tetons escape

Over Labor Day, we left Yellowstone and headed south to the Tetons. We snagged a campsite at Signal Mountain,


and then headed to the Leigh Lake TH.


While Steve fished String Lake,


I cooled my feet in the clear water.


We woke up early the next morning and watched the sun rise over the mountains at Owbow Bend.


After a big breakfast, we headed to the Lupine Meadows trail head. Near the TH was a cow moose, not impressed by the noisy sandhill cranes nearby interrupting her breakfast.


There were more cars at TH parking lot than I've ever seen before starting hike. We started the climb up to Amphitheater and Surprise, two lakes, to quote Steve, "without fish."



The trail gains 3,000 feet in elevation over 4 miles, and we had great views of the valley below us as we climbed. There was a lot of haze and smoke hanging over the valley due to a fire burning nearby.


As we wound our way up the trail we discovered that we weren't alone--a black bear decided to jump on the trail in front of us, going on its way for several minutes before finally deciding to cede the trail to us and head off into the trees.


We finally made it to the first lake,



and, if possible, the second lake was even more beautiful.



Though as Steve pointed out again, neither lake had any fish in them.

Coming down, the heat of the day burned the smoke and haze off, and we had clear views of the lakes below.


10.5 miles later we were back at the car, headed home.

cache creek

After I had to cancel on a planned four-day backpack in the Bechler, Steve and I decided to get on out a quick overnight. We hit the trail Saturday night, headed out 4 miles to the first site on the Lamar River Trail.

The sky looked a little ominous, so we walked fast.


Almost there.


Cache Creek, our home for the night.


Steve got our food hung up on up on the bear pole,


and was able to get in a little bit of fishing before nightfall.

The next morning, Steve woke up early and hit the creek. I slept in and then enjoyed coffee in our "kitchen" area, complete with antlers.


We bushwhacked up Cache Creek a mile and Steve got serious about fishing.


Jackpot--a 20-inch cutthroat.


I found a rock and hung out with a book while he fished.


As we headed back to our campsite to pack up, we found a bison on the trail. A very large, cranky bison. We scrambled across the creek and walked in the water until it was safe to cross back over and continue on our way.


All packed up, and headed home.

the fourth

Steve and I hit the road for the holiday weekend. While everyone was waiting to get in to the park,

we hit the road for Idaho for some solitude.

Before we left the park, we got caught in a bear jam. A 3-4 year-old grizzly was just off the road, a few miles north of Norris.





We set up camp at the Riverside campground, in the Targhee National Forest.



We made a pit stop at Mesa Falls,



and then headed to the Henry's Fork River, where we ran into this moose.


For 2 days Steve fished,



while I sat on the riverbank, reading a stack of magazines.

glacier goats, the end

We're currently in Chicago, where it's been in the 60's. Back in Yellowstone, it's snowing. We're loading up the car and mentally preparing for the snow that awaits us...

In the meantime, here's the last of our Glacier trip. We woke up on day 3 at Lake Ellen Wilson, and as we prepared breakfast our camp was invaded by very curious mountain goats.


Of all sizes, big and small.




And they weren't just in the kitchen area--we found this guy hanging out by our tent.



We set out again with our new friends, and soon we were climbing up and up, looking down where we camped.



It wasn't long before we met another goat, and he was very interested in checking out Steve and Dan as he went by.



Then we ran into this guy, who liked to pose.


Oh and this guy, who wanted to know what Dan was taking a picture of. I said they were curious, remember??


Then we had another one follow us over the last climb to Sperry Chalet.



Then finally, the chalet was in view. We stopped in to share a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on homemade bread and to get out of the chill. Opened in 1914, this is 1 of 2 chalets that operate in the park. It's 6.7 miles from the trailhead, and guests can either hike in and spend the night (where meals and accommodation are provided), or just drop in for a meal like we did.


Then we hiked out the final 6.7 miles back to Lake McDonald and our car. In the end, we hiked 20+ miles over 3 days / 2 nights, and made some great new friends.