Daily Archives: August 4, 2017

Because of the change in departure day, this was our first stop where we had two night in the same place.  After a somewhat rough night, I slept way too long (Frank felt the need to make sure I was still alive) but we eventually made it to breakfast.  Then it was off to the main event of the day: hiking in the Tetons!  I wanted something that rated as an actual hike (so no pavement) and was a little more than the casual tourist would be willing to undertake.  After some research we decided on the Taggart Lake- Bradley Lake loop in the southern part of the park. And boy were we glad we did.

It took about half an hour to get to the trailhead and the car park was pretty full by the time we got there.  Nevertheless, she persisted.  We headed toward Bradley Lake first and it seemed like the 800 feet elevation change happened entirely on this part of the hike!  We kept going up and had fabulous panoramic views of Bradley Lake – one of the 6 glacial lakes in the park.

We then headed toward Taggart Lake which was where we found the real magic.  The trail goes right along the lake front (which means we had a lot of “down” to do first) and we were treated with crystal clear waters with spectacular mountain views in the background.  I couldn’t resist dipping my feet in the water – which was really cold! – before continuing on the journey.  All in all, the route we took covered 5.9 miles which we did in just about 3 hours.   We then visited various scenic spots in the park before heading back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool to wash off the dust.

Then to the Blue Heron bar for a drink before dinner.  The reason we chose this lodge is that it is where the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium takes place each year.  It is hosted by the KC Fed and many of my colleagues work very hard to make it a premier event for economists from around the world.  Since I will never be an official attendee at the big event, I really wanted to see what the fuss was all about. And I promised a friend at work that I would have a drink in the Blue Heron for him – so I did: a Jackson Lake Lemonade which apparently involves huckleberries as do so many other things here.

We then had a lovely dinner in the Mural room where we got to watch the sunset over the Tetons.  Afterwards, we struck up a conversation with an English couple and funnily enough, the wife went to school down the road from where I used to live in London.  It was another case of “it’s a small world.”

Numbers for today:

• Miles driven: 55 (all inside the park)
• Steps taken: 17,327
• Flights climbed: 37 (according to my iPhone)
• Layers of sunscreen: 2
• Hours slept: 8 (in chunks of 4 with breaks)

While I am very happy that we were able to salvage this trip, these first few days have been very trying.  Essentially, we covered 5 days worth of vacation in 3 days.  Today was the last day to cram things in before we got “back on schedule.”  And we started the day right: fabulous breakfast (including GF quiche and banana bread!) and great conversation with our fellow B&B residents.

Then off to Yellowstone via WY 14 – one of the most amazing routes I have ever driven (okay, Frank drove so I just rode).  It goes through Big Horn National Forest.  We drove up and down as much as driving west.  At one point we were over 9000 feet!  The scenery is magnificent.  Well, I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Then we stopped in Cody – home of Buffalo Bill – to grab some picnic supplies and get the top down on the convertible.  Then off we went to the Shoshone National Forest.  More unbelievably beautiful scenery and a picnic by a river.  Note that the sign next to the one announcing the picnic area announced grizzly bears.  And yet we ate there anyway.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Then on to the chaos that is Yellowstone.  I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.  I was shocked to see acre after acre of tree skeletons.  (Note:  need to Google that and see what I should have learned before we went.) After the peaceful beauty that we had just come through, the bus loads of tourists with selfie sticks was a bit jarring.  We managed a short hike to the natural bridge – I got to climb things so I was happy.  Funny that there was a sign that described how tiny this arch is compared to the ones in Utah (which we will be seeing next week!)

The traffic and the tourists were hard to take but we were determined to see the Grand Prismatic Spring and so we did.  And it was pretty amazing.

But the number of buses and the pain of getting through the park made a trip to Old Faithful just too much to bear.  So we headed south to the actual destination for the day:  Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.  We arrived just in time for sunset.  We grabbed a couple of burgers and retired to our lovely but stupidly expensive cabin to call it a night.

Numbers for today:

• States covered: 1 (Wyoming)
• French lessons: 1 (Bon jour monsieur!)
• Average gas mileage: 22mpg
• Miles driven: 246
• Elevation change: roughly 6000 feet
• Number of steps: 11,312