The conclusion of our 2,022 mile trip across the northern United States to begin our second season as volunteers in Grand Teton National Park. [Part 1 here] Friday is another travel day and we stay at a Harvest Host in Shoshoni Wyoming. We visited before and it was easy to come back. The farm dogContinue reading “Nine Days on the Road – Pt. 2”
Category Archives: Grand Teton
Heading Home
Our expectations of what our time in the park would be like closely resembled a Hollywood dream sequence. 32 work hours per week, divided any way we wanted between two people seemed perfect. Two days on, five days off to play, right!? What could be easier?! We hadn’t factored in COVID and its impact on the park, or having a single vehicle into our plans.
A Tour of Our Summer Neighborhood
It has been a whirlwind since we arrived on 19 June. The first week volunteering at headquarters has both of us absorbing new terminology, command structure, and office tasks as quickly as possible. …
For now we thought we’d give you the lay of the land, in this place, our home for the summer. To start, we are camped in the Gros Ventre Campground, near Kelly WY.
Our Cunning Plan
Dave and I have often thought of this adventure as the fruition of a four year old “cunning plan” (Black Adder fans can probably hear Edmund & Baldrick chortling). An elaborate, convoluted, and multi-part scheme that flaunts believability in its potential for success. The plan gets its start in a love story.
Colter Bay, Grand Teton National Park
It is a rainy Monday, so we decide to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Signal Mountain Lodge here in the park — which has a nice view of Lake Jackson from the dining room. Dave has some business to transact, so naturally we head over to Jackson Lake Lodge. The next storm is rolling in and the Tetons are completely hidden from view — much to the disappointment of tourists unloaded from the train of buses who tromp through, stare out the window, take a selfie in front of the fog, buy a coffee, and get back on the bus.
Grand Teton Arrival
It is hard to believe that it was two years ago, in fulfilling our dream of staying in a cabin in the Tetons, that experience would lead us to where we are today — in a campground in the Tetons! Here we are, a month-and-a-half into a five month trip, set up under towering Lodgepole Pines in the Colter Bay campground on Jackson Lake in Teton National Park. (And we think we have the hot shower issue figured out.) WooHoo!
Lagniappe (a little bit extra, a gift)
This whole experience with Dave has been its own special gift. And now I have three days, on my own, in this special place. I have no specific plans for this unexpected lagniappe, just some general ideas — so we’ll see what happens!
Bookends
The mountains are covered from top to toe in clouds — just as they were on the day we arrived. Seems an appropriate bookend for the vacation. It is not even light enough to go look for animals at Oxbow. So, on to our favorite Plan B: breakfast in town. We pass Mr. Fox with his mouth full of squirrel at the stop sign.
Whistle while you hike
This is a hike on a large peninsula on Jackson Lake. The trailhead is at a busy marina where folks moor their big motorboats for the season, as well as put in the smaller pleasure craft like canoes and kayaks. The hike starts off with the usual warning to be alert for bears. The path is shared by horses and follows the shoreline south. Thick trees go down to the water’s edge and so screen the water from view for much of the going. Every once in a while we get a nice break and a spectacular view of the water and mountains beyond. There is a pairs of people paddling in bright red canoes across the reflection of Mt. Moran in the bay. It must be magical to be out there on the water right now!
Living with Bison
… for now we have dappled sunshine and a soft breeze, and fifty minutes to hike north. The trail is very busy today — we see countless kayaks, canoes, inner-tubes, and paddle boards being dragged up the trail, looking for a good place to put in. Lots of families obviously arrived earlier in the day and have been picnicking lake side. A far cry from the last time we were here in winter gear — was that really just three weeks ago?!?! By the end of the hike it is warm enough that I am ready to jump in too!