Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.
I just can’t seem to get moving this morning, though I do get two articles written. So we get a later start than intended. We pull out of camp, empty tanks and refill water, then go park in front of the lodge.
We hike up Signal Mountain Trail to Signal Mountain (3 miles each way) for a fabulous view looking over the plains toward the Grand Tetons. I quickly sketch the view as we snack and then head back down. The trees have changed colors and it’s beautiful! Of course, it stays cloudy until we return to the parking lot – the mountains are playing peek-a-boo.
Back in the RV we continue South to Jenny Lake. After eating lunch in the parking lot we head out on the Jenny Lake trail toward Hidden Falls. At a trail junction 3 fellas are singing so we get treated to an impromptu a capella concert in the woods. How fun!
The falls aren’t much further on and they are stunning! The trees around us are huge – old spruces. All of the forests we’ve been in recently have been burned down in the last few decades so these old growths seem even larger in contrast.
The trail up to Inspiration Point provides fabulous views of jagged, snow covered peaks. Along the way we pass within 30′ of mule deer eating. Quite a fabulous vista as we sit on the point for a mid-hike snack.
On the way back down we pass at least 6 more deer, one of which holds up traffic as he stands on the trail, chewing. There are a lot of hikers, both ways. The most we’ve seen out on the trails, by a high margin.
A couple of hikers were talking to the backpacker in front of us – discussing pizza places. That sounds good! It’s past supper time when we return to the parking lot and we don’t feel like cooking. (Detoured through the gift shop where they apparently sell battery-powered electric fences to deter bears when backpacking. No thanks!) So we head on to Dornan’s in Moose for a pizza. With two walls of windows we get to watch the sun set over the mountains while enjoying our delicious pizza.
We debate our next step. We could coffee-up and drive on to Salt Lake City – it would be a long night and we don’t know of any stops along the way. There is a nearby forest campground we could overnight at for a reasonable cost.
We decided to see how the campground looks and how we feel when we get there. The campground has the first spot we come to available and our 12 miles of hiking have tuckered us out so we pull on in for the night. Plus, we don’t want to miss the mountain views along the way.
Shut up the RV for the night’s cold temperatures and then bed time.