Gary-Summer: Sept 14, 2021

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Sept 14, 2021 - Jenny Lake

Title: Sept 14, 2021 - Jenny Lake
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Trail head: Boat dock on Jenny Lake’s west side

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Cascade Canyon

Destination: As far as time allows.

Distance: 2.67 miles Partial

Start Time: 12:03

End Time: 2:34

Travel Time: 2:31 (1.06 mph)

Moving Time: 1:40 (1.60 mph)

Elevation Rise: 861'

Descent: 679‘

Maximum Elevation: 7,357'

GPS Tracks

Car Mileage: 40 miles

Description:

Another morning at Colter Bay campground. Today’s adventure is back up to Jenny Lake

Colter Bay Campsite

. Once everybody gets up, we have breakfast, get cleaned up, and in general, moseying around.

Bridge over Cascade Creek

It is about an hour drive down to Jenny Lake. Hopefully we will have a better time getting a parking space than we did three days ago. Still, it is a good day to be out no matter what happens. I think we will go for a hike, no matter what.. When we get to Jenny Lake, all the parking places are full. So is the road going out to the highway. We decide we are going to do this area anyway, so we get our stuff together and start our walk to the visitor’s area.

It is about a quarter mile walk. The requirement is to put on a mask, even though most of the visitor area is outside. We stop long enough to use the restrooms. Then it is a short walk to the Lake. We will cross the lake on one of the boats. After paying the fee to cross-and return, we do not need to wait very long.

There is something which makes you appreciate the beauty of what you are surrounded by. The fresh blueness of the lake, offset by the surrounding mountains and conifer trees surrounding us. I do not think my pictures do it justice. We can enjoy this for about 15 minutes before we dock on the west side of the lake.

Hidden Falls

It is time to roll this old body out of the boat and start our walk up. We decided to head towards Hidden Falls first. The climb up is not bad. But it seems like this is where all of the other people on our boat are heading as well. But I think we are, and I will qualify this by saying, I am the slower than the others. There are no complaints and the trail goes up through a nice cool forested area. We cross a bridge, meet up with another trail and make our way up to a place to look for the falls.

It is a short walk to the falls, where many others are already there, gazing at it. Even though these falls at the Hidden Falls, they seem ordinary. But there is something about falling water which is hypnotizing. Something which causes us humans to pause and be reflective, even if there is a crowd. We decide that contemplating the falls on a full stomach will enhance our meditations. So we find an area in the back, gaze up at the falls and enjoy our lunch.

View from the Overlook

Now we retrace our steps down about an eighth of a mile till we hit the trail junction. We take the trail up to the overlook-called Inspiration Point(Seems like everyplace has at least one of them). This is a rocky trail with a good drop off. Foot traffic is going both ways. I guess this gives me a good excuse to stop often on the way up, to let people pass me by. Lawrence, Andrea and Sherri are already up at the overlook. I also get to enjoy the view. The trip up is worth it. We stand and gawk for awhile

But there is excitement up the trail. A mob is trying to gain a view of a bear. But the bear is being cagey and stays mainly in the brush, frustrating the viewers. Eventually the bear moves on and so does the crowd.

Black Bear

Once the mob disperses, we continue going up Cascade Canyon. The trail is now a single track gradually going up through a broadleaf forest. It still is a busy trail, but not crowded. The plan is to go a short ways up till about 2:45. This will give us a little more than an hour to make the last boat back.

Returning back to the dock

But about the time we turn around, a big furry beast, commonly called a black bear, crosses a dry creek close by us. The bear being close by means, still a comfortable distance, but right there in plain sight.. This is fortunate as I would have a difficult time moving away. But the bear lumbers away into the brush, so we can continue our way down.

What do those masks hide?

The trip back is much easier. The one glitch is at one of the trail junctions, I get a bit turned, as well as the trail goes on a different route. But everybody else has a better sense of where we are going. We arrive in time to sit for a few minutes until the next boat comes.

It is a quiet ride across the lake. I suspect each of us has a silly grin from having an enjoyable day. But that is hard to tell since we all have masks on. When we debark on the east side of the lake, we head to the visitor center area, where the restrooms are. Then we wander around the visitor center and gift shop. I am content to sit in the sun. Then time to walk back to the car and drive back to camp.

Frito Boat

Once there, Andrea and I hit our respective hammocks and rest for an hour. Lawrence goes off to scarf up some WiFi. Then Lawrence makes us a frito boat dinner. For being so simple, it is satisfying. After dinner, I walk with Lawrence back over to the laundry area for more WiFi. I do pick it up, but I also walk around a bit to see if I can find a post office. Nope. We get back to camp and go to bed. The sleep of the tired.