Friday, July 15th was another early morning for us. Chris and
Sarah woke up and prepared the breakfast sandwiches for everyone around
5:00am. The rest of us got the kids moving
and packed the food for lunches. We got started a little later than we did on
Wednesday, but we weren’t expecting today to be as long a day in the park. Thankfully, the first couple hours we were just
driving through the same part of Yellowstone that we went through yesterday, so
some people opted to get some extra sleep and some of the kids were required to
sleep 😊
Our first stop of the day was at the Continental Divide. Although we passed
it multiple times during our time in Yellowstone it was planned for our trip to
the Grand Tetons since there were less stops to make. It was a quick in and out
and perfect to stretch the legs.
We planned to stop at the Lewis Falls Overlook but unfortunately, they
were doing construction work and there was no place to stop. We did enjoy looking at it as we continued
driving by slowly (due to the construction). We were able to get out and look at Moose
Falls. It was beautiful and an easy
walk.
Thankfully we made it to the Willow Flats Overlook early enough to be
able to see animals. There are more animals
in the morning hours. They were way off in the distance, but we had binoculars
and a scope to be able to see the Elk up close.
We also were lucky to be there just as they did a presentation about
local bear. Lily was excited to get up
close to them and we joked with Sarah that she finally got to see one…
When we got to the loop, we made a wrong turn and accidentally went to
the Jackson Lake Dam. So, a few of us
decided to get out and take pictures and then head back in the direction that I
had planned the trip originally. I’m
glad we got pictures when we did because at the end of the day, we decided not
to go all the way back up to the Dam.
God knew that we needed to make this minor detour at the beginning to
save time later one.
Most of the stops on this trip were just overlooks. We would often just pull the car over and
take a few pictures. Sometimes we got
out of the truck and other times we took the pictures from the truck. Often it was Mariah, the kids and I who would
get and see the views up close. At one
point we were deciding whether or not to stop at one of the recommended spots
on my list… we needed a bathroom, so Matthew and I were looking to see if there
was one there. Thankfully, at the last minute we saw there was one, so we took
the turnoff and headed to Schwacher Landing which was a dirt road off the main
loop. On the road down another vehicle
stopped to let us know there was a moose in the water. Of course, we all jumped out to go find the
moose… forgetting all about the bathroom.
We were NOT disappointed. I have
never been this close to a moose before… I did make sure that someone else was always
closer. I took a few pictures and
decided not to take my chances near this majestic wild animal.
Our next stops included Mormon Historic District which included some beautiful
views with old buildings. We quickly left this area. Next up was the Chapel of Transfiguration
which was one of my favorite views. This
little church was built in 1925 and continues to have services on Sundays
during the summer months. I could not
imagine going to church with this view every morning… Man alive it was gorgeous,
and I can’t imagine how people could see these mountains and this view and not
believe in God.
The main stop in the Grand Tetons was at Jenny Lake. Unfortunately, Matthew wasn’t able to participate
in this activity. We did bring him a
pillow and downloaded movies on his phone so he could relax while we were
gone. We opted to take the boat across
the lake and save a couple mile walk to the other side. After walking ½ mile uphill to the waterfall
we had to make a decision… who was going to go the rest of the way up to Inspiration
Point. Chris and Sarah decided to stay
back at the waterfall with Lily, while the rest of us continued on. It was a long, slow walk up… Everyone was so
kind to stop and let me rest as we climbed up… especially Mariah. I got to a point where I had decided that I didn’t
need to go all the way up… until a couple was coming down and informed us that
it was only one more loop around… so I used the little energy I had left and
completed the hike. We stayed at the top
enjoying the view for a while and then headed back down to pick up Chris, Sarah
and Lily so we could all catch the boat back across. We contemplated how the timing was
perfect. We were able to do the hike with
cooler temperatures than if we had gone in the morning and by the time, we came
back down there wasn’t a mile long line for the boat… we pretty much walked
right up to it. God was so good in the
timing of our entire trip.
There was only about 12 miles left of the loop before we made it back to
the dam so we decided that instead of taking the time to finish the loop that instead
we would head back down to Jackson Hole and check out the town. It was a hopping town…. We contemplated going
up the Gondola but after finding out the price decided to go find dinner instead.
It took forever for us to get a seat at the restaurant, and we were all ready to
eat by the time the food arrived. It had
been a long, tiring day.
After dinner, Chris and Sarah headed back to the cabin with their kids
while the rest of us stayed in Jackson Hole for another hour or so checking out
the town. It reminded us of Argentina with the plaza in the middle and all the shops
surrounding it. Of course, everything closing
early was a bummer. We were able to buy
a few souvenirs, take a few pictures, walk around and see things and then head
home. We got back to the cabin sometime
around midnight… tired and ready for another day of rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment