day 12: rest day, and day 13: string lake.

While David and Amie had their date Sunday morning, the three boys caught up on Loki and Bad Batch episodes, and I read a book. It was a very relaxing morning.

 

 

I headed out at lunch time, after the others returned with the van, in search of Earl Gray tea and a shady spot to sit. I drove into Jackson, and could not believe the swarms of people everywhere I turned. This town is seriously the most crowded I’ve experienced. Of course big cities are crowded — especially New York — but it’s huge. You expect it to be crowded there. This is a small town with a couple of traffic lights.

I asked a girl working behind the counter at the coffee shop, “Is this normal for summer in Jackson Hole?” She said “Absolutely not. It’s always crowded, but this summer the town has been 50% over capacity every single day. Business owners are stressed. Employees are quitting because they’re exhausted, and the tourists aren’t being nice to them.”

I think that’s sad. Shouldn’t we all just be thrilled that we’re able to travel again after the pandemic, and thank the people who are serving us?

The throngs of people have definitely made our experience here different, but we’re still enjoying it. The setting is lovely, and the weather has been beautiful. It’s hot in the sun, but the dry mountain air and elevation always makes it pleasant in the shade.

 

 

We wrapped up Sunday with family worship. We miss our church so much that on our trip we’ve taken to watching the service from the prior week. We were so happy to see everyone on the screen that Amie and I got teary.

 

 

 

String Lake

On Monday, we were refreshed and ready to hit the trail again in search of a pretty place to wade/swim. As Amie mentioned, it’s around a 45-minute drive from our apartment, depending on how deep into Grand Teton National Park we want to go. Yes, this park is very crowded too. You have to arrive at the lots by 8:30 a.m. or wait for parking. For some reason, there’s far less parking here than in Yellowstone.

 

 

 

 

Can you believe how stunning it is?

The fact that there are no foothills is what makes the Teton mountain range so unique. You have stretches of flat land, then these soaring peaks that rise seemingly out of nowhere.

 

 

Everyone but me swam, and were all so cold afterwards that we decided to hike quickly back to the trailhead. We were tearing down the path full-tilt when suddenly, not 30 feet in front of us, a brown bear ran across the path. We stopped, hearts pounding. It never looked at us, but slowed and we saw it walking through in the trees. David pulled out the bear spray, and we slowly back away (we remembered what to do!) but it finally just lumbered off.

A bear! The one animal we hadn’t seen yet.

We’ve done much studying of bear pictures, shapes and statues during our time in the parks, and were all convinced it was a grizzly. Probably a teenager. It had the telltale muscular shoulders and concave snout.

Back at the trailhead, we told a ranger what we saw but she said it was probably a brown black bear; there are two different sows with their cubs living in this area. I instantly believed her and doubted what we thought we saw, but David and the kids said, later, “No, it had to have been a grizzly. It wasn’t shaped like a black bear!”

We didn’t get a picture in time, so I guess we’ll never know for certain. It was a magical moment though. Scary, but magical.

 

 

On our way out of the park, we stopped at the Jenny Lake Visitors Center for a stamp in our passport, then the Craig Thomas Discovery Visitors Center to see all the art, antlers, and fascinating information about the park and this region. Gabe decided to spend some of his allowance on an adult coloring book of Wyoming wildlife. A perfect choice for him.

 

 

Then it was home for lunch and naps.

Our schedule has lightened considerably this week. I remember this happening on the last trip; by the time we got to Zion, we were just beat, and spent a lot more time resting at the Airbnb (especially Gabe, Noah, and me).

In a way I’m disappointed, just because Grand Teton is so many people’s favorite park, and I don’t want to miss any of it. At the same time, I know myself, and just pushing through the weariness to cram more in only makes it worse. And I wouldn’t have traded the other things we did and saw on the trip for more energy now. I’ve loved it all.

We’re in a magnificent setting, we love our Airbnb and the little village it’s set in, and it’s nice that these last few days have felt more like a real vacation.

 

 

 

On Monday night, we drove to Jackson for dinner at a pizza place a friend recommended, Pinky G’s. It was delicious and worth fighting through crowds for!