Review: Kayaking Two Ocean Lake, Grand Teton National Park
This review is going to be short and sweet. Yurena, Yue, and I wanted to go kayaking, but GTNP was totally packed along the main lakes, so we decided to go on to Two Ocean Lake. I had heard that it was a boring little thing, but we decided to chance it.
The dirt road to get there was decent, and pretty much any car could make it with no real issue at all. The parking lot was tiny and featured a restroom and a plethora of vehicles. We got a parking spot and started unloading.
The trail down to the lake is about a minute walk with a kayak, so not bad at all. There isn’t much of a beach to speak of, as the put in area is a bit muddy and has bushes all around. The small, open area was packed with people lounging, but getting the vessels into the lake proved no problem.
The lake itself was shallow on the put-in side, but it wasn’t ugly as we’d heard: rather, it had great views of the northern Teton range! In fact, they were pretty enough that they didn’t look like the northern Tetons, which I find unimpressive from Jackson Lake. Guess the setting makes the difference!
We didn’t get to have fun for very long. A storm blew in and made the endeavor a bit sketchy, given the lightning and rain, plus the drop in temperature—it got down to the 50s.
Leaving the area, we got a flat, and not just a little one, either. I guess the road isn’t as benign as it seemed at first.
Rating:
- Beauty: Scenic, but not staggering.
- Crowds: Much easier to find a place than at String Lake and others.
- Ease of access: Quicker to walk a kayak to than String Lake, but more of a drive from Jackson by about 30 minutes.
