Tetons!

  

This post picks up where Yellowstone Day6 left off. I left Yellowstone Park and drove into Grand Teton National Park. I picked up some local bread and drove down to Jenny lake via the scenic road to sit and have an ice cream and write down some of the reflections I’ve had in the last few days.  

My ex and I have hobbies in common. We both like being out of nature we both like camping and taking hikes, but how we engaged in those activities is so different. During the school year, I don’t have the energy. My job is really demanding and I don’t have anything left to give to my hobbies and I know that was really irritating to him. During the summer my idea of a fun camping trip or a hike wasn’t good enough big enough; whatever. I’m not a wake up at the ass crack of dawn to go on a sunrise hike at significant altitude sort of girly. It took me a full four days this trip to adjust to being at altitude without getting sick every day. 1400 feet in elevation gain over 2 1/2 miles is a lot for me spending almost 4 hours on a 5 mile hike is a really good effort for me but that never felt like enough. I’m really proud of myself for what I’ve done these last six days but it kind of sucks that there was this person that I’m married to would enjoy being here would enjoy seeing the things that I saw would enjoy doing the hike I did but not with me

I found my campsite around 2 o’clock this afternoon and started to get set up for the next two days. 

I went back down to Colter Bay to grab a bite to eat and sit on the swimming beach unfortunately, the fun was short-lived and I ended up vomiting a lot and not being able to walk or stay upright, thankfully within 15 minutes I was able to have a park ranger come help me EMTs were called in and I was taken to Jackson for medical attention.

The sucky part is the IVs they gave me in the ambulance. Had me feeling better about 3/4 of the ride in, but they won’t just turn around and take you back. You have to be seen by a doctor so this became really expensive but that’s a problem for August Claire today. I’m just happy that I was able to get back to my car and back to camp.

This campground is a little bit more rustic no showers on site which I didn’t think would be a big deal but having spent four hours in a hospital, it would’ve been really nice to shower tonight. I’ll jump in the lake tomorrow. I had a black bear walk right in front of me and at first I was so distracted with what I was doing that I didn’t even notice and by the time I noticed I just there and it was so comfortable humans which is dangerous, but it just walked right past me. I like a little bit more distance between me and nature, especially when nature is that dangerous. 

I got the tent set up inside the bug screen a little bit differently this time so I gave myself a lot more room by one door and I’m able to have my smaller camping chair set up there so I enjoyed some time there this evening before cleaning up and crawling into bed. My last night in Yellowstone, my mattress was in desperate need of re-inflation and I already feel a difference tonight much more comfortable. I’m sure I will do a few sudoku‘s before heading to bed, but that’s it for today. More adventurous than I wanted it to be but ending the way I hoped it would.

Day 2

Struggled to sleep a little bit last night where they poked me hurt. Also think the mattress got a little over inflated, but after I let some air out, it was a lot better. a lot of things that bump in the night that was disturb also people opening their bear lockers very strange hours and those things are noisy. Woke up around eight, but it’s almost 9 and I still haven’t gotten out of the tent. I think today is just a lazy day drink a lot of water drink some Gatorade, attempt to feel better. All plans were today have been pushed off for tomorrow. 

Well, I fell back asleep and woke up a little bit before 11 but I’m glad to report that I did get out of my tent before noon which possibly might be the only goal for the day

I drained the big cooler today. I have two coolers for this trip, a small 24 yeti roadie and a 60 K2 cooler that I am absolutely in love with at this point I put in 4- 10 pound bricks in Seattle on 27 June. It is now 7 July and I still have 4-5 pound bricks of ice. The fill ice is melted along with some of the brick which i would expect after 10 days, but the fact that it’s still very cold, and I still have ice is very impressive.  I need to get more fill ice for the yeti which is my drink cooler that gets opened a lot more frequently and ran out of ice in Yellowstone so the plan is to go get more ice and adjust how my cooler is set up so that it functions better. But overall super impressed with the K2. I also was half the price of a yeti. 

I refilled the big K2 cooler but decided to hold off on the yeti until I make a grocery run tomorrow because there’s nothing in the cooler that needs to be kept cold right now. 

I drove down to Jenny lake with a little bit of patience was able to get a wonderful parking spot and took the ferry across the lake saving myself 2 1/2 miles to hike in it cost $12 for an adult one Way.

I thought about getting the round-trip ticket but they said it was over an hour wait to get back and you’re standing in the sun and after yesterday that did not sound like a good call they explained that the 2 1/2 mile walk back is in the shade so that’s what I opted for. The ride is quick and painless even for someone that does not do well on open water. Upon getting off the boat on the other side, you’re greeted by a lot of stairs both wood and rock to get up to hidden Falls. Don’t be deceived. There’s a waterfall you reach relatively quickly.

This is not the one you’re looking for but stop and snap some pictures and continue on your way up to hidden Falls. It’s about a half a mile from the boat dock. Once at hidden Falls, which is beautiful.

Claire sitting in Front of Hidden Falls

Hidden Falls- Grand Teton

View from Inspiration Point - Grand Tetons

Once done there, you can go up to inspiration point which did inspire a lot of children to behave badly so I didn’t spend much time up there, before walking back down finding the Jenny Lake trailhead and starting my 2 1/2 mile walk back to the visitor center. The walk was beautiful, but I’m glad I did it on the way back as you’re coming down from a mountain and so for me coming down is a lot easier than going up. I was in the shade 98% of the time and it was a really nice walk.

I got myself a snack of ice cream and picked up a few postcards to send out before calling it a day at Jenny Lake. Given that this was my only full day, Teton and my experience yesterday I’m really proud of what I was able to do today. I got what I needed to get done done and I had fun doing the things I wanted to do without pushing myself too far. 

Stopped at Leeks Pizzaria for dinner it’s right on the lake and was a relaxing way to end my day. I got the grand which is pesto artichokes, feta, sun-dried, tomatoes, spinach, and fresh mozzarella. Good flavor, but too crispy of a crust for me and not worth the price. 

 Well, if we trust the weather reports this is the last morning where I will wake up and see my breath as I walked to the bathroom, which I am both excited for and terrified for because that means it’s going to be very, very hot during the day. 

As for this morning, I’m very loud birds woke me up at about five. But I am certainly not ready to be officially awake yet. I have to get out of the campground by 11 and I want to be out before then because I have a 4 Hour drive. But 5 AM is a little early 

I was able to fall back asleep for a little while longer and then stay in bed and just be at peace before getting up. I’ve gotten the tent takedown routine down to 30 minutes and that includes the big bug pop-up tent and deflating my mattress. I feel pretty good about that. I started my drive to Little America, which will have its own blog so I’ll stop here.