TGRT Day 7: Teton Village

I had not made many advance plans for Teton Village, realizing we would likely be exhausted this far into our trip.   I knew I wanted to ride the aerial tram, but other than that, I wanted to sleep in a big comfortable bed, swim in the pool and sit in the hot tub.   We stayed at the lovely Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa where to William's tremendous joy there was wifi for the first time in 4 days!

 

John and I were happy there was finally a hot tub and had this local beer sampler to test.   We also enjoyed a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant the first night that we were told Harrison Ford, a famous Jackson Hole resident, owns.

After a lazy morning, we finally make it to the tram station around 3 and had to wait two cycles for our turn up the mountain.   The ride only took about 10 minutes but we climbed over 8,000 feet!

At the top we shared two waffles at the snack shack.  It sold waffles and drinks (including alcohol).  We had planned on a hike so were dressed appropriately.  Our hiking boots and backpacks drew the eye of a woman wearing flip flops and a hoodie who said their plan - after some photos at the top -- was to ride right back down, walk over to the gondolas and ride back up for cocktails at a different part of the mountain.  Well, that was our destination, too!  Only we were going to walk there! 

But first we enjoyed the views from Rendezvous Mountain and took a lot of lovely pictures over to Grand Teton.   This peak was on the edge of Bridger-Teton National Parks.   William had a lot of fun exploring and building rock cairns.  He was really in his element by this point.   For wildlife we saw our first fox!  And we saw several marmot, including one with 7 or 8 babies.

Three miles and 90 minutes later, we made it over to the restaurant!  It was a beautiful hike!  All except the last 10 minutes which was all uphill was pretty easy.  Not flip flop and hoodie easy, but it was perfect for us.   When we got to the patio and found a table, we looked for (and found!) that couple.  I went over to let them know we made it!   Then we had the most delicious beverages of our adult life!  We also had some yummy appetizers and were thrilled for a real bathroom with flushable toilets and sinks with warm water and soap!

After we refreshed ourselves, we rode the gondola back down the mountain and crashed at our hotel for the evening!  The gondolas can seat about 6 people while the tram could hold 100.

Although I am not a fan of the mini bar and its exorbitant pricing, we found the stuffed moose to be a reasonable deal and William took him home as a souvenir!  He ended up with a stuffed bear, stuffed moose, an American Eagle Plus + kit, three t-shirts and a hat.   I'd say he's got plenty to remember this vacation by!

 The hike we did was the Summer Trail between the Rendezvous tram and the Bridger Gondola.  .

TGRT Day 6: Yellowstone (Mount Washburn)

On our last day in Yellowstone, we checked out of the Lake Hotel (the lobby was decked out for Independence Day and reminded us it was the 4th!).   We drove back through perfectly peaceful Hayden Valley on a beautiful morning - en route to the Dunraven Pass Trailhead of Mount Washburn.   There are two trails up to the fire lookout tower.  The one we took is a little longer but not as steep and is supposed to be more scenic.   The weather was absolutely perfect: a clear, sunny day without too much wind, and the temps varied from light jacket and gloves to shirt sleeves.   But it was a huge improvement from the wind and misty rain the day prior.

The only wildlife we saw during the hike were a few marmots, some birds, and a patch of reddish snow that looked like something dead had been drug through it!   At the top of the mountain we saw female and baby long-horned sheep.  So they didn't have the fancy antlers like the trail photo.  But most importantly, this was the one day we didn't see bears!  We were happy about that!

On the back hill - almost covered by the clouds - it the fire lookout tower that is our destination.   It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there from the trailhead.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is SOOOOO BIG!  

When we got to the top it was windy but amazing!  There was also a holiday greeting awaiting us in the snow pack!  We stayed up at the top for about 30 minutes before making our 90 minute descent.

So proud of William (and John and myself!) for tackling a big hike.  This was why we bought the fancy boots, afterall!  Though poor John had to hike in his running shoes because the sole of his hiking boot cracked and disconnected from his boot the day before.  It was a little rough in the snow pack without the water proofing but not too bad.  Luckily it was the fittest of the Shields hikers that had that disadvantage.