Grand Teton II

Grand Teton National Park - September 11-14, 2009

My hopes for backpacking in the Grand Tetons were shot. I was simply not well enough. I did take one hike, up the Cascade Canyon Trail, with an optimistic eye toward reaching Lake Solitude. It's an unusual situation in which the walk from the campground to Jenny Lake would yield the best pictures of the day. 

I was too early for the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake so I walked the two miles to the trailhead. A small crowd gathered around Hidden Falls but thinned out after Inspiration Point. The canyon is open, with views to high peaks as well as to nearby pools. I saw a mother and young moose high up on the slopes. I made it to the Forks of Cascade Canyon and a bit beyond but I knew Lake Solitude was beyond my reach.

Hidden Falls

On the way back I joined a small group watching a large moose standing in the creek. It was easily my closest view of a moose and would remain so for another nine years. By now the crowd between Inspiration Point and the boat launch was huge. Those of us who dislike crowds go to the trouble of getting an early start. This strategy is no secret, so the fact that so many people hit the trail late morning and early afternoon suggests that they just don’t mind crowds as much as we do. My hike totaled over thirteen miles but was so flat - an elevation gain of only 1100’ - I didn’t feel the distance until those last two miles around the south end of Jenny Lake.

moose

I spent another day or two just puttering around and taking pictures of this famously photogenic park. The weather was becoming decidedly autumnal, and three small fires burned in and around the park. I stopped at Colter Bay Visitors Center and watched the video on Yellowstone Wolves. It was a National Geographic I'd seen years before, but it was swell to see it again, nearly on site, on a big screen. The movie is mostly about great footage of the wolves. Then once more through the road construction and into Yellowstone.

Mount Moran