FLOAT TRIP

We took a late morning float trip on our 2nd day off during the last week of June.  After an early morning drive to Jackson Lake Lodge, we boarded a van to take us to the launch point, Dead Mans Bar.  The story (very brief version) of the name of this point on the Snake River comes from some gold miners back in the late 1800's who ended up killing another miner because he thought the others were holding out on him.  His body was found on a sand bar since known as Dead Mans Bar. 

Our river guide was Jeff, who is a college senior studying conservation and land management in Utah.  Jeff was very knowledgeable about the geology of the area.  The raft holds 12 passengers, six on each end of the boat with the river guide in the middle.  Sometimes you are going down the river while you are watching ahead, other times your back is to the direction of the current and sometimes the boat is going down the river sideways.  This was a float trip, not to be confused with white water rafting, where everyone has a paddle.

 The Snake River has huge banks that are not always along the side of the river as seen in the background here.  These high banks were caused by the rock sediments from the melting glaciers many millions of years ago.  Erosion sometimes washes away part of the river bank.  However, mother nature then causes dirt/rock slides which helps maintain the 70 degree angle of the river bank.  During our trip we witnessed a small rock slide.

Beavers cause this destruction of the lower parts of these tree trunks.  The beavers eat away the bark and eventually the tree will be dead, and the beavers can use the downed trees to build their dams.  Below the trees you can how the high water in the spring have caused the river to eat away at the sides.  On this side of the river the "high side" was a few hundred yards back from the actual river bank.

We spotted several bald eagles along our float.  This is the best picture we were able to get.  Notice the white head which indicates this eagle is over 4 years old.  That is your wildlife fact for the day.

 Yes we have shown many views of the Tetons and especially Grand Teton Mountain.  However, the view from the river is most impressive.  Jeff pointed out the two glaciers on this mountain, the largest of which is called Teton Glacier. 

During some calm water, Jeff was able to take this picture of us with Grand Teton as a backdrop.  The mountains do not look as high because of the high river bank.  

Several weeks ago we explored Menor's Ferry and showed you a picture of a replica of the ferry that was used to cross the Snake River before a bridge was built.  Here is a view of the same replica ferry from the river itself showing the mountains in the background.  

This raft trip was another benefit of being an employee of Grand Teton Lodge Company!