Upper Teton View

I was happy we made it out of Yellowstone unscathed on such a hectic day. We found our escape heading South on US-191. Approaching the turnoff for the Cunningham cabin, we instead headed East toward Toppings Lake. It’s a rather rough and narrow road with many rock outcroppings. It’s not the worst road I’ve driven the ol’ Tiffin, but when the road starting twisting and going uphill steeply, I was hoping I wouldn’t encounter another large vehicle heading down, which is what crept out of the dispersed campground once I got to the top. There are more private areas to camp beyond the 1.2 mile drive we did from the highway, but the road worsens considerably beyond what I’m willing to drive with our beast. We did explore a bit farther with the truck, as well as the Spread Creek area where we had a difficult time turning around when we ventured farther than we should have.

Back to Toppings Lake area... on a dry day, there can be lots of dust blowing around. I’m pretty sure we got the last spot, right at the edge of the loop. We pulled in, got leveled and finished setting up, fortunate to have a spot at all. It was warmer than forecasted, so having the windows open, lots of dust accumulated inside as vehicles came through quite frequently stirring it up. Oh, and this is not alongside Toppings Lake, which I think is a considerable hike from someplace along this road.

The next morning, several spaces opened up, then it seemed like half of the RV’s shuffled around staking their claim on a better site, and we did just that. That’s when we started meeting some of the other visitors, with whom we spent much of our time chatting, learning of each others’ adventures. Having conversations with a majestic view of these stunningly snow-covered mountains, it was a refreshing place to be.

The stay limit is 5 days, and while the Friends of Bridger-Teton hosts stay near Spread Creek, they do make daily appearances to make sure things are kept tidy and will instruct those overstaying the limit to move on.

As with most free camping, there is no access to fresh water or a dump station, but both can be found in Jackson at the Shell station. There are also no trash receptacles, so please pack out what you brought. Our internet with T-Mobile was just okay the first couple days, but suddenly worsened until we moved it to another location. It’s funny that it never returned to a decent speed the rest of our stay.

From some of the campsites, you have a nice view of the Snake River Valley as well as the Teton Range. Our last evening there, most people gathered to enjoy the extraordinarily spectacular sunset.

We met so many other full-time RVers in such a vast array of “abodes” including conversion & self-built vans, travel trailers, fifth wheels, Class Bs and toy haulers. We enjoyed the conversations and stories, plus helped some with dirt-bike troubleshooting, removing scratches from the finish, battery & electrical issues, and assisted with setup & tear down. I’m sure we will see some of them again on the road, while others it was nice learning of their adventurous paths.

I don’t think I will camp here again. Don’t get me wrong... we had a wonderful time. Yes, it rained much for much of our stay, and the skies were hazy from smoke of distant wildfires, but the place is very much in-demand. Since I’ve already been there, I’d rather let others experience it. There are so many places that I haven’t seen, that even though it offers up such grandeur, returning to the Tetons a third time would not be high on my priority list. Plus, it would be quite difficult topping this stay at Toppings Lake without those wonderful people.

Today, we got new tires on the truck, picked up some supplies we ordered online, restocked the pantry, took a drive past the waterfalls of Provo Canyon, peered at Sundance, then passed through Timpanogos Cave National Monument (but did no hiking there). I made sure Al got some new shoes as his current ones are a little too holey.

I’m struggling a bit these days. Yesterday, my scalene muscle pain returned in my neck/shoulder/arm after a month-long disappearance. I’ll get through it... just more pains and another hurdle. I’m tired, exhausted, and hurting. It would be great if I had Al’s support, but he has his own issues, expects me to solve them, then ignores my cries for help. Hopefully we will get through this, but his lack of enthusiasm is bringing mine down to new lows. It’s hard to be supportive when little to none is returned. I’m so sorry for the downer ending, and to change that, I’m going to eat my feelings and devour a chocolate muffin! Simple pleasures are better than no pleasures at all.

P.S. A while back, we were going to make the 64th post something special for Al as it is his birth year, but he didn’t have anything prepared when it came around. Now the 68th is here, it’s supposed to be my special post, and I’m very disappointed in myself for the tone of the one I’m giving, but quite fond of it also as it reflects on some great people I have met while camping at Toppings Lake. In order of meeting, those would be Maria, Kayla, Ralene, Chris, Tom, Justine, Lars & Kim. Lately I usually gravitate toward hiding away from people, but they helped me feel better about being social in real life. To each of them, my sincerest gratitude!

Share your comments on Facebook or email us at roadfronts@gmail.com