Tag Archives: jackson hole

Shoulda Stayed in Brownies: Jenny Lake, Wyoming

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Jenny Lake I dropped out of Brownies so I was not a Girl Scout, which means I don’t know nuthin’ about maps. But ponder this:

The trail around Jenny Lake in Rockefeller National Park in Jackson, WY, is 7-8 miles long. You can hike 2.5 miles and for the low, low price of $7.00, a boat will pick you up and bring you back to where you parked your car. How nice.

Jenny Lake boatOr, you can go in the opposite direction and walk over 5 miles to reach the damn boat.

Guess which one I did?

Merriam-Webster just added “aha moment”  to the dictionary in 2012. I wonder when “oh sh*t” will make it into the books? That’s a familar feeling for any hiker of compromised direction. When you realize your hike is more than twice as long as you thought, that’s when you when you take a deep breath and stop thinking about lunch for a few.

So how to reach that boat after all? Don’t ask my hiking partner Debbie. She just tripped on the trail and did a full body twirl onto the rock solid path. (Though I must admit I thought I would be the first to drop.)

Being from New Orleans it is only natural to rely on the kindness of strangers. And sure enough, along came Al and Amanda, a nice young couple from back east. Al must have been a Boy Scout because once he realized the shortest distance between two points is to take the boat, he got down to business. He pulled out a map.

Imagine that.

And a few steps later, Al spotted this: DSC_0211

“I am in good hands, indeed,” I thought!

Al led us to the promised land. We hiked a couple miles more around a creek, alongside a mountain and finally saw the shore. We joined a queue of about 20 people who waited for the water ferry for the 10 minute ride back to the dock. Once on familiar ground, we soon lost our fears and celebrated our 5 1/2 mile conquest.

Day of rest tomorrow. I am 50 years old for goodness sake!

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Thank You Rockefellers!

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Let’s hear it for rich people who give back in enormous ways. John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874.1960), of Standard Oil lineage,  thought preservation instead of development when he donated 24,000 acres that connect Grand Teton National Park with Yellowstone, the world’s first national park.
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Located a few miles outside Jackson, the Laurence Rockefeller Preserve, named after Junior’s son, offers some great hikes and lookouts. At left is a shot of the view just as you begin the trail.  It is a pack it in, pack it out kind of place so you won’t find any trashcans.

 

 

 

Phelps LakeThis is bear country. That fact is top of mind at all times. I don’t know what I would do if I came face to face with a grizzly. One thing the signs consistently say is don’t run. So that doesn’t leave me many options, I’m afraid.

 

I highly recommend a jaunt to Phelps Lake.  My Tracks app calculated it as 1.82 miles in and 1.88 miles back. I would consider this a moderate hike since there is a slight incline along the way. In the beinning of the hike you will come upon  a creek. You can hike around the lake once you arrive. It’s a beauty.

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Filed under Jackson Hole, Uncategorized, Wyoming

Touchdown Jackson Hole, WYO

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Taggart LakeI arrived in Jackson, Wyoming thinking that was cloud cover we were flying through. Wrong.

Smoke from seasonal fires are blowing this way, creating a hazy but not lazy summer in Jackson. You can’t smell smoke but the haze adds a filter that makes you wish for a good rain to wipe it away.  No fires here but they are in neighboring Idaho and four other western states.

But the nature here is breathtaking nonetheless. The trails are challenging and the scenery and wildlife are one of a kind. Spying on a moose drinking in a creek is a sight you just don’t see while shopping downtown.

DSC_0219Here’s a delightful moose who has taken a liking to the creek just outside the Jenny Lake visitor’s center. Either that or the town’s convention and visitor’s bureau is paying him a nice wage to sip water all day while folks take his picture.

 

 

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