Wyoming: The Early Days

We packed A LOT into the first two days we were in Jackson Hole.  Sunday all 21 of us went for a hike.  Tim and Nate had spotted the trail on a map in our condo, and the adults in charge of making the decision chose the trail completely independently of knowing Tim and Nate had been interested.  It was rated somewhere as an "easy to moderate" hike, it was a couple of miles before you got an awesome view of the Grand Teton, and then a few more miles around a lake.

We pack our lunches, brought our water bottles, applied sunscreen, and armed ourselves with bear spray.

The drive into the park took awhile, and then we turned off on a very bumpy gravel road.  Minimal maintenance, one-lane wide, no signage to indicate in lead to a trailhead-- all signs pointed to a good hike without running into other tourists.

We got out of the cars, applied sunscreen and bugspray, and were ready to go.  We hit the trail. 

30 seconds in I wanted to turn back.

3 minutes in the were about 300 horseflies trying to eat us.

30 minutes in, I was feeling that hiking was maybe not for me and I should forgo the overnight hike scheduled for Tuesday.

But then we go to the peak and ate our lunches.  And I still thought this hiking thing was overrated.  Then Nate came back and said he found the real peak, and it was a short, easy hike up there.  And it was.  And the view was amazing.

You see, we climbed 700 ft in about 2 miles.  And there's not a lot of air up there, so catching your breath is uphill work (haha).  Everyone made it, though, even Grandmom and PopPop, so we spent awhile up there before turning back.  We decided not to continue the hike around the lakes, because that would involve hiking down, which meant to get back you had to hike up again.

The downhill is much easier :)

Afterwards, we decided we had earned ice cream at Leek's Marina, so I tried the huckleberry (I like to experience the indigenous flavors when I travel :) and then we relaxed. 

 After another scenic drive and a stop in Moose, we were in downtown Jackson for pizza dinner and a little bit of shopping.

Monday we had a little more shopping to do so everyone could get their last minute stuffs for the Tuesday hike, then we did the alpine slide.  If you've never been on an alpine slide, its basically, well...a slide.  And you ride down on a wheeled sled with a lever that you push forward to go faster and pull back to slow down.

Since it was my first time down the slide, I really wanted to enjoy the scenery, and I didn't push the lever forward very much at all.  I may or may not have been passed by 4 people on the other track.

Then it was back to the Park for some cliff diving.  Tim's cousins had done this jump earlier in the week, and it is a very safe jump... the water was plenty deep, and it would be hard to mess up.  After watching a few people jump, I started to think about jumping.  Then I watched more people go.  Then I thought I might try.  Then I look over the edge.  Then I wanted to watch more people go.  But Tim wouldn't let me procrastinate... he said I had to jump.  

And jump I did.  And it was pretty cool.  Literally. The water felt like it was about 58 degrees.  Honestly, the hardest part of the whole thing was getting out of the river...it gets shallow quickly, and you have to walk along a bunch of river rocks to get to the trail that takes you back up.  I didn't have any shoes I could jump in, so navigating across smooth, mossy river rocks when you're shivering like crazy is not easy.  Take my advice: go to Payless or the Walmarts and get some cheap water shoes or sandals that strap on.  Or the Lands End Warehouse Clearance Event... it's coming up you know!

I only jumped once, mostly because I didn't want to climb back out again.  If we go back I would definitely do it again.  And I recommend you try it to... its really not that dangerous or scary.  Just kind of cold when you get in the water.

That night we ate at the Mangey Moose in Teton Village where we were staying.  Teton Village is a ski area, so during the summer they let you ride the tram to the top of the mountain for free. So we did!  There were a few restaurants up there, and an awesome view.

We tried to get to bed sort of early so we would be well-rested for our big hike the next day...