Wildflower Trail Under the Gondola

Our flight was at 3:00 so we needed to be done hiking today by 1:30. 

We determined we still had time to hike under the gondola to the lodge up top if we got a relatively early start. We had to get checked out of the hotel before we left too.

The hike is up the ski hill right out the door (from Teton Village). 

4 miles (or 4.25) and 2,700 feet of elevation gain. 

The incentive is when you get to the top, you get to ride the gondola down for free.

At 1.5 miles, the boys found the swing. When we caught up to them, they were in good spirits taking turns on the swing and excited to "almost be there." 

They were not happy to find out the building they saw was not the one we were aiming for. And we'd come less than half way.

But they've been great sports the whole time and set off again at a fast clip. 

Too fast for Dan and me. But we still made great time.

We averaged a 25 minute pace which was about what I do to the first river on Mt. Olympus.

My goal was to continue that pace for the next mile, at least. 

(Especially since the trail was a trail -- not a river bed. A lot easier on the mind and body.)

We kept up the pace and got to the top after 1:45. 

The boys were only ten minutes ahead of us.

And a lady cheered for us when we arrived.

Because it was a weekend, the restaurant up top was hopping and full of people inside and out.

Made the boys happy because they could have pizza.

The restaurant also served specialty waffles all day! We'll have to remember that for next time!

It's been a great trip to Jackson. The lakes, mountains and hikes are beautiful.

Next time we want to spend more time walking around Jenny Lake, ride bikes along the paths into town and back, do the Tia Ferrata climbing adventure (with a guide), the alpine slide (if its open), hike from Granite Canyon to Taggart Lake, hike the extra mile down to Phelps lake to jump off the rock into the water, and maybe drive up to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful (3 hours away). 

On the way home when we'd made it to SLC, we were told we'd need to circle for 40 minutes for our turn. Instead, our pilot dipped down to 6,000 feet to avoid the air traffic and get us home without the wait.

What a view of downtown!