Me and You and a Dog Named Boo: Slide Lake-Before the Eclipse

Having heard all the horror stories of packed campgrounds, we decided to head right for the Atherton Campground at Slide Lake, reserve a place for the next 16 days, until after the Eclipse. There were smoke and clouds hovering over the Tetons when we drove through the park. The smoke from fires in Montana has followed us since Salmon. I must say that, even in these conditions, the Tetons are remarkably beautiful!

The area we chose for the Eclipse is in the Gros Ventre Wilderness area to the east of the Grand Teton National Park. We drove into the mountains along the Gros Ventre River, which eventually reaches Slide Lake. This area has an interesting geological history. In 1925, one of the largest earth movements in the area carried mud, rock and debris down into the valley and up into the hills creating a natural lake 225 high and 1/2 mile wide. This is where we camped.

We are tucked into the trees, with a view of the lake and the red hills behind us. It turned out to be the perfect place-private, close to the bathrooms and the lake. There are two spots right on the lake we may have preferred, but they didn't have the views we did and they were already occupied for the duration.

This is a map of the Wilderness. You can see our campground in the upper left.

This is a map of the Eclipse Path. You can see that Lower Slide Lake was only 1-2 seconds
from the Center. We hit the jackpot!

OUR CAMPSITE

We drove into Jackson the next day to pick up mail at the post office, do some grocery shopping and pick up a new Brake Buddy and return ours to the company, as we had trouble with it since Bear Lake. We didn't know if we would have trouble getting in and out of town, so we tried to get as much done as possible. Jackson was crowded and the traffic was already pretty bad, but many told us that this is the way it is in the summer anyway. Jim would have to go in later in the week to dump the RV and get propane but we spent the first days, getting situated and just relaxing with books and walking and doing projects. The weather was perfect: 65-70 degrees and in the 40s at night which made sleeping just wonderful. There were tiny wisps of a breeze; the water was smooth as glass much of the time and interestingly wavy at other times. The mountains were colorful and constantly changing colors with the waning light of the day. We felt so peaceful and content after several days of being somewhat nervous about where and how we would be.

We explored the beautiful Red and Lavendar Hills behind us quite a few times: hiking, picnicking and exploring. The first time, we headed towards the Slate Creek Trailhead. The views were 360 degrees of beautiful hilly landscape. When we got to the trailhead, the creek was high and you had to wade across some pretty dramatic river rapids to get to the trail. We elected to walk up and down the river and hills around it, on OUR side of the creek.