Phelps Lake.....

Another beautiful hike to a another beautiful lake! This hike is fairly easy, and is located in the Grand Teton National Park at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve(LSR). It is best to get there early to procure a parking space, as there are only 30. The rangers are in the parking lot, making sure everyone parks legally and leaves little room between cars so as to fit more cars. There is a special parking area for hybrids! Yeah! The visitor center is beautiful, and is some distance from the parking area to allow for a peaceful hike. Nice.

 LSR Preserve Visitor Center

thank you L.S. Rockefeller!

stunning building for a visitor center

The trail from the Visitor Center begins through a wooded area, with waterfalls and meanders along the river for a bit. The trail is well kept and well used! This is a popular easy day hike in the park. I had a wonderful chat with the ranger, and finally, I think I have a handle on my fear of running into a bear on the trail. There are several bears that live in the area that are commonly seen, but we did not see any. Actually, surprisingly, we saw very little wildlife.

starting the hike

refreshing creek alongside the trail

well maintained trails

never too far from the Grand Teton

love the water

viewable from the trail 

eagle's nest?? not sure

heading to the lake

so refreshingly beautiful 

oop....another new one!

nice, huh?

lovely pine scent as well

The trail meanders up and down, and is very pleasantly shaded for a lot of the trail. Perfect on a sunny day! The lake itself is just gorgeous. Love these mountain lakes....they are so clear and refreshing in the middle of the mountains! And of course, the pine smell is a treat too.

trail meanders up and down

our first view of Phelps Lake

so so nice

look how clear the water is

moving along

Part of the trail goes over a swampy meadow type area, and the trail is over a metal deck. The LSR Preserve is very well thought out and very well maintained. This Rockefeller had a vision, and the Park Service tries very hard to maintain it.

really well managed hiking trails

Once again, we were at the lake, enjoying beautiful views. Its so tempting to just wade right in.....

another viewpoint

nice!

should I just take a little dip?

my favorite....mountain lake surrounded by pines

We continued on a little further to Huckleberry Point, which was a nice offshoot into the lake. A perfect spot to sit for a bit, snack (of course) and just admire the view away from it all. The sun was shining full force by the time we got there. Did I mention I was tempted to take a dip? Hahahha.

hiking to Huckleberry Point

through ripe huckleberry patches....be bear aware!

the point

oh so nice!

water and some trail mix

this is just beautiful

On the way back, we had totally different views of a different area of the lake. The water looked really shallow and also looked to be a perfect spot for moose. Didn't see any though!

looks so shallow here

looking for moose

Another nice feature along this trail.....bathrooms! And the bathrooms are really clean! They are compost toilets, and don't smell at all. I know that is probably too much information, but wow!!!! Much appreciated on the trail!

is that a mirage? A bathroom in the middle of a hiking trail?

The views in this area were lovely....gentle nature! And the trails were not crowded due to the parking situation. If you don't get a spot, you have to wait until one opens up. That is how the crowd is somewhat managed. Good thinking!

refreshing, right?

very enjoyable hike

nice

another view

almost back to the Visitor Center

On our way back to the Visitor Center, our paths crossed with this guy. Not sure if it was an elk or a very large deer. We are still debating that....hahahaha.

oh, hello!

a personal stop sign

heading back to the parking lot

One of the only pitfalls of this hike is the road to get there. It is amazingly rough. Not sure if you can appreciate the sinkholes  potholes we encountered for a couple of miles on Moose-Wilson Road. 

Moose-Wilson Road....just a little rough!

Driving along the mountains on the way back to the campground, just had to take this photo of the "west". It was so....well.....western! Speaking of the wild west, we are off to the rodeo!

horses grazing alongside the mountain