Vacation in Pictures September 22-29, 2008

Jon & I were blessed to have such a wonderful vacation. My dad took my sister, Jamie, Jon, and I to Wyoming for a week filled with wildlife watching. Dad had a blast reliving his youth- he and his friends Mike and Flip journeyed out there after high school when they were 17. They worked on a cattle ranch and did lots of exploring throughout the west. Jon and I flew from Nashville to Dallas - Fort Worth where we met up with Dad & Jamie for our flight into Jackson Hole, WY. We stepped off the plane right onto the runway (no terminals there!) in freezing weather. Dad immediately pulled out the video camera! We made fun of him the whole trip for videoing everything with funny commentary, but I'm sure one day we will be glad we have the tapes. We were lucky that our only cold day there was the day we arrived.

We went into town to look around and check out The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, where dad once got kicked out of for being only 17.
We checked into Jackson Lake Lodge.
Our first full day there we went to Yellowstone National Park and saw Elk, Bison, Old Faithful, The Little Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Tower Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs, and much more. in 11 hours we managed to see 9 out of the top 10 sites in Yellowstone.

We even drove to Montana!

We wanted to see a Moose (MEECE!) real bad, but we couldn't find any :(

On day 2, we drove around looking for more wildlife and scenic views. We came across the most gorgeous log cabin Episcopalian church I have ever seen!

On day 3 we began to prepare for our hike into the wilderness. We went shopping for propane tanks and bear spray which we were not allowed to take on the plane ride. We got lots of candy for energy!! Dad was convinced he could fit it all in two bear canisters.

On day 4 we ventured "Into the Wild". We took the boat across Jenny lake which saved us from walking several miles around the lake to the trail head, hiked up to Inspiration Point, and went through Cascade Canyon to the North Fork. 6 straight uphill miles, 4 heavy packs, one MEECE siting, and 5 hours later we made it to our campsite. We were exhausted!! We went to bed very early. We had weather in the high 60's and lows around 25 degrees. It was chilly, yet unseasonably warm.

On day 5 we hiked several more miles uphill to Lake Solitude. What a beautiful lake! I know why dad was raving about it. It was so calm... and in the middle of nowhere! We met a nice couple from Michigan who hiked with us some of the way. They took a group photo for us, and we did the same for them.
That night we ate more bagged food (which Jamie did not like!). We had a filter for the stream water, although I'm willing to bet the stream water is cleaner than Nashville city water! It was much colder than the night before- I believe it got into the teens not counting the howling winds. Too bad fires are not allowed in the park. We had on base layers, mid layers, outer layers, hats, gloves, multiple pairs of socks, mummy sleeping bags.... and we still felt like we were getting frost bite! We played rummy, watched the stars (shooting stars, satellites, we swear you could see galaxies it was so dark! It was the most stars I have ever seen!), and kept warm with a little Jim & Coke.

On day 6 we quickly packed up camp and hiked back to Jenny lake. We had to get back to watch the UT vs AU game and UGA vs AL. Unfortunately both teams lost. We checked into Signal Mountain Lodge. We had a cabin right on Jackson Lake. It was gorgeous!

On Day 7 we went sight seeing again. We were determined to see a bear! We heard there were some around, but could not find there. We saw a beautiful sunset instead.

On Day 8, our final day there, we finally saw a bear! Not a Grizzly, but a black bear. He was munching on a bull elk which mysteriously died near Jenny Lake Lodge. We have good video footage of it (Thanks, Dad!).

Content with finally seeing a bear, we headed back to the airport, to Dallas - Fort Worth, and back home to Nashville and Atlanta. We made lots of great memories and can't wait to return to backpack through Paintbrush Divide!