We love staying in a hotel with a kitchen so we can make breakfast and not worry about finding something to eat. I brought all the groceries, and I'm glad I did because we were exhausted when we arrived last night and after a late dinner, went straight to the hotel and to bed.
The boys agreed to get up at 8:15 -- a good compromise of being able to sleep in but also able to get on the road early.
Today's hike was Taggart and Bradley Lake. A 5.4 mile loop but pretty flat for most of the way. I love hiking in the fall. The aspens were the most prominent changing tree -- the bright yellow a striking contrast to the evergreens.
We had bells on and bear spray as is recommended in Teton National Park.
Nick also brought his speaker and was playing his music.
(But he would mute it when they got near other people).
The best part of being with Nick and friends is we get to see their interactions with each other, their jokes, teasing, funny stories, hear about school and friends and listen to their music.
The boys had skipped a few rocks on Taggart Lake and we were moving on to the next lake when Nick found a "perfect rock" and said, "Whoa! Hold up!" He walked back down to the bank.
He wound up and skipped the rock so beautifully it jumped about 24 times.
And then several groups of people who were sitting around and watching clapped and cheered!
The best was to hear his reaction with his friends:
"You'll remember this as the greatest moment of your life."
"It doesn't get better than this."
"I'm never skipping another rock again!"
At Bradley Lake we stopped and ate our lunches overlooking the lake below.
It was a perfect hike to start our vacation. Long, but not hard.
Lots of people on the trail and the feeling of camaraderie.
As we moved through the forest and headed to town,
we saw lots of cars pulled over and a wildlife official keeping traffic moving.
I saw a bear!! It was lying down so I only saw the big round mass of brown fur.
I wanted Dan to stop, but he wouldn't. He said it was rude to the bear.
Ok.
And then as we crossed the river, lots more cars were pulled over and we saw a moose!
This time Dan pulled over but refused to get out of the car.
I didn't know he had such a strong sense of ethics of animal treatment.
But I ran over to see as did Will and Luke.
We had 45 minutes to walk around town and then...
... our river rafting tour!
We took a 45 min. bus ride from "Dave Hansen's river expeditions"
to the point we got in.
Then a 2 1/2 hour trip down the Snake.
(Generally its shorter, but we had a strong head wind a lot of the way.)
But the river was absolutely gorgeous! I didn't take my phone because I didn't want it to get wet or lost, but I'm sorry I didn't have it because everywhere we looked it was picture-worthy.
We saw two bald eagles, a mountain goat (also sitting, so we had to take our guide's word for it),
and seven river otters jumping off the rocks and swimming in the river.
And gorgeous fall colors.
It was a little chilly, but they gave us wet suits so we were comfortable.
Nick and Luke actually jumped in the river and earned a
"snake river swim team" bracelet.
Our guide was Jordan and he was a blast.
We were wet, cold and hungry by the end of the day.
We picked up pizza on the way home, saw three moose on the side of the road
then got home to eat, go to the hot tub and sauna and look forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
We've got our biggest hike right here in Teton Village tomorrow.
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