Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point

Jenny Lake is one of the staples of Grand Teton National Park, and a must see when you visit this amazing place. The view from the Jenny Lake overlook is one of our favorites. The mountains look like they’re not real, like cardboard cutouts that you can reach out across the lake and touch. Absolutely breathtaking. But today, we ventured to the other side of Jenny Lake.

Top on our Teton bucket list was seeing Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. To visit the two Teton landmarks, you must either hike a 2.2 mile section of the Jenny Lake loop trail or take a short boat trip across the lake. As much as I like to hike, when I have an opportunity to get on a boat, I’m all in. Only a few days ago the lake was frozen over solid, so seeing it in its majestic blue and cruising across it in a boat was pretty special. It was about a ten minute boat ride, till we arrived at the pier on the west side of the lake. Finally we were there, the mountains that we have been mesmerized by for the past two weeks, we were now one with.

The hike to the falls is only about a half mile or so and another half mile to Inspiration point. Don’t be fooled when you come to the lower falls first, beautiful but the main show awaits ahead. The weather was perfect, but the forecast was for clouds and wind later so we bypassed the cutoff to Hidden Falls and took the trail directly to Inspiration Point first. The hike is easy, but there were still spots that were snow packed.

After a short steep and narrow section, we arrived at a plateau that overlooked Jenny lake and the valley below. It was everything we hoped and expected it to be, living up to its name. But still, I felt there was more and I was missing something. And the feeling was right, there is a higher plateau above, but this section of the hike was not for Shannon.

We had run into some wonderful folks from Georgia while admiring the view and, like Shannon, they were quite content with where they were at and no desire to climb any further… except for Bill. So Bill and I, promising not to get too romantic at the top, ventured on while the rest got to know each other and enjoy the moment.

We have been looking at these mountains from afar and admiring the sharp jagged cliffs, and now we were on them. This section of the hike, although not long, required climbing a rock stairway (Gods version) up the side of one of these cliffs. Slipping here was NOT an option. We reached the top and it was even more magnificent. At this point you are far above most of the trees and literally on top of the world. The boat going across the lake below was hard to even make out. There are couple of vantage points with slightly different views. We soaked it all in and took some pictures before heading down to meet up with the others.

By the time we got down, we all seemed like lifelong friends – these places have a way of doing that to people. Suddenly we noticed a Bald Eagle soaring over the lake. I got out my binoculars and followed it. As if this wasn’t inspirational enough, the site of this magnificent bird, the symbol of our country, effortlessly gliding over Jenny Lake was amazing. It was almost like she was conveying to us just how wonderful and beautify this country really is. And I couldn’t agree more.

It was time to head down to the falls. The trail there was a bit more snow packed then the others, but we were experts at this by now. Hidden Falls was magnificent. Although we could hear the falls along the way it was still a shock to see them when we came around the corner. It was an unexpected display in an otherwise rugged terrain. Calm, peaceful but extremely powerful. I’ve yet to find a waterfall that I didn’t love and this was no exception.

The hike back to the dock takes a slightly different path and allows you to look back up to Inspiration Point to get a different vantage point. We are so fortunate that the lake defrosted in time and we had the opportunity to do this. It was also nice to beat the crowds, as this is an extremely popular spot in peak season. It was a great day!