Vacation, Day 6…The day hike

The morning started off with a quick morning run.  It was chilly per usual, but the makings of a another beautiful day with clear skies.  Then, it was back to the condo to shower and have breakfast before preparing to leave for our most ambitious hike.  The goal was to take the ferry across Jenny Lake (in Teton National Park), then climb 1 mile to Inspiration Point.  From there we would head another 3.5 miles into Cascade Canyon to the fork in the river.  Finally, we’d travel another 5.1 miles to Hurricane Pass before turning around and coming back the same route.  All told, it would be a little over 20 miles hiking.  There were good descriptions of what to expect until we reached the fork, but from there we had no idea what terrain we’d be tackling…

Pronghorn Antelope… Another new animal to add to our collection on the drive to Jenny Lake

Hidden Falls, the first landmark on the hike

A Pica… These little guys have been everywhere.  We finally got a picture of one.

Our view from Inspiration Point… after a mile of climbing

A Beaver crossing our path on our way into the Cascade Canyon

The Cascade Canyon

Getting up close and personal with a (male) moose

Arriving at the Fork… 4.5 miles down

As we left from the fork, chances of covering the full 20 miles was looking slimmer since we were already nearly 2.5 hours in and the path leading out of the fork was pretty much all climbing again for the next mile or so, but on we pushed…

Over a precarious looking bridge, but it’s better than having to ford the river

The family dominating all obstacles in our path

Susan and I from a ledge overlooking the three paths between the mountains

We made it to the snow line!

Giving up on the dream of Hurricane Pass, but a beautiful turn-around point nonetheless… 7.1 miles

On the return trip, no pictures were taken…we were focused on getting back, it was mid afternoon and the animals were not out anymore, and it was an out and back hike, so we’d see most of the scenery already.  By the time we reached the Jenny Lake ferry to return to the car, we were out of water and worn out.  We planned to reward ourselves with ice cream, but the strange Wyoming traffic had other plans, and after sitting in the car for an hour, our ice cream motivation was gone.  All told, we covered ~14.25 miles on the hike in just about 7 hours (including breaks).  I’ll post the elevation profiles once my dad has a chance to upload his Forerunner data when we get home. 

The rest of the evening was dinner, then watching some TV at the condo, then early to bed.  Our last full day of vacation (*sniff) is tomorrow, where we are going to give cycling a go (not sure if mountain or road biking yet), then maybe checkout the town of Jackson an bit closer…it will be a pretty tame day for us.  I’m still holding out hope of catching a glimpse of a bighorn sheep or an elk, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

A closer look at Mr. Moose.  So impressive.