Taggart Lake Trailhead is located right off Teton Park Road. Parking here is limited like many other National Park trailheads, so its imperative to arrive early unless you want to add miles to your hike looking for roadside parking.
This loop trail provided breathtaking views of the Teton mountain range, crossing of several streams, hiking in stretches of snow and seeing some of the most spectacular early morning photo reflection opportunities.
Within minutes of leaving the parking lot we encountered our first bridge crossing over Taggart Creek. Spring thaw has provided abundant water flow in this cascading stream. Gradually, Deb and I hiked up the trail following along Taggart Creek. The crisp morning air in the mixed forest of spruce, fir, lodgepole pine and aspen groves provided a potpourri of scents.
The trail splits, you can forge ahead up the Bradley Lake trail or bear to the left through the forest to Taggart Lake. Quickly we were amongst the trees and the trail was covered with hard-packed snow. We were glad we still had the comfort of the cool morning air in the shade which meant there hadn’t been any serious thaw, yet. I am confident this trail would be a sloshy mess by mid afternoon.
The trail opened up enough to see the shoreline of the lake. Deb and I found a nice secluded spot off the trail and had our snack and refreshments on the beach. Saw a few other people and observed the vocal geese as they did their best effort to observe proper “social distance” etiquette. The reflections of the mountains in the stillness of the lake were breathtaking! We stopped several times along the shore, then after crossing the bridge over Taggart Creek, we were quickly back into the shade of the forest and plodding through the snow.
Along the trail we saw numerous piles of animal scat. Needless to say, we did not stick around to determine who left it there. Soon we crested the ridge and could once again see the mountain peaks above and the marsh and wetlands below along the trail. About a mile from the trailhead, we encountered a juvenile moose grazing less than 10 feet off the trail. Gingerly we crept by and managed not to startle its morning meal. An exhilarating morning hike of 4.5 miles capped off with a moose sighting. Helluva way to start the day!
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