Wed, 7/30/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: I got a stomach ache right after going to bed last night and could not sleep. Finally got up around 4:00 and got on the computer for a while. When Mike got up I went back and laid down and got a few hours sleep. Felt like crap all day so we just hung out. Mike loaded water, emptied the grey water, and cleaned up the fire pit. He was busy. I just laid around all day feeling like crap—and it was another beautiful day. We’ve had such great weather here.

This is what the road over Teton Pass looked like in the early 1900s

Tue, 7/29/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: We decided to go back into Jackson today because I wanted to go over Teton Pass—where John Colter crossed the Tetons—and you have to go through Jackson to get there. Stopped at a drug store and dropped off my prescription. The drive over the pass was quite spectacular. Of course Colter did it in the dead of winter. The mountains were covered with a thick conifer forest all the way to the top. We drove to Victor, Idaho, had lunch at this cute little place (the Grumpy Goat, or something) and then headed back. At the pass we stopped to take a picture and read some of the historic information. A young guy approached us to see if he could catch a ride to Jackson. He rode up the pass on his bike and had 3 flat tires. The third one he couldn’t fix. I was going to frisk him before we let him in the truck, but he had so much spandex on there’s no way he could conceal anything. So we put his bike in the back of the truck and off we go. He’s the resident manager at one of the resort hotels in Jackson. Told us he could get us a good rate if we wanted. Nice guy. We dropped him at his car and then we decided to drive over to Alpine. Our guide on our float trip lives in Alpine. It’s about 50 miles from the moose entrance to Teton National Park and he drives it twice a day. He does it in about an hour. He calls it the Alpine 500. This was a beautiful drive along the Snake River all the way. The river is absolutely beautiful—a wonderful blue color contrasting with the white rapids. And it goes through some impressive canyons. In Alpine we stopped and got something to drink and I took over driving. Back to Jackson and picked up my prescription and then drove back to the park. On the way back we took a dirt road off the park road down to Schwabacker’s Landing. The road goes down from a high plateau of sage brush to a little stream—probably a tributary of the Snake. We walked along the stream until we came to a beaver dam and quite a large pond. There were a couple of beaver lodges. We saw a beaver swimming around and watched him for a while. Drove back and stopped at Jackson Lodge to have a drink on their deck. Everyone must have had the same idea because there were no tables available outside, so we left and went back to our campground. It was 90 in Jackson. Probably 80s here. Clouding up tonight.

Mon, 7/28/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Had a fire again this morning. I was starving but Mike didn’t want a big breakfast, so I scrambled some eggs and had some fruit with it. Made some smoothies too. Tasted pretty good. Added some more water to the water tank. Decided to go for a hike. We got our fanny packs and put in some snacks and drinks and headed out. Took a trail that starts at the Colter Bay marina and followed the west shore of Colter Bay for a while. Saw 3 mule deer. Beautiful views of the lake and the Tetons. Veered off through the pines and eventually we came to Heron Pond. Very pretty pond with lots of water lilies and a beaver lodge. Again, with beautiful views of the Tetons. Stayed there for a while—it was so quiet and peaceful. Just some birds and ducks. Continued on past the pond through the pines and came to Swan Lake. A pretty big lake just covered with lilies. Saw a beaver dam. Sat there for a while and had our snacks. Continued on through the pines which opened up into a meadow loaded with wild flowers. And back to the lake which completed the loop. Only a little over 3 miles, but we haven’t hiked in a while and we were pooped. Had some ice cream at the store and then back to our campsite. We got there and a guy was putting a new fire ring in. He made a mess, but we have a new fire ring. Italian sausage sandwiches and four-bean salad for dinner. We extended for a few more days here. Now we’ll leave on Sunday and drop down to a KOA just south of Jackson. We need to get on the computer and take care of some things. They have wi-fi there. I also need to get a prescription filled.

Sun, 7/27/08

Grand Teton Natonal Park, WY: Had a fire this morning and hung out by the fire for a while. I hauled a couple of loads of water and Mike did another. Then we headed over to Jackson Lake for the cruise. A perfect day for it—mid-80s. A pretty cruise. We went around Elk Island which is huge. Got some great views of the glaciers on the mountains and some spectacular canyons. The water felt pretty warm from the shore. Supposed to be in the 50s and 60s. Too cold for me. I’d like to rent a couple of kayaks. We’ll see. After the cruise we drove to Jackson. Most people call it Jackson Hole, but Jackson Hole is really the large valley between the Tetons and the Gros Ventre. Anyway, Jackson is a ski town and very touristy. I needed to get a prescription filled. Went to the Albertsons grocery store and pharmacy but the pharmacy was closed. Then went to K-Mart but the pharmacy was closed. Where we stopped to get on the Internet I didn’t have a good enough signal. So we decided to heck with it and we started searching for a place for dinner. I wanted to stay out of the busy part of Jackson, so we found a really nice restaurant away from all the tourist stuff. It was called “The Gun Barrel” and they specialized in game dishes. We had a great dinner but very pricy. Headed back to Colter Bay. Got back around 8:00. Mike had to empty the grey water tanks and take to the dump station. It was 90 in Jackson but the humidity must have been pretty low because it felt great.

Cathedral Peaks

Sat, 7/26/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Today turned out to be a work day. We did the laundry at the Colter Bay complex, bought some groceries, Mike had one propane tank filled and bought gas for the generator, and we filled the water tank. Had a late lunch at the Colter Bay Mexican restaurant and then walked over to the visitor center. They have a great collection of Indian art—beaded clothing and moccasins, baskets and bowls. Pretty impressive. I bought a book by a local author about wolves. She’s supposed to be the Jane Goodall of wolf research. Should be interesting. Walked down to the marina and signed up for a cruise on Jackson Lake for tomorrow. Came back and relaxed at the camp site. A beautiful, balmy evening. Mid-80s today. Supposed to be the same tomorrow.

Fri, 7/25/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Had a fire this morning and then drove over to the little café at Kelly to get on their wi-fi. That didn’t work out too well. Left there and drove over to the main visitor center which is a really beautiful, very modern building. Brand new—haven’t even finished it completely. After that we drove toward Jackson to see if we could get a signal. We pulled over at a little turn-out and had a great signal and some shade and did some banking, pulled our e-mail, and updated the blog. Got some trail maps at the visitor center and hope to hike a couple of trails—if Mike feels okay. Another beautiful day—mid-80s.