Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Grand Teton National Park!

Hello everyone!

Wow, it has been a wild time in Grand Tetons!  We camped there for three nights, and boy did we camp in some weather! It rained most of the time, off and on sprinkles- but last night was a real downpour.  It rained from the time we got in our tents, until the time we woke up this morning- and as far as I can tell it is still raining up there.

We are in a hotel in Jackson, WY right now, and I have to say it feels good to be back in civilization- even if it had to be in snooty Jackson.  (sorry but I have to rant here a little)  So, Jackson, WY is one of those towns like Highlands, NC- only the rich can live here.  They apparently have building codes that makes every business put a wooden face on their building, no matter how crappy the business.  It just seems that towns like these are putting on a face for society, and I don't like that!  I would rather see realness in this town, but apparently the tourism industry has dragged the authenticity out of this town.  So if you want to visit, be prepared to pay a lot, and see a lot of tourists- and I know that this is ironic because I am tourist.  ANYWHOOOZLE----

So Grand Teton-

Upon driving up to the park, we were trying to guess which mountains were the Tetons, and then we saw them- very unmistakable!  These mountains area absolutely HUGE! I mean over 13,000 ft tall!  When we got into the park, the road offered the best views of the mountains, even though they were partly covered by clouds and it was a little rainy.  This did not discourage us.

We got into our campsite, set up, and then went exploring, and we even came into Jackson, WY to get some supplies- my first experience with this place.  We got back that night made dinner, got the fire going, and had time to relax.  The first night was bad for me folks- no sleep, even after a Tylenol Simply Sleep (Which are amazing if can find them).

But thank goodness the rest of the nights spent there we filled with sleep!  It might have something to do with the amount of activity we participated in over those 3 days.

The day after we got there, we went hiking around Jenny Lake, and hiked up into Cascade Canyon until the snow got to be too deep- we're talking 4-6 ft!  That hike was up around The Grand Teton, AKA Big Daddy Teton, AKA Don't Mess With That Mountain!!

On this mountain, we saw a lot of interesting animals, chipmunks, golden marmots, so many different bird species, and Pikas- which are like round little balls of fluff.  There are pictures of most of these on my Facebook and here is the public link for those pics: HERE

Oh and interesting tid bit about that hike- We got up to Inspiration Point on the mountain, which is an incredible vista, and there was a family playing with a chipmunk up there.  The chipmunks up there were very used to humans feeding them- go look at the pics, you'll see!

So one of the kids is playing with the chipmunk, and he goes chasing after it.  He stops at the edge of the cliff, and then decides to climb down the cliff- his mother and father were some distance away, and they yelled at him we they finally paid attention to their kid.  It was really seriously scary, and the cliff was quite sheer!

The next day we went to Two Ocean Lake Trail, and this hike was very uneventful but very worth it! It was a great day, and in the evening it turned very sunny in the afternoon.  When that happened, we happily took advantage of it and went down to the lake to sun ourselves and bask in the 70 degree weather, the warmest we encountered.

So overall, the mountains are awe inspiring, and anything I tell you about them would not do them justice.  Go See Them!  It is worth the hassle of getting out here, and, for some of you, worth the hassle of camping in the great outdoors!

See you in Yellowstone, if I can take advantage of some Internet there!

- EBS

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