Jumping out of the camper this morning right after breakfast, we layered up to the gills with our winter hats and gloves on to fend off the cold morning air (poor little Mark looked like the kid from the Christmas Story, I had so many layers on him!). Although it was pretty cold, it was a thrill to be welcomed by a beautiful sunny day instead of snow. Snow or no snow, we intended to hike today (for as long as we could anyway), but now it would be easier -- less sloppy!
Grandma took a pass on this morning’s hike (probably something to do with that in-born Cincinnati reflex that compels us to buy 8 gallons of milk and hunker down at home whenever snow is predicted?), but the rest of us bounded down the short path to Jackson Lake, threw a couple of stones as close to the Grand Tetons as possible (OK, really not so close, but…) and started hiking the 2-mile Lakeside Trail. About half of the path was on the edge of Jackson Lake, where the wind was pretty strong off of the water, but the rest of the path was deeper in the woods and so much warmer that we found ourselves having to quickly rid of our gloves and extra layers. One of our favorite parts of the hike was singing “Jingle Bells,” with our own customized lyrics, since we were lacking Grandma and her now infamous “bear bell”… and because it conveniently subdued any thoughts of breaking out into a Roy Rogers tune. Also very popular was hopping from one big stone to the next, just off of the isthmus that separated Jackson Lake from Colter Bay.
We grilled hot dogs back at the RV for lunch and, for a taste of home, drizzled a little Skyline chili, mustard and cheddar cheese on them. Then we were off again, driving to another scenic area of the park that Steve had read great things about -- the Hidden Falls Hike on the other side of Jenny Lake. It was about a 30 minute drive to Jenny Lake, but it was a beautiful drive that gave us the opportunity to see plenty of wildlife - including a couple more moose (a rarity) - on the way.
Once there, we took a boat across the lake to begin our hike to the falls. It was a winding, ruggedly stony path up to Hidden Falls, where we found prairie dogs and crossed several rustic wooden bridges over rushing waters on the way. Then, after we had finally climbed our way up to view the falls, we came upon a trail marker that let us know that something called Inspiration Point was only another half-mile away. So… why not, right?
The path became relatively steep and narrowed from that point on, but there was also a good surprise around every corner with another look at the falls or unexpected section in the trail… And so we climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until finally reaching our destination at around 7,200 ft elevation! Everyone agreed that the views from Inspiration Point were well worth it, and so we took some time to savor it and snap a few pics before making our way back down. Unfortunately a bit too much time savoring it, however… because the last boat back to the Jenny Lake Boathouse left the dock promptly at 6:pm! We would have to hurry!
When we got to the point that we had to go left to catch the boat (another ½ mile to the dock) or keep going straight to hoof it back instead (a walk that the woman at the boat dock said was an easy, flat 2-mile hike), Steve and Mark were so far behind us that we knew there was no way that they were going to make the boat. So, since a twisted ankle is always a risk on any hike, much less a path as varied and rocky as this one, I knew it wasn’t an option to leave Steve and Mark behind to make the 2-mile walk back alone even if it would be OK with them otherwise. So we knew at that point that we were hiking back -- not boating. Steve and Mark finally caught up to us, but about 2 miles into this trek across a rolling, wooded hillside, we began wondering things like… Where’s that flat part again? And, why don’t we seem to be anywhere near civilization again yet? Uh oh.
Then we ran into another family of hikers, and another, and another. With each passing group, their estimates of how far they had hiked from, and thereby how far we had to hike to get back to, the parking lot near Jenny Lake kept going in the wrong direction! The first set said they thought we had about another mile to go… 5 minutes of hiking later the next set said about a mile and a half… and, after another 15 minutes of hiking as fast as we could, we were told by the next set that we were still about a mile and half away! But we kept plodding alone. Most of us were fine, a couple of us were beginning to whine a little, and Grandma was… well… really quiet (either afraid for her own well-being or plotting the end of ours? Ha).
By the time we reached the RV, we had been hiking for 4 hours, and up and down some pretty significant elevation (we hiked up about 700 feet of elevation from where the boat dropped us off). What a day! So, pretty exhausted all-round, we had a late dinner at a comfortable little restaurant called Dornan’s in Moose, Wyoming… it was a vibrant place, with a lodge feel, where it took a little patience to get a table. But we ended up scoring a big table right against the window, and warmed up and relaxed over dinner and coffee while enjoying the amazing views of the Grand Tetons -- basically right from the bank of the Snake River -- as the sun was beginning to set. Not bad!
The kids, and Grandma this time, fell asleep on the drive back!
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