Cute Little Shop in Jackson Hole

Hoback Junction, WY: Spent most of the morning on the computer. Accomplished a lot. I have a cold and feel like my whole head is under water. First cold I’ve had in years. Another beautiful, warm day. Sat out in the sun for a while until the wind kicked up. It’s been really dry here and the dust blows around when it’s windy. So, we closed up and turned on the AC. Supposed to leave here tomorrow and head south to a national forest campground. There’s a mountain main museum there we want to check out. Bike week at Sturgis is coming up and there's a lot more bikers on the road. Rib eyes and sweet corn for dinner tonight.

Sun, 8/3/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY, to Hoback Junction, WY: Went over to Jackson Lake Lodge this morning for another sumptuous breakfast…lots of fresh fruit, poached eggs Florentine, bacon, sausage, assorted rolls and muffins, and their signature waffles that melt in your mouth. Stuffed ourselves. Another beautiful day. After breakfast we went back to the campground and got ready to leave. The drive to Hoback Junction was only about 50 miles. We had a reservation at the KOA there which turned out to be a dump and their wi-fi wasn’t working. So we tried The Virginian in Jackson which was full and ended up at the Lazy J—just a mile down the road from the KOA. This place is much better. The KOA wanted over $50 per night. This place is only $25. No TV, but their wi-fi works. We need to do some computer stuff.

Ground Squirrel

Sat, 8/2/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Fire danger “very high” here. They raised it because of the fires in Yellowstone. It has been very dry here with low humidity. We decided to have a fire this morning. I made smoothies and we sat around the fire and burned up the last of our wood. Later in the afternoon we got the laundry together to take over to the Laundromat. Got it all loaded in the truck along with the outboard propane tank to be refilled and the gasoline container for the generator. Got it all loaded in the truck and the truck wouldn’t start. Battery absolutely dead. So Mike hauled the battery charger gismo out of the storage compartment and then hauled the generator out so we could plug the gismo into it to charge the battery. The generator was out of gas (sigh). So, off he went walking with the gasoline container up to the service station. About a mile each way. While he was gone I hauled some water and put it in the tank. He came back, filled the generator, cranked it up, hooked up the gismo, and eventually the truck started. Took the laundry over and finished that and came back and relaxed for a while. We decided to go to the restaurant here in Colter Bay for dinner. Had a great meal. Three mule deer wandered through our campsite today. We leave here tomorrow for Hoback Junction—12 miles south of Jackson. Hate to leave here—we love the Tetons. By the way, the Tetons got its name from some Canadian explorers -who when seeing them for the first time coming from the west called them “les trois Tetons”—the three breasts. The name stuck. The Indians called them Teewinot—jagged mountains. Whatever—they are beautiful. I’m sure we’ll be back here.

Two Ocean Lake Trail

Fri, 8/1/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Decided to hike the Two Ocean trail today. We stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge and had a wonderful breakfast. Then drove to a paved road off the main park road and then onto a dirt road to the trail head. We wanted to hike the trail along the south shore of the lake, but it was closed because of wildlife activity. We found out later there is a pack of wolves in that area and they didn’t want them disturbed. So we set out on the north trail. It wound through a conifer and hardwood forest and then into an open meadow with wild flowers that came up to our shoulders in some spots. Lots of aspen. We were quite a ways from the lake up a few hundred feet but with great views of the lake. Another glacial lake. Got its name from Two Ocean Pass—the streams at the pass go to both the Atlantic and Pacific—hence the name. We hiked until the trail started going away from the lake and into the forest and then turned around. Only about 2 miles total. Then we went back to Colter Bay and hiked a little figure 8 trail that goes along the shore of the lake and out to an island via a causeway. A pretty little hike. We did about 4 miles total. Stopped for ice cream and then back to our campsite and relaxed the rest of the day. We heard there’s a forest fire in Yellowstone. Started when a snag fell and hit an electric wire. It’s very close to Fishing Bridge where we stayed when we were there. Another beautiful day today—85 and sunny. The lake looked very inviting.

Jenny Lake Trail

Thu, 7/31/08

Grand Teton National Park, WY: Got up feeling absolutely wonderful this morning and raring to go. Decided we’d hike the Jenny Lake Trail, so we filled up our packs, put on our hiking boots and headed out. Another spectacular day. Stopped for breakfast at the little Colter Bay restaurant about a mile from our campground. At Jenny Lake they have a boat that traverses the lake, but we decided to hike round and then took a detour up cascade canyon to see hidden falls. What a beautiful falls. Just a little further from the falls is where the trees get sparse and the granite begins. There was a large group ahead of us climbing up. Jenny Lake is a beautiful, pristine, glacial lake that is crystal clear and ice cold. On the way around we saw an elk in a high meadow. After the detour to the falls I wanted to hike up to inspiration point but Mike didn’t so I went up for a while. The trail went pretty close to some sharp drops, so I turned back after a while. Hiked back down from the falls on a different trail that went right along the beautiful stream down from the falls. Then we hiked to the boat ramp and took the boat back. The trail around this lake goes right around the lake and you’re right at the base of the Tetons. Pretty spectacular. Stopped at the Colter Bay store and had some ice cream before going back to the campground. 80s again today. Perfect. Probably hiked 3.5 miles today.