Our Day of Discontent...and Grand Tetons!

Every long family vacation must allow for at least three days of discontent. Yesterday we used up at least two of those days between 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.! It all started when I woke a certain tween up from a solid comfy motel room slumber in order to snag a campsite at the Colter Bay campground on Jackson Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. Our early-waking boy has been a reliable household alarm clock for years, but it seems that we are witnessing the beginning of some changes to his circadian rhythms.

The next incident was when we exited the motel and walked to the van. I was temporarily blinded by the brilliant sun and managed to walk right into a tree limb at forehead height. Ouch! That left quite a goose egg and put me in a bit of a funk.

Finally I failed my family by finding a less-than-stellar grocery store for breakfast items and sub-standard coffee. When we finally hit the road and head northeast toward Wyoming and along the Idaho border, we took turns being very grumpy, and this sour mood hung like a dark cloud over us all until a while after we set up camp. The mood did lighten considerably when we stopped for groceries and a picnic in Jackson Hole. The quality and range of the offerings were not far off of Wegmans standards, quite a change from the last time we were here in the mid-90s. They even had things like pre-packaged Portobello mushrooms with basil, finely chopped tomato and feta cheese, all ready for the grill and a wide range of fake meat products.

It always takes a little while to feel settled in at a new campsite, so instead of immediately putting up the tent, we took in the breathtaking views of Colter Bay and the rugged Tetons in the background. Then we did the ritual tour of the visitor center and gift shop. We were most impressed by the quality of fresh produce and range of products available in the camp grocery store, including our favorite Greek yogurt, which made for a great lunchtime treat today.

Family peace was restored when we went to the evening program, sang familiar campfire songs, and learned about the history and the biology of the bison. We continue to be most impressed by the quality of the programming. Every park ranger that I’ve met has been so patient and kind, and they deserve kudos for figuring out how to manage the endless questions and occasional inappropriate interruptions from the junior ranger crowd.

We woke up on Sunday to a beautiful sky, and I worked on the omelet and home fries breakfast while Gail went for her first run in a little while. After piling on the calories, I went for a bike ride to the Yellowstone border and back. This was my fastest ride of the vacation, and aside from a 600’ climb spread over 3 miles, it was great time trial material—I wish I had aero bars for the flat sections, but in spite of that, I averaged 21.4 mph over the 37 mile ride with almost 2200’ of total climbing. The return trip was most rewarding, with views of the Tetons and a tailwind, but surprisingly I didn’t see many other cyclists.

This afternoon we went on a three-hour ranger-led easy hike. Ranger Danielle was terrific, and she taught us a great deal about the trees, plant life, animals and the entire web of life in this portion of the park. The bear claw markings on the lodge pole pines were most impressive, and I really hope that we have any close calls with bears, based on the size of the incisions. I’ll definitely be buying a canister of bear spray, since the Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier are all prominent bear territory.

When it started raining, I raced ahead, since once again I forgot to close all of the tent windows. When will I learn? Fortunately nothing got too wet, and the skies cleared again after a two-hour light shower. A burrito dinner hit the spot, and now we look forward to another evening program. Tomorrow it’s off to Jenny lake and some more adventurous hiking that will take us closer to the big mountains, particularly Rockchuck Peak, which is just over 11,000’ high, weather permitting. The current plan is for me to bike ahead to the trailhead with a bit of a head start. Hopefully we’ll also find a 3G hotspot so that I can upload this blog entry as well!

Reaching the Boiling Point at Arches

This morning’s blog entry is coming to you from North Campground at Bryce Canyon National Park. We landed here last night after a frustrating night and amazing morning.

Saturday night at Arches, we all settled into our sleeping bags and drifted off. All was well. But at about 11 pm, a new group of campers arrived at the site next door. They proceeded to start their campfire and open their beers…and talk. Loudly. With much swearing. Until around 4 am. Armin talked to them early on, using his best high-school-teacher firm-but-affable voice. He explained that quiet hours start at 10 and that we had 2 kids who were trying to sleep. They promised they would “try” to be quiet. They didn’t try very hard. Armin went out and shushed them several more times, getting more and more frustrated each time. They finally quieted down at around 4:00, and when we got up in the morning we contacted the campground host and the ranger and wrote up the incident. When we left, they miscreants had been awakened by the ranger and she was preparing to dish out justice (we don’t know what kind…as much as we were hoping that they’d receive 40 lashes, they probably just got a ticket.

Anyway, we were in pretty sour moods when we rolled out of camp, but we had reservations for the Fiery Furnace tour and were determined to turn the day around. The Fiery Furnace is an area of Arches that’s comprised of blind canyons with no marked trails. You need to go in with a ranger or get a special permit to hike there. We met up with our group of 25 people (from around the US, France, and Italy) and Ranger Jess and headed out. What a great experience! The hike is labeled
“moderately strenuous,” and was mostly pretty easy, though there was some excellent scrambling, jumping, and crawling through narrow places. Ranger Jess was the perfect guide—knowledgeable and enthusiastic, with a passion for the desert and wild places. Our final stop on the walk was in a natural rock amphitheater under an arch, and Ranger Jess gave a stirring talk on protecting our natural sanctuaries. We emerged from the Fiery Furnace with our good spirits restored.

We hopped in the car and drove the 5 hours to Bryce Canyon. We made a grocery stop along the way and didn’t arrive here until nearly 7 pm. We were the Grouchy Family, since we were all starving, Armin & I were exhausted, and the boys were antsy after the hours in the car. We got the tent up and dinner made (with a fair amount of grumbling and sniping all around) and got some sleep. I made a bathroom run in the middle of the night and spent a few minutes goggling at the amazing stars. I hope tonight is clear so I can have a better look!

This morning I went on my first run in about a week and a half. I’ve hiked nearly 20 miles in that time, but hadn’t strapped on the running shoes. I had a nice hilly run on strong legs, maybe 2.5 miles or so. I don’t know that I’ll be ready for the 5&10 in September, but I’m enjoying the hiking and hope I can get in more runs in the next 4 weeks. The weather here at Bryce is certainly conducive to running. It was in the 40s last night, and looks to dip into the 30s in the next couple days, with highs in the upper 70s.

Now we’re off to the Visitor Center and a hike and SHOWERS! YES!! The little park store has pay showers!