Grand Teton/Death Canyon - July 9, 2010

With a name like Death Canyon, doesn't it make you want to hike it?  Since we had such a great hike yesterday, Babe did some research for another hike in Grand Teton, and came up with Death Canyon.  The trailhead was along the same Moose-Wilson Road, so it was perfect.  To reach the actual Death Canyon trailhead, there was a bumpy road with a sign that said "4x4 recommended".  At first we were daunted by it, so we parked and walked in, but seeing the road wasn't terrible, we went back to the car and drove all the way in.  The road wasn't a problem at all for our rental car, but if it had been raining for a while, I would have reconsidered.

Today's weather wasn't as nice as yesterday's though.  Clouds were looming in the horizon.  Since the weather was gloomy, we decided to just head down to Phelps Lake.  It started raining when we reached the lake, so we huddled for half an hour under a canopy of trees while the storm passed, sharing a poncho.  If any of you have ever watched the TV show "The 4400" on USA channel, the lake totally reminds me of where the 4400 were dropped off.

Many different kinds of wildflowers grew alongside the trail.  I normally don't spend a lot of time photographing flowers, but I couldn't help taking a bunch because of the variety and the fact that it just rained added a refreshing touch.  Here are some of them:

It was getting chilly, so we abandon hiking further and returned to the condo to enjoy the rest of the day and to pack.  7 nights had already passed so quickly.  Tomorrow, we drive back to Salt Lake City.

Jackson/Cascade Canyon - July 7-8, 2010

After our long day in Yellowstone yesterday, we decide to spend today to relax and recuperate.  I looked for some good eats on Yelp and found an ice cream place to try, so we headed into town.  We didn't have much trouble finding a parking space right next to the town square.  I had to get a closer picture of the antler graveyard.  It gives me the shivers.

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.

Yellowstone National Park - July 6, 2010

The rain poured down last night; we had seen clouds looming in the evening.  You could hear the rain dripping off the roof.  Then sometime during the middle of the night, it quieted down.  Babe took a look outside, and it was snowing but it didn't stick to the ground at our elevation.  I looked out the window the next morning; the ground was wet from the storm, and a deer was munching on fresh grass.

We didn't have the best night's sleep, not because of the rain, but due to hearing our neighbors next door, part of the Chinese tour group.  The Pioneer Cabins shared a wall and also had a connecting door, thus sound traveled.  Four people were staying next door; they came home late last night, talked very loudly in Mandarin, and 3 of them took long showers.  The 4th took a shower in the morning, which served as our alarm clock.  I probably wouldn't stay in the Pioneer Cabins again unless I had no option, or needed connecting rooms.

We checked out (ie. dropped the keys off at the key box right outside the parking lot entrance) and headed to Upper/Lower Yellowstone Falls nearby.  This is a very picturesque location.  If you'd like, you can drive to the brink of Upper Falls and watch millions of gallons of water cascading down.  Seeing all that water, I wondered how it doesn't run out!   Babe and I didn't want to do car sightseeing, so we parked near Uncle Tom's trail and went on a hike.  There was a detour down to a great vantage point for Lower Falls, but it consisted of multiple steep perforated metal stairways.  It was easy going down, but coming back up, even I was needing some oxygen.  (it also didn't help that I was pushing myself!)  But it was so worth it.  Beautiful rainbows from the mist.  We continued down the trail towards Artist's Point, a famous scenic view with Lower Falls in the background.  You can see why artists would want to capture it.  Last night's snowfall stuck to the mountain peaks, offering a stunning contrast to the green landscape, in July!  Along the trail, we ran into some people photographing a baby bear not too far away.  I really didn't want to stick around for a picture because baby bears wouldn't be alone...mama bear was most likely near by and it'd be risky to hang around.

We then took another trail over to Clear Lake for lunch.  Along the way were other lakes, and lots of thermal activity, like steaming vents, boiling mud pots, and thermal pools.  There were signs everywhere saying to keep away from the thermal features.  We broke for lunch when we reached Clear Lake.  Unfortunately, standing water usually means mosquitoes, so we had to eat fast and rush out of there.

The trail made its way through a beautiful meadow with wildflowers, the kind where you want to run into your babe's arms.  The snow-capped mountains made it even more breathtaking.  As we were reaching the end of the trail, which looped back near the parking lot, we saw an elk!  There were so many people around it and getting too close (you must stay 100 yards away from bears/wolves and 25 yards away from other animals).  A park ranger eventually came by and shooed everyone away, leaving me a perfect tourist-free picture opportunity. :)

We then made our way to Mammoth Hot Springs to see the springs.  The terraces created by the minerals in the water look very alien.  Due to the earth shifting, springs and terraces come and go, and there were lots of dried up springs, and new ones born.  The trails around the springs are made out of wood, like boardwalks, and very long, connected by stairwells. 

I was getting hungry (surprised?) and needed a snack.  The nearest place to get food was in town, so see how far I had to walk, just to get a bite to eat?

Along the way, we ran into the biggest bathroom in the world.  Just kidding.

We ended up getting another cup of ice cream, this time peanut butter cup and mint chip.  The peanut butter cup was sooooo good.   The line was too long at the Yellowstone General Store (which sold the 2-scoop cups at $3.65) and ended up going to the cafeteria across the street, which charged the usual $3.40.  Do people know that they're paying extra???

After our snack, we walked all the way back to where I took that picture above (when I got hungry) to get back to the car.  We were heading to Roosevelt Lodge for dinner.  Along the way, we saw a black bear from the car.

Roosevelt Lodge was the best place we had for dinner by far.  I ordered the elk burger and Babe tried the bison top sirloin.  The burger was so tasty, the elk very juicy.  The bison was flavorful and not dry like yesterday's burger.  The meals were served with homemade cornbread muffins that tasted heavenly with a dollop of butter and honey from a jar.  Even I couldn't help but to eat one of them, despite it being made of corn.  The menu mentions the green beans as "haricoverts", hilarious.  I knew they meant "haricot verts", but I couldn't help pronouncing it in my head as "hairy coverts".  For dessert, we tried their cobbler of the day, but it wasn't noteworthy; I probably wouldn't order it again.

We were now heading back to Jackson, but stopping at a few places on the way for some quick sightseeing.  Tower Falls was next, and we attempted to hike to the bottom of it, but the trail was closed for renovations.  It wasn't really worth the hike, so just take pictures from the vantage point above.

Despite it being late in the day, I wanted to hit the top of Mt. Washburn, since I had read about a road we could drive up as a short cut, but the road was gated off. :(  So we drove to the official trailhead and hiked as far as we could before the sun set.  The view from here are magnificent, even with just an hour of sunlight left. 

On the road again...the drive back was supposed to take 2.5 hours, but it ended up being close to 4 hours. :(  Best to avoid driving on the roads at sunset, because that's when the animals come out, and traffic is at a standstill from people stopping in the middle of the 2-lane road taking pictures, or a ton of bison are trying to cross the road, causing everyone to stop anyway.  We did get some good shots from the car, and even saw an elk swim right across Yellowstone River!

We finally got home around midnight.  Tomorrow will be a lazy day.