Fall 2026, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, 9.8.2026 - 10.5.2026, Part 8: Grand Teton National Park/Schwabacher Landing/Heron Pond/Blacktail Ponds
We got up at five-fifteen and made it to Schwabacher Landing by six. There was already a steady stream of cars heading into the Landing. We parked at the upper lot as planned and I grabbed my gear and headed down the trail. I actually found an even better spot than where I had picked on our recon day but another guy already had it. It was about thirty feet further than my spot right on the edge of the beaver dam. I didn’t want to crowd him so I grabbed my spot just behind the dam. A tree on the left blocked him from being in my view and I still had a great reflection in the water. In the early pre-dawn hour, it was so quiet but for the sound of elk bugling off by the Snake River up ahead. It is a wonderful sound to hear in such a holy place. Bridgit soon joined me and we kissed and hugged, marveling about all the incredible places we have seen the sun rise.
During the golden hour before sunrise the clouds behind the Tetons began to change colors until they were glowing orange. Soon the magic started and the sun kissed the top of the Grand, slowly spreading down to the other summits and finally all the way down to the trees by the Snake River. The golden Cottonwoods glowed in the the morning sunshine. It was a perfect morning.
Golden hour at Schwabacher Landing
First sun at Schwabacher Landing
A new day dawns in the Tetons
Early morning at Schwabacher Landing
Teton reflections
We could have stayed at that spot the entire day but we climbed back in the Jeep and drove way up north past Oxbow Bend to Colter Bay on Jackson Lake. We drove down to the marina and parked at the end of the lot, the only car there at that time. Starting out on the Heron Pond/Swan Lake Loop Trail, we followed an old dirt road along the shore of Jackson Lake. The lake was extremely low which is fairly normal for late September. We had good views of Mount Moran along the way and after 1.8 miles we reached Heron Pond. The pond was covered in lily pads and as we hiked to the far end of the pond we got great views of The Grand and Mount Moran across Heron Pond. There is a trail extension that goes way out to Hermitage Point but that was a bit far for us on this day. Instead, we turned at the junction and made our way in short order to Swan Lake. Swan Lake was much larger than Heron Pond and also had tons of lily pads but no particular views to speak of. We saw our first people on the trail as we made our way back from Swan Lake and more and more people were coming out as we went back so I’m glad we started early and had the trail to ourselves for most of the 3.2 mile hike.
Heron Pond
Heron Pond with The Grand and Mount Moran
Mount Moran towering over Heron Pond
Classic squirrel pose
Goose flying over Swan Lake
Mount Moran over Jackson Lake
That evening we stopped by the same moose jam area to observe a cow (female moose) grazing on the bank of the Gros Ventre River. Then we headed up to Glacier View Pullout for sunset.
Moose everywhere!
Tetons labeled
Tetons sunset
Tetons sunset
On our third morning in the Tetons we opted for sunrise at Blacktail Ponds Overlook. This overlook not only has a commanding view of the Teton range but below the overlook is a huge expanse of willows and creeks. Moose and elk are common to see in this area. When we arrived before sunup the clouds were a bit too thick to expect any kind of orange glow. Instead, we saw a cow, calf and bull on the far end of the willows in an opening near the trees. There were quite a few photographers with their giant lenses but the moose were too far away for me to bother.
We opted to drop down a trail into the willows to see if we might get a clearer view of the moose. Another guy had also gone down there. We found an opening near a creek and stopped there. As we stood by the creek, we didn’t realize that the moose were on the move and they popped out in an opening maybe thirty yards away? I got a great shot of the bull before he moved off into the willows. We didn’t feel like we were too close but we still felt like we should move out of there. About that time some jerk up at the overlook started yelling at us and cussing us out for being dumbasses. We wanted to retreat but the moose had passed us and seemed to be headed to where we wanted to go. We waited a bit and then slowly retreated back up to the overlook with no issues, but for a minute there we could have fallen into the touron (tourist/moron) category. You don’t want to tangle with a moose during the rut.
Creek below Blacktail Ponds Overlook
The bull moose in Blacktail Ponds
Now that the moose had wandered further away and we were safely back at the overlook I waited around a bit for the sun to clear the eastern clouds. I managed to get some really nice light by being patient.
The Tetons from Blacktail Ponds Overlook
Great light on the Tetons from Blacktail Ponds Overlook
Great light on the Tetons from Blacktail Ponds Overlook
Meanwhile, the photographers were all on the south edge above the willows taking photos of a different cow and calf. A bull appeared on the same level as the photographers and started making his way towards them (and the cow and calf). All the photographers started booking it towards the overlook as the bull came right to where they had all been standing before dropping down into the willows to chase the cow.
Another bull at Blacktail Ponds
After all that excitement we headed down to Jackson to a sports bar to watch the Seahawk game which they lost. Thinking we would stick around and watch the Bronco game that evening, we drove up the Moose Wilson Road looking for bears. We had seen one on this road on a previous trip but now it was mid-day and there was a lot of construction on the road so we didn’t see anything but several bicyclists.
We still had hours before the Bronco game so we drove back up to our camp. The line of traffic heading into Jackson from the north was so long I decided to just follow the game at our camp. During the game we had some moose show up in the campground so I took a break to check them out. Moose seemed to be everywhere and we saw them somewhere almost every day we were there.
Moose at Gros Ventre Campground
Moose at Gros Ventre Campground
It rained overnight so we got up late and had a leisurely breakfast. We did drive up to Blacktail Ponds once again because it is one of the closer viewpoints to our camp. Clouds completely obscured the Tetons but the willows were very colorful in the muted light.
The willows below Blacktail Ponds Overlook
As we stood around the clouds began to break up revealing a fresh dusting of snow on the Grand!
Plane passing by the Grand
Snow dusting on the Grand
One of the nice things about having so much time in one place is that we didn’t feel like we had to be constantly doing something to “get it all in”. Some of our days were only half full and we had time for naps, journaling, etc…
That evening we treated ourselves to a nice meal at the Gun Barrel to celebrate our thirty-fourth wedding anniversary. The chorizo bison and elk stuffed mushrooms were amazing!