Mountains, Lakes, Bears, and Mosquitos

Hello all - we are driving South through Grand Teton National Park, just about to reach Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We're getting ready to spend the rest of the evening poking around the town - maybe we'll get to have supper here and not go back to our camp and cook! We just got back in the cars after pulling over to the side of the road for the second time to try to get a look at a moose somewhere off the side of the road. It is a people circus for sure - dozens of people pulling over, running across the road to make people herds, cameras in hand. (Reminds me alot of the tourists in downtown Nashville when they think they've spotted a country star...)Even with this crowd though, we've managed to see a few animals - mule deer, elk, moose, antelope, and a bear.

We've been in this park most of the day and earlier hiked up to Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake. Elevation 7200 feet where we stopped. It was about 1.5 mile of trail up and fairly steep at the end, but the kids did great - this is one tough bunch of hikers, no whiners! The view at the top as incredible - worth every breath.

Comments from the boys in my van (Wes is driving - I'm riding shotgun...): started the day with pancakes and bacon, clear skies, and chilly weather (low 40's), went to Colter Bay visitor center on Jackson Lake, then to the Jenny Lake lodge where we had sack lunches in the parking area. We took a boat across the lake to get to the start of the trailhead - very cool!

Biggest news - we saw a grizzly last night! Night before last, a ranger stopped by our campsite to tell us that an adolescent grizzly was about a mile north of Flagg Ranch, our campsite, doing "bear stuff". She made sure we knew how to secure our food and remove any trace of people smells before bedtime. No doubt they are following this bear closely to make sure it doesn't get a taste of human food - they knew right where he was and what he was doing. Once a bear tastes people food, they have to be killed, so basically, if we feed it, even by accident, we have led it to its death. Some of the kids got a little spooked by the news of the visitor lurking nearby, but got over it pretty quickly. (I feel pretty comfortable that a bear is not going to sneak up on us in a campground after seeing how closely they are following its movements.) Then, yesterday, on the way back to camp from Old Faithful, we (and lots of others) found it right along the side of the road, not a quarter mile north of our camp. A ranger was not far behind, trying to shoo the cars on down the road, but not before we could get lots of great pictures!

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the geyser fields around and including Old Faithful. The Yellowstone Inn is there and we got a great look at that piece of magnificent lodge-pole pine architecture (and a big taste of their ice cream when we came in from our hike!) We waited, along with about 500 other people, about a half hour to see Old Faithful erupt, then walked the trails all around it seeing all sorts of different hot springs, bubbling puddles, rock formations spewing hot steam - no two of them are the same. We had a really great talk from a ranger at the Yellowstone visitor center the afternoon previous where we learned quite a bit about how the Yellowstone caldera was formed - how a volcanic eruption shaped the earth in this area and created the geysers. Did you know that there are more geysers in one place right here than in anywhere else in the world? Speaking of elsewhere in the world, it is really neat to see how many folks from foreign countries are in these parts. Every where we go, we hear many different languages being spoken all around us.

Other news of note - the mosquitos here are something to behold. They hover in great dark clouds right over the citronella candles which they seem to not even notice. Around dusk our campsite was just about unbearable our first night here! We are going to be experts in what "Off" formula works the best.

Everyone else is in the Jackson Hole visitor center - a cool looking building with a roof of live grass - and I'm out here in the car blogging. We are right on the edge of the National Elk Refuge and I'm sure the kids are in there getting information on that. (They herd them in here in the winter and keep them protected.) Pictures will follow at the next convenient minute to post some this evening. At least we are in a place that has great cell phone coverage (absolutely NONE at our campground) and wifi! If you want to call your kids, the next hour or so will be a great time to catch them!