|
|
|
 Grand Teton
Mountains Trip
2002
Once again we were drawn to the
Grand Teton National Park, taking our Daughter Kristy, Son-in-law
Gil, and Grandkids Sam and Cat. This trip would fondly be
remembered as the year of the moose as we seemed to have one
nearby everywhere we camped.
At the trailhead we
planned our route along String Lake Trail, past Leigh Lake,
and on to a campsite on Bear Paw Lake The chilly drizzling
rain could not dampen our spirits, and we had faith that the
clouds would eventually lift.
The gentle trail twisted
along the lakes always giving us a view of the magnificent
mountain peaks shrouded that day in their misty clouds.
We set up camp beside
Bear Paw Lake, taking care to place the tents on the highest
patches of ground in case the rain continued to fall.
No sooner had we settled
in that the rain stopped, the sun peaked out and the wildlife
seemed to waken all around us. A huge bull moose came to feed
along our Lake, not minding at all that there were strange
humans watching him all with funny black boxy contraptions
held to their faces clicking and popping lights at him. Numerous
deer sauntered through camp, one doe bringing her spotted
fawn along much to our delight.
Camping in August has
it's advantages. The huckleberries are ripe! Mike picked a
ziplock bag full and they made a delicious addition to our
morning pancakes. You can see that our "little cow boy" sure
loved them!
 
Although we built a
campfire at night in the big metal fire ring you can see behind
Gil (left), we still did all our cooking on a tiny gas Peak
stove. The warm soapy water left over after washing dishes
made a good clean up for Sam (center), you know how dirty
little cowboys can get! Cat (right) wore her whistle, a precaution
we always insist on when camping with kids. They know what
to do if they ever should get separated from us.
  
We hiked back on a beautiful
sunny day, our hearts full of thanksgiving to our Creator
for this glorious place and for the National Park Service
which has seen fit to keep it a pristine wilderness.
Back at the Ranger Station
Sam and Cat were sworn in as "Young Naturalist' and were awarded
a patch to sew on their packs. You can see the cool moose
Sam drew on his work sheet. We all nicknamed it the "Tommy
Moose" (you know, as in Rugrat's Tommy.... can you see the
resemblance?)
One of the questions on the
worksheet was, "How were the mountains formed?" Sam quickly
wrote his answer.... "God did". We left it at that, sure
that there was no better answer no matter how scientific
we might get.
 
Then we headed for our
traditional Jackson Hole "back to civilization dinner" at
the Chuckwagon, served in a real teepee. Oh.. and did I forget
to mention that we were this close to a buffalo who came by
our camp at the Gros Ventre car-camping area early one morning!
One last thing...........
check out the Jackalope we found at an Exxon station in Dubois,
Wyoming on the drive home. Only a few people in the whole
world have ever had the good fortune to actually see one of
these illusive creatures, let alone ride it! In typical adventurous
fashion, Cat hopped right up on it and posed for this rare
photo.
Want to know more about the
Tetons? Try these links:
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/US_National_Park/wy_grand.htm
http://www.nps.gov/grte
 BACK
TO THE TRAILHEAD
to see more of our trips
|
|
|