Day 4

This morning, while some members of the party slept, Cannon and I sneaked out of the cabin to go for a hike.  From our cabin, there was a three mile hike that looked like it would be a nice one to attempt.  The trail headed off through the woods to loop past a place called Swan Lake.  Supposedly, the once near-extinct Trumpeter Swan (the largest bird in North America), like to hang out at this exclusive spot and I had great hopes of seeing one.  Unfortunately, they must have not read the same guide book as me because there were none to be seen.  In fact there was not much to be seen in the way of animals.  Which is good for two reasons: first, when we paused to look at the lake there was not a sound to be heard - perfect, rare, unadulterated silence.  Second, it was good that we didn't see any animals because I was a little fearful of all the bear warnings posted.  So no swans, but also, no bears.

Lots of lily pads, no swans.

Love this photo

After passing Swan Lake, the trail headed over to Heron Pond, at which we did see a blue heron.

When we got back to the cabin, the crew was ready to go and we drove over to Jenny Lake.  We stopped at a pull-off along the way for some great views of the Tetons.

Jenny Lake is a glacial lake that supposedly has crystal clear waters because it's too cold for plant life; however, I don't think we got the full affect of the clarity since the skies were a little cloudy.  The thing to do at Jenny Lake is take a ferry boat across the lake and then hike up to a beautiful water fall.

Going across Jenny Lake.

On the ferry boat

The path going up was extremely crowded and we had to pause every now and then to avoid a downpour.  We hadn't packed rain gear, but found that longpole pines make excellent shelter!  Huddling under a grouping kept us dry even when it was pouring.  And fortunately, the weather was really finicky so it would rain for 10 minutes and then be sunny.

Stopping for lunch by the river

Waiting out the rain.

Funny family photo

 We made it to the falls!

After reaching the falls, Grammie decided she really wanted to attempt the next part of the hike - up to Inspiration Point.  Cannon and I accompanied her along the way while the rest turned back.  Grammie almost made it to the Point, but the last leg of the hike was a bit treacherous.  I felt like I was channeling my inner mountain goat.

Almost to the top

We made it!

To the top! - not really...

I'm not sure this photo really shows how steep the drop off was to the right...

Feeling inspired at Inspiration Point - those are the ferry boats on the lake

We headed back down the mountain to reconnect with the others by the ferry port.

Stevie, Cannon and I had decided to hike back, not to take the ferry, so we then headed off around the edge of the lake.  We saw lots of animals along the way - like a yellow-bellied marmot that was fussing at us and even a spotting of an elusive pine martin.  Emmy and London were most dissappointed they didn't get to see the pine martin because for the last 6 months they have been fascinated by this obscure weasel-like creature.  The martin was too quick, though, and I didn't even get a picture.

Yellow-bellied marmot

After over 11 miles of hiking for the day, I was pooped, but when I spotted purple and orange on the horizon, I knew I had to trot down to the lake to catch the sunset.  I love sunsets, and this one didn't disappoint!