quick stop at Duncan's complex of stores that held nothing useful for us.  Then on around the east side of Jackson Hole, marveling (we have done a lot of marveling on this trip) at the views of the Tetons that are possible looking across the valley.

Our way included a stop at what is left of one of the ranches on the east side of the Snake.  This and other ranches were bought up by John D. Rockerfeller's Snake River Land Company, which later turned the land over to the National Park Service to add to Grand Teton National Park.

The Last Ranch Building Standing

 We came north on US Route 89 and re-entered the fee portion of the park, going along the northeast bank of the meandering Snake River until we reached the dam that holds back Lake Jackson.

Snake River Dam