Jenny Lake, then to Yellowstone

With sadness, we left Jackson Hole, but not before enjoying a bit more of Teton National Park.  Lily had spent her own money on a felting kit and one of the tines broke, so we hit town square in the morning to exchange it.  The girls enjoyed photobombing each other at the moose shop and we got another round of coffees at Cowboy Coffee Co.   

All three girls humored me with a stop at the national fish hatchery just outside of town.  It raises cutthroat trout for the nearby parks, indian reservations, and other publically-owned bodies of water that need stocking.  The fish stay at the hatchery for about 15 months before they’re ready to release.  Lily and SE didn’t think it smelled too good in here, but at least they stuck it out - Taryn did an about face after one whiff.  The hatchery raises 250,000 fish per year.

This section of the tank had an estimated 27,000 three-month-old trout.  They were really packed in. 

The girls were most excited about the hatchery’s Siamese cat – “Kitty” – who really enjoyed the attention. 

Back inside the park, we stopped at the Jenny Lake visitor center and the girls received their junior ranger badges and patches.  We took a ferry ride across the lake to a trailhead that leads to a waterfall.   

This is Teewinot Mountain on the Teton Range, just north of Grand Teton.  The Teton Range actually has glaciers with names, some of which feed the river that creates this waterfall. 

On the way back down the trail, SE asked me, out of the blue, “Daddy, do you remember when you asked me last night what was my favorite ‘moment’ of the trip so far?  It was when me and mommy were lying on the blanket together looking at the stars.”  We had enjoyed talking about all our favorites (favorite parks, car rides, hotels, meals, and “moments”), including our biggest disappointments, etc. and SE contemplated this one for a while before coming up with an awesome answer. 

From Jenny Lake, we drove past Jackson Lake and up into Yellowstone, which is directly north about 30 miles.  The ride was mostly woods until we reached the park.  Then it was on.  The south entrance takes you along Lewis River to the Lewis Falls, and then Lewis Lake.  All three were vibrant, pristine, and perfect examples of the natural beauty of things (Yellowstone is the world’s first national park and it comprises more than two million acres of “wildland”). 

A little farther up the road, traffic slowed and I asked a gawker walking toward us what he had seen.  He said, “elk” and then picked up a dead tree to show us how big the antlers were.  After getting a tiny peek of my own through the trees, I gawked myself right out of the car and into the woods along with everyone else.  This bull elk had a bigger set of antlers than I could have imagined. 

He had an itch. 

This is what it looks like in Yellowstone when someone spots wildlife from the road (and we’re right there with them). 

We thought the girls deserved a drink after the elk sighting. 

 A thunderstorm on the other side of Lake Yellowstone treated us to a rainbow.

This is the back side of the menu at the diner just down from our cabin.  We kept all menus face-up, and decided to not tell Lily that Yellowstone gets an average of 5.4 earthquakes per day (2,000 per year).  We say that partly in jest, because Lily has made incredible strides this summer.  Lily climbing the arch with me at Arches and leaping from jumping rock into Phelps Lake were two of my “moments.”  She forced herself to the edge, looked down, appreciated the height, stared fear in the face, and jumped!  Another “moment” was when SE did the same thing on the zip line.  She was crying and blabbering (for example, when asked what sports she played by the person strapping us in, she said, “gymnastics and whiffle ball”), but she was adamant she was doing it, even defiant, and she never turned back.  I love the way she gutted it out.  Taryn talks them through those things in a supportive, patient, gently-encouraging-but-not-pressuring way that I could never match, and she’s so understanding.  They’re lucky to have her.

We unpacked for a four-day stay at cabin 621, which is barely larger than our minivan.