Gros Ventre Rd: land of many uses

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A few Sundays back, two friends and I planned to catch trout. We took our chances on Slide Lake on the Gros Ventre River. The lake, which was created in the early ’20s after a landslide dumped an earthen dam across the valley floor, was murky and high that day.

The road, which threads up a geologically diverse drainage of high, grassy hills, forests and colorful badlands, follows the Gros Ventre River to its headwaters. Four-wheel tracks and trails shared by dirt bikes and hikers thread into the wilderness on either side of the road.

On our way past Slide Lake we came across the red hills, a formation deposited about 180 million years ago when shallow seas covered this region of earth. They, along with the lavender hills behind them, make an arid landscape reminiscent of badlands in Utah. There is a trail that goes up into those hills, but a hike to Grizzly Lake across the canyon offers a cooler, grassier jaunt than the red hills, which radiate heat on a sunny day. Across the road from the Red Hills campsite is a four-wheel track. Follow it for a few hundred yards and look for a sign saying, “trail” that points off to the right. This leads to Grizzly Lake.

From the Red Hills we pressed on, and eventually passed Upper Slide Lake, a small, shallow lake where mating pairs of Trumpeter Swans spend the summer.
Along the drive we saw small children on four-wheelers, various skeet and pistol target practices, and a few pronghorn.

Since our initial destination was Pinedale, the pronghorn inspired us on a serendipitous push to complete a motorized version their historic migration, and realize our goal of fishing the Green River Lakes that evening.

When we finally reached the terminus where our Subaru Legacy couldn’t quite make it (the road is closed to automobiles), we turned around, jealous of the families on ATVs able to kick up dust on that section of road.

As consolation, we launched our canoe in Soda Lake, where trophy cutthroat trout grow fat on an abundance of freshwater shrimp.

We didn’t even catch anything, but all three of us were content to have discovered this small lake tucked away high in the Gros Ventre, and even more satisfied by the future hikes we planned that day.

Since then, I have been back to explore more trails of the Gros Ventre. Travelers beware, because many trails are not well marked, and at least one sign had been turned crooked by either the wind or some ill-meaning passerby. But if you check a map or guidebook - or are up for a good adventure - you could spend an entire summer’s worth of day trips in that area.

When the crowds of tourists choke the first two miles of Teton hikes this summer, consider hanging a right at Gros Ventre Junction before you make it to the national park. Now that the Kelly General store is open with sandwiches and beer to satisfy pre- and post-hike needs, you can make the last minute decision to turn off and explore that land of many uses.

Photo by Chris Towles
You can’t tell from this photo, but the Red Hills are really red.

PERMALINK:
Gros Ventre Rd: land of many uses | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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