Grand Teton day 2

We headed to the cafeteria onsite at the Colter campground for breakfast. A girl from Bulgaria brought us coffee, so we talked to her for a little bit. She’s heading back home in two weeks. This place had gluten free bread, which was great, and scrambled tofu with curry. I’m tired of eggs and wanted protein, so it worked! And was very tasty, too.

We walked about the campground for a bit and over to the visitor’s center, which is also onsite, then over to the lake for a view. We decided to do a hike around Jenny Lake, as it’s so beautiful and we really enjoyed seeing it yesterday. It was such an amazing hike!! A surprising number of people for off-season. We kept stopping to take in the views and catch our breath. It was incredibly smoky today, and between that and the high altitude, it can be a little tough to breathe.

We circled the lake and every step offered a new glorious view. I forgot to mention that we saw a sign with a picture of a bear on it and a ‘beware of bears’ warning.

Quote of the day: ‘Is that an elephant?!’

We hiked for close to four hours, stopping for a fruit and nut snack. We met a wonderful ranger who told us a funny story about a bear that decided to visit the visitor’s center not long ago. He was hanging out around back, and climbed a tree. The rangers encouraged him to move on as there was a high volume of people, and when they did, the people followed him en masse! Then this tiny little ranger said she put her hands on her hips and yelled at the crowd ‘You are NOT following that bear!!!’ They stopped. Meanwhile, the bear went straight for the ranger’s station, and the head ranger was sitting there watching the bear walk right towards him. The bear detoured at the last minute and wandered off.

So far we haven’t had any bear sightings, but we’re optimistic! Hopefully it won’t be up close though. We also learning from this ranger that black bears can range in color from blonde to brown to black. The fox we saw last night was a red fox (as it’s the only kind in the park) but red foxes can also be blonde, brown or black. Interesting!

On the way back, there was a woman and her 7ish year old daughter, huffing and puffing and dragging her feet. It was so cute. ‘Must be hard to be so young and full of energy’ I said, and the mom laughed.

We went to Signal Mountain for a quick stop and to look for a picnic table for a late lunch. We drove around and found a boat dock with a table next to it and no one around. It was wonderful! We ate and enjoyed the views of Jackson Lake before heading back out. We headed north back to Yellowstone, and passed the Continental Divide again. We stopped at Isa Lake, which was covered by green and yellow lilly pads. Isa Lake is interesting as it flows in two directions: to the Pacific, and to the Atlantic!

We got to Old Faithful village at around 6:30 and stopped in the old lodge. It’s incredible, and made of different kinds of wood. We got there 15 minutes before Old Faithful was about to erupt, so we ran upstairs to a viewing place and sat down just in time! It was amazing to see, and the couple sitting next to me said that it was a big eruption, bigger than the other one they saw. I got some video and pictures, and was so excited to see it, I forgot to take a pic of it on my phone so I can text it to folks! Next time.

We went to another lodge (there are four in this area) for dinner. I got the trout almondine (sp?) again, and it was good, much better than the last time. Trout is one of the local foods, and I enjoy trying local cuisine when I travel. We checked in and found out that we were in cabins with a shared bath. It’s fine for a couple of nights. Even when we booked in February/March, everything was all sold out and we had a hard time finding places. So we took what we could get. So a tip for you when you come here: book early. Really, really early.

We did get to watch Old Faithful erupt again (it does every hour and a half or so) but it was really dark so we only saw a faint outline of it. The cabins weren’t easy to find in the dark, but it worked out ok. The rooms are cute. There is a sink in the room, which is nice, and our cabins are in the back (there’s two to a building.) I suspect we’ll have a ‘scenic visit’ should there be a need. :o)

Tomorrow we’ll explore this area, as there is a really large geyser basin. We’ll check out the other lodges, including the Snow Lodge, the only lodge open in the winter, and the one that offers internet.  Hopefully I’ll get to post this tomorrow! I can’t believe we only have two more days! This trip is really flying by..