We left from Fort Collins, hostel de parents, at 8:22 AM. We were a caravan of 2, C and I in Tobias and M in her Honda. The day was mostly driving in Wyoming. At times it was scenic. M took most of the lead and guided us to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). We stayed in an expensive cabin with a shower. Maybe I prefer camping because I end up sleeping on the floor anyway.
We carpooled to an overlook, Willow Flats, and snapped photos of Mount Moran and debated whether it was the Grand Teton or not. We then headed over to the Jackson lodge and had dinner at the Blue Heron (bar? grill?) which had 40-foot windows and a view of Mount Moran. We all had local beer, I had a brown ale from Idaho, and scarfed down dinner. We crashed early and began our Ben Franklin ways.
8/16- Early to rise, 5 AM, we made our way around Colter Bay in the darkness. M wanted sunrise photos and somehow talked C into getting up early. No one else was out. I think we were a little early and a little frightened that we might stumble across a bear. The beware of bears signs are everywhere and sunrise alone seemed like prime time to startle one.
We started snapping photos at the hint of first light and didn't stop, except to walk the trail to find a new spot, until the earth had spun well into morning. I got 3 good photos from the batch.
We checked out of the cabin and hustled over to the Jenny Lake campground with the news that it was not yet crazy. The most popular of the the park campgrounds, it is a tent-only, first-come first-serve area in the shadow of the Grand Teton (or perhaps a lesser known mountain which blocks the view of it). We circled the campground like vultures and settled on site 43. We can see the nipple through the trees. We claimed the site, but had to wait a couple hours for the current occupants to vacate. With a fear of site poachers provided by the campground host, we circled the nearby outlooks and began the early series of M jumping and yoga in front of mountain scenery. By about 11:30, we had our tents up on site and were headed to Jackson.
I had a vision of Jackson subs and the first lunch-appropriate restaurant we saw was a sub shop. Taking the vision seriously we scared down subs and made our plan. Our plan needed ice cream. Jackson was a smaller, fancier Gatlinburg. The Asian tourists were out in force. Although the town square had a small park framed by antler arches, the quirkiness was offset by luxury goods- fine art galleries, Svarski crysals, and Moo's ice cream. We could only luxuriate so much and each had a scoop from Moo's. We shopped a bit in other expensive, but less luxurious shops and then headed to the river with Teton Adventures Rafting Company.
We'd go 8 miles in our 14 person boat on the Snake River. M started off nervous, but quickly became a fan. There's something about rafting that makes me want to say yes. The guide Brenton asked for a paddle master- I volunteered. He asked if anyone wanted to ride the bull, up front with feet dangling- I volunteered. Later he asked if anyone wanted to run the boat- again, I volunteered. He used oars to guide the boat and I struggled to master the paddles and use them both, but I started to get it in the end. I missed my shot at some rapids. Next time. We bounced through some great rapids, including Big Kahuna after I'd returned to passenger duties.
We swam, we tried to ride a spinning raft. It was all kinds of fun. I was shivering a bit by the end, but happy. It had been a good day and the Snake River had been the highlight. We arrived back at our car later than expected and chose Merry Piglets, a Mexican restaurant, for sustenance rather than grocery shopping and dinner in the dark. It was tasty, especially the Spicy Jalapeno margarita. We crashed in the tents and woke up to the sound of the road, chipmunks, and that day's camp site vultures.
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