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The Grand Tetons

The night we spent in the Tetons, we went to a ranger program on beavers. Kate was fascinated with beavers and it was a very informative time. We walked to the park from our campsite at dusk- we walked through the RV campground. RV camping (can you even call it camping?) is very different from tent camping- rugs on the ground outside, Christmas lights strung up- a little much to take in.We were a little early to the talk, so we took a walk along the edge of a lake- a gorgeous and relaxing time. On the way back, we had a hard time finding the trail back to our campsite. The rangers had told us to be on high alert for bears- they had had to kill a bear the week before because it had gotten so many "food rewards" from campers that year, and there was another bear lingering around that had also gotten a number of food rewards. So, it was dark, there were bears around and we were mildly lost. Ergo, I was terrified. Talking it over with Kate later, we just laughed at each other- she had been terrified of bears as we had walked around the lake earlier and afraid to say anything, as I had been later in the dark.

The Tetons are the most beautiful place I have ever been. First thing the next morning, we drove to the top of Signal Mountain, to get a full view of the Tetons.
From there, we took a hike around Jenny Lake, up into the mountains themselves. By far my favorite hike that we took. We hiked up to Hidden Falls, where we dipped our feet into the freezing river, and then to Inspiration Point. At Inspiration Point, we spent a few good minutes people watching- a lot of diversity up there- little kids with their parents, older couples I was so impressed with, and the single man who seemed like he wanted to attach himself to us... Inspiration Point seemed to be the place where most people turned around, but we kept going into Cascade Canyon.The canyon loop trail is a 3-day backpack that I really want to go back and hike. Taking that extra half mile past Inspiration Point was a good choice- beautiful flora, and no one else around to see it! That extra half mile also took us much farther up into the mountains than I expected.
On the way back, Kate stopped to watch the chipmunks fight and we stopped to cool off in the lake. Cooling off wasn't that necessary as shortly there after it began to rain and we began to run. There were others running too- a teenager and his father were running the 2 miles around the lake, trying to beat mom and sister who had taken the ferry back to the dock. The guys won. Thankfully, most of the rain held off until we were able to hide out in the visitor center. After our 5+ hour hike, we were happy to sit and wait out the rain.

Labels: travel

posted by CP @ 4:51 PM 2 thoughts