Back to Normal Weather

As the title says, we're back to what we call normal weather.  With that said, we've gotten out more and started hiking & walking some of Grand Teton.  First trip out was a planned walk around Two Ocean Lake.  Unfortunately,  Two Ocean Drive was closed.  Guess the bugs weren't bad enough to open the road to the public, yet.  One ranger told us the road would be open when the weather improved.  Some people opinioned that it was closed due to bear activity.  Whatever.  The result is the bugs will be bad when the road opens.

On a whim, we decided to take a dirt road/forest road just north of Jackson Lake Lodge that - through Google Earth - looked like there might be a parking area near Two Ocean Trail.  Turns out this was a jackpot find.  Without any signage, we found a nice parking lot that's very active.  A lot of people know about this parking lot.  It gets you close to Emma Matilda Lake Trail and Grand View Trailhead. 

The Grand View Trail is rated hard by AllTrails app.  We decided to go as far as we dared and ended up having a nice hike uphill for a long while before reaching the Grand View Point.  Best part - return trip is all down hill!  Top photo is one of the many views you get as you approach Grand View Point.  We came across the black bear on the way down.

We took a day off for local shopping in Jackson.  The next outing was a walk along String Lake trail.  We walked up to Leigh Lake and returned.  Decided to try to make it to Jenny Lake, but turned around at one of the snow banks that we just weren't comfortable trying to cross.

That finished our days off for this week and we were back playing tour guide at the hatchery.  Eggs arrived Wednesday - all 210,000 of them.  Not that many by large hatchery standards, but it's a lot for the Jackson hatchery.  This picture to the right shows them sitting in about an inch of  50 degree (F) water.  Roughly 5,500 eggs per tray.  Sack fry are expected to start showing themselves over the weekend.

This picture to the right is Donna giving a talk to a local class of 4th graders.  I think they're reciting a poem they've just learned.  Donna's "salute" is her covering her eyes from the sun. 

So that's it for this week.  We're still doing well.  We're either in better shape than last year or we've learned to pace ourselves.  Most likely we've learned to pace ourselves.

Oh, just a side note:  Donna got a pic of Bear 399 on Sunday.  As soon as we get it moved to a drive I can reach, we'll post it on the blog.

Thanks for dropping in and checking up on us.  Until next week, David