Jenny Lake Winter Hike | Things to do in Grand Teton National Park During the Winter

Feb 9

"The Teton Mountains are, to my way of thinking, quite the grandest and most spectacular mountains I have ever seen.”

John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Grand Teton National Park is one of my favorite places to visit. It’s about a three hour drive from where I live, and while I don’t get much time to spend there in the summer, I try to make it a habit of visiting at least once per winter.

Two years ago I had visited the park with loose plans to hike out to Jenny Lake. However, I would wind up spending the entire day meandering through the winter wonderland that the park had to offer. While I didn’t post a blog about all of my doings for the day, I did manage to write a deep and thoughtful piece entitled: An Avalanche Of Feels. Accompanying the written piece, is a photo captured from the day.

The National Park Website mentions that Jenny Lake is one of the most visited areas in Grand Teton National Park. I can only imagine the hordes of people encompassing the mountain lake during the summer season. During this particular winter though, a newly met friend and I had the pristine landscape all to ourselves.

Jenny Lake was named after a sixteen year old Shoshone woman, who had tragically died of small pox in December of 1876. “The lake bears her name, a remembrance of love, loss, and beauty in an inimitable landscape.” (Melissa Thomasma 2022) After doing some pre hike research, I surmised that the trek to the lake would be around nine miles round trip, much of it being along the closed down Teton Park Road. We had the option to snowshoe, cross country ski, or just hike in with our boots. I had never been cross country skiing before, and the snow shoes really weren’t needed (until the actual jaunt to the lake), so we opted on booting it in, regretfully later, leaving our snowshoes behind.

The walk along Teton Park Road was relatively easy. A few nordic skiers had passed us by, as we awaited for the sun and our body heat to warm up the early morning single digit temperatures. The scenery of the surrounding landscape was one of pure bliss. If you looked off to the northeast, you may have actually thought you were lost amongst the frozen tundra of Siberia. Once we arrived to the lake however, our journey became an arduous grind to the waterfront. Leaving our snowshoes behind to save on weight, they sure would’ve come in handy by this point. Turning around was not an option, so off we trudged through sometimes knee deep snow, as we made our way towards the Jenny Lake visitors center, eventually finding our way to the shore of the lake. I plopped my ass down in a snow bank and took a moment to collect my breath. For someone who can kill it on a treadmill, walking in knee deep snow is a whole other kind of cardio workout.

The lake moaned and groaned, as multiple layers of ice expanded and contracted from underneath the layer of snow. When I finally rose to my feet, I sniffed around for the perfect capture. Wait, perfect doesn’t exist! OK I mean the best capture I could practically find. Captured below, is a portion of the 12,000 year old Jenny Lake. I’m pleased with how it came out, as it really gives a sense of past times. Imagine living here, along the shore, having to hunt, gather, and forage just to survive. Makes you realize just how easy we have it today!