Grand Teton National Park

The Grand Teton National Park is a mountain range south of Yellowstone National Park - this is why the average tourist passes through here. However, it also offers very beautiful hiking trails and lakes, and is worth a visit on its own. Those of us who work in the banking sector might relate to the main town of the region - Jackson Hole - as there is a regular meeting of central bankers held here (technically not here, but in a lodge at Jackson Lake, although flights do land in Jackson Hole).

We had half a day available here - thanks to arriving in Jackson Hole instead of Salt Lake City - during our journey, and later another 1.5 days while passing through southwards. At first - as a form of acclimatization - we started with an easy loop around Bradley Lake and Taggart Lake. We dedicated the half day during the second stint to circumnavigating String Lakes (where boaters on the lake pointed out to us at one point that there was a bear above us. We saw it briefly, probably a black bear, about 100m away, moving away from us - no reason to panic). The all-day tour then is the Cascade Valley Track with Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, which we extend to Lake Solitude, making for a total of 23km & 700 meters of elevation gain - at 30°C and at about 2800m altitude, we certainly reach our limits.