Wyoming: the overnight hike

I was going to wait a few days to post this, to space things out a bit.  However, this part of the trip felt very long, and also we took a ton of pictures.  To more accurately portray the experience, this post is long, with lots of pictures.  I am posting it in the middle of the weekend so you might have a better chance of finding time to read it if you want to.  Or you can just scroll through and look at the pictures.

Tuesday 13 of the 21 in our group went on a backpacking trip. 3 more joined us as day hikers and completed most of the hike with us.  I seriously considered this option...very seriously considered it.  But this vacation was about trying new things, so I opted for the overnight option. I told myself it was about experiencing things with my husband, but really...I didn't want to be a wimp.  And there was no way I was going to miss out.

photo credit Dan Taylor

 A special shout out goes to the Talberts for lettings borrow packs, sleeping bags, and mats.  We were the only ones with rails on our our packs and I think  they offered a lot of support.  Kind of like an underwire :) We never weighed our packs, and it was probably better that we didn't know how much they weighed.

We all drove to Jenny Lake to take the ferry to the trail head.  The first leg of the trip was to hike to Inspiration Point.  This is kind of one of the "it" things to do in Jackson Hole.  I think this leg was a mile, but it was about a 400 Ft climb.  We were a little more adjusted to the altitude, but with a pack, its a challenge.  A lot of the trail has stairs like this.

They can seem helpful, but I hae mixed feelings about them.  Several in our party had a sore hip, because they would always push up off the same foot.  I somehow kept myself balanced.  Also, I think all of those squats I do every hour at work really help me train...I seemed a lot less sore than a lot of others.

Inspiration Point is where we ate our lunch, and where most people turn back.  If you're interested in doing the hike, its very doable.  Its challenging, but doable.

After inspiration point things flattened out a lot.  A fair amount of the trail was through the woods, but there was way more out in the open and sun than I thought there would be.  Since we started around mid-day, this meant we were hiking in the heat of the day.  We took lots of breaks to rest and drink water, which was good, otherwise I never would have made it. 

The trail followed this stream pretty closely, and we stopped along the bank to pump/filter water and refill our water bottles. Most people in our group took of their shoes and socks to dip their feet in the cold water...apparently, it "hurts so good." 

It does help reduce the swelling iny our feet, and I also heard that rubbing your feet on a mossy rock is heavenly.  I kept my shoes and socks on, because I had a feeling that after soothing and refreshing my feet, I would be even more painfully aware of my discomfort as we hiked on.

When we got to The Forks, the day hikers turned back, and the trail started to climb again. 

We only ended up hiking another mile-ish before setting up camp. 

After a delicious dinner of trail mix, ramen, cheeto burritos (recipe to come!), and refilling our water bottles, 5 crazy kids went on to hike another mile(ish) and 800 vertical feet. 

 I decided not to do anymore.  I just didn't have it in me, and besides...I had a gnarly blister.  

Several of us hikers a bit up the trail and looked around, then went back to watch the sunset on the Grand and then the starts come out. 

There was a large flat rock near our campsite we could all lay out on and watch the stars.  Note: this was the best part of the whole vacation for me.  Laying on a big rock and watching the stars.  It was amazing.  I know I should say something about how it made me realize how small I was, etc., etc....but that thought didn't really cross my mind.  I just thought it looked pretty, and I was glad to be laying down and free from that pack.

As dusk was falling, Ems looked out on the rocks and fallen trees below us and was like "Hey look! Its a monkey!" And indeed it looked like it was.  After watching it for awhile, we figured it might be a honey badger.  A while later we were like " Hey..where'd he go?" and Tim was like "Oh, he's right there!"  I turned around, and he was definitely about 5 feet behind me.  And he wasn't a honey badger...he was a porcupine.  Yikes.  He lurked for the rest of the night, and we realized that the poop that was on the rock we were on must have been his...we'd taken his poop rock!

After awhile we all went to bed, and did our best to sleep.  Finally, morning came.  I was still trying to sleep, and I hear someone clamping around outside our tent.  I wasn't sure if it was wildlife, or if Uncle Rob was just up and about.  The clomping got pretty close to Tim's side, and I start to hear heavy breathing/snorting.  I looked over and Tim was awake, and then we saw the shadow of a snout right by our tent.   Great.  It could be a bear! Terrified, Tim and I continued to lay as still and quite as possible.  The critter  moved its head, and I saw the shadow of antlers.  Whew.  It was just a moose or elk.  It pushed its nose against our tent then pulled away.  The tent snapped back at it, and we heard it run away.

When we got out of the tent, the girls were looking at the hoof prints...definitely a moose.  They also said that a marmot or pika had chewed Nate's pack.  Everyone inspected their packs, and most had nibbles.  The Anna looked a hers and was like "guys...it wasn't a pika or marmot...it was the porcupine." 

There were definitely 4 quills in her shoulder strap...good thing she noticed before she picked it up.  I guess if I came home one night and there were 13 porcupines in my bathroom, I might feel a little vindictive, too.

The hike home is sort of a blur, but I can tell you this: it was hot, it was painful, I was stinky, it went a lot faster than the hike up, but still felt long. 

And I was really glad when it was over.  We rode the ferry back, and went out for Mexican for lunch.

The hike was grueling, and didn't always feel terribly rewarding, but I'm glad I did it.  I think.  At least, if I hadn't done it I would have regretted it.  The moose made it all worth it.