The ice cream shop was supposedly located inside a hat store, so we found it and walked in. We venture to the back of the store, but no ice cream, though the walls were painted like a dairy cow hide. I couldn't believe that Yelp'ers would be wrong about the ice cream shop location, so we walked outside for a bit, and then walked back into the hat store. I think we must have done this at least three times before I decided to ask a clerk about the ice cream. "Oh, we used to have an ice cream store here, but it's moved to the other corner of the town square." Moved??? How come Yelp didn't talk about it? Turns out the new location was right next to where we parked, haha. (and recently, someone updated Yelp with the new location...)
There were tons of flavors and the ice cream is supposedly made with all-natural ingredients. Pricey...the ice cream in Yellowstone was a great deal. They also sold sweets here too. I don't even remember what flavor of ice cream we ended up getting, so not noteworthy for me. We enjoyed whatever flavor it was on a park bench in the town square, including some people-watching. The town atmosphere is very relaxing and people seem really happy here. Though I don't know what people do for a living, because it's so expensive to live in Jackson.
We took a round-about way back to the condo, to see the town of Wilson and check out the scenery. Wilson is a small town just 15 minutes away from Jackson, and probably more affordable to live in, with gorgeous views of the Tetons. There was supposedly moose around, but we didn't see any.
We ended up stopping by the grocery store just near our condo, and I was surprised at how well-stocked it was. We picked up more local foods for some grilling tonight: buffalo sausage, local rib eye, Bunnery cinnamon raisin bread (not as good as their cinnamon bread though). Duraflame logs burned in the fireplace and star-gazed in the backyard late in the night. A nice and lazy day to refresh before tomorrow's hiking adventure in Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton National Park. Moose sightings have been reported here, so I was looking forward to it!
The next morning, we headed out of the condo complex and drove north on Moose-Wilson Road to the Granite Canyon entrance station of Grand Teton National Park. I liked having this station here because we didn't have to drive all the way out to Jackson and through town to get to Grand Teton. The Granite Canyon station only had one lane, so no annual pass shortcuts. The road from here is very narrow and windy, thus RV's and trailers were not allowed. We had to pass another entrance station (Moose) on the way to the Cascade Canyon trailhead.
To shave off 2 miles of hiking each way, we took a ferry that crossed Jenny Lake to Inspiration Point. It was $10 round-trip, definitely worth it. The ticket was a hand-stamp. I was worried that the stamp would fade from sweat at the end of the day, but it didn't. While crossing, we saw a deer swimming in the middle of the lake! I was amazed that the deer had so much energy to cross.
The Cascade Canyon trail does not disappoint! So many photo ops! Wildflowers were abundant. The air was fresh and the temperature was just right at around 80 degrees. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.
We hiked all the way to Lake Solitude and the high elevation meant that there was snow on the ground and the lake was still frozen. In July! It felt like I was doing some winter hiking, even though the temperature was 80 degrees. We ran into an Amish family who were hiking back from the lake. The man had a beard typical of Amish. His daughter was wearing a dress, also typical. Kudos to her for hiking in a long dress.
We saw animals along our hike...a marmot and yes, a moose! Two even! The first moose was just a black dot on my lens, but the second moose was really close. :) Mission accomplished.
We hiked back to the ferry drop off and did some remaining sightseeing at Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls. Simply breathtaking.
I highly recommend this trail as it reveals a lot of the beauty of Grand Teton National Park. Also, there was hardly anyone on the trail, especially when you hike in deeper, so you get a chance to take in the peace and serenity of the area. This is much more rewarding than stopping at the turnouts off the main road.
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