Jackson Hole’s Quiet Season
Springtime unfolds slowly and quietly in the Tetons. Few tourists are in the valley during April and early May. The locals get to an almost private showing of the rebirth of a valley wide ecosystem.
When does Spring come to the Tetons? The answer is primarily based on where you are in the valley. In the Town of Jackson, we start feeling hints of Spring in late March and early April.
Areas next to the base of the mountains continue to hold tight to Winter for an additional few weeks. By May 1st, when The Park Service opens the Teton Park Road from Taggart Lake to Signal Mountain Lodge, there can be snow as high as the top of my Nissan truck at the String Lake parking area. The lake can still be frozen solid. Elevation and proximity to the base of the Teton Range are key factors.
By late March, areas of the valley floor begin showing through the snow. In most areas of the valley, the end of March still feels like Winter to me.
Some people call April “mud season”, but it can still offer a lot of opportunities to see animals in their migration and the valley floor beginning to awaken to a backdrop of snow covered mountains. There are few tourists in the valley in April, so if you are willing to be out in the morning cold, you can get photos with no tourists or photographers in the way. On many days, you will be the only one there.
It is equally difficult to pinpoint when Spring ends and Summer begins at this altitude. Each year is different, but elevation is probably still the key factor. I think of Spring as the time when things are beginning to turn green and I think of summer as the time when almost everything is fully green. Technically, Spring begins on March 23rd of 2014 and ends on June 21.
Elk typically begin leaving the National Elk Refuge around the first of April, but some can leave much sooner.
Bison can move off the refuge starting in late March and early April. The areas along the Gros Ventre are usually good for elk and bison. They sometimes graze out to the sage flats north of Antelope Flats Road overnight and then move back to the river bottom during the day. They can repeat this behavior until they finally make the break from the area and move farther north.
The first of the migrating songbirds appear in early-May and into the first week or two in June. When I see my first Bullock’s Oriole of the year, I know it is “game-on” for the Spring birding season. Red-tailed hawks replace Rough-legged Hawks in many areas. Kestrels and Osprey also return.
Moose are typically in the river bottoms and not always too visible to the average tourist. Nubs of velvet start growing in April.
By the middle of June, the grass is vivid green and summer appears to be taking over.
Pronghorns can show up in mid-April. They have their fawns in mid-June.
Bighorn Rams usually leave the National Elk Refuge before the Ewes. By late April and early May, very few remain at Miller Butte. By the end Winter and early Spring, their coats will have bleached considerably. Bighorn Sheep can sometimes be seen on the rock faces above Slide Lake and out the Gros Ventre Road near Red Hills Ranch. I’ve never seen them, but a herd of Bighorns are supposed to live on the steep mountains north of Mt. Moran inside Grand Teton National Park.
Bears: The first Grizzly Bears can appear around the middle of April and more appear in the first week or so of May. Sows with cubs show up quite a bit later. With all the Grizzlies in the area now, Black Bears seem to be harder to find until they show up for berries in the fall.
Wildflowers: A few start blooming in late April, but I don’t think of them as Spring arrivals. Arrow Leaf Balsom Root plants start blooming in mid to late May. By June 1st, they are common valley wide. For the most part, I think of Wildflowers as a summer item.
Summer Begins: By the end of the first week in June, grass will have turned green. The deciduous trees will be green again. Tourist start showing up in large numbers and most businesses will have opened with high expectations of a busy summer. By the time the official beginning of Summer hits on June 22nd, it will have seemed like summer has been here a couple of weeks already.
Weather: Spring weather can be all over the place. It can snow 6″ one night and be mostly melted by the next. Nights can still get below freezing, and daytime temps are usually quite pleasant. We’ve had snow on the 4th of July here, so don’t count on the calendar for this aspect of Jackson Hole. Be prepared for some bitter cold and wet periods—then peel off layers as the day warms.
Fishing: Late March and usually all of April can be a great time for fly fishing in this valley. Access can sometimes be limited by closures or snow. Eventually, Winter snows swell the rivers with opaque, muddy water until after runoff. The shot above was taken on April 6th at the Pacific Creek boat launch at Moran Junction.
The Wrap Up: If you visit the valley at the end of March, expect a fair amount of residual snow in most areas. Many access roads will still be closed. April begins the Spring thaw and resulting mud season—but it also signals the migration for many of the large mammals wintering in the south part of the valley. Many of the locals leave JH in April for their Spring Break. Hints of green start appearing in early May, along with the opening of some of the important roadways. By Memorial Day weekend, many of the migrating birds will have returned. Most of the large mammals will have moved north and into the river bottoms, shedding last year’s fur and beginning to replace it with a new coat. If you want to get a jump on the large populations of tourists, the week before Memorial Day and the week afterwards is a good time to visit the area. Most roads are open and most shops and services are back in full service. Valley wide, the locals retire their winter gear. They tune their bikes and get their boats ready for the lakes for another summer in paradise.
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