Cool Mornings

 

Greetings from Gros Ventre Campground outside Grand Teton National Park, where the frosty cold mornings quickly turn into warm afternoons full of sunshine.  This is my first revisit campground on this trip and it remains one of my all-time favorites.  The pitch I have is perfect:  Beagle’s back window faces the gorgeous mountains across a sagebrush-filled meadow; no pitch across from me so the front windows look upon trees and, best of all, it is at the end of a row so Beagle’s front door opens to more meadow and towering mountains.  The view from my door:

The weather has been unbelievably gorgeous—actually hit 81 the day I pulled into town—today we woke to a chilly 32 degrees but it quickly warmed up to the ever-delightful 72.

Waking on my first morning, as I was rolling down Beagle’s blinds at dawn, I was startled to see a woman crouching not ten feet away from Beagle, aiming her high-powered camera lens toward the meadow.  I looked out the back window to see two moose grazing about twenty yards out.  A peacefull way to start a day that quickly turned into a wind extravaganza.

When I am in this area I like to hike as much as possible; however the prohibition against dogs in the National Park makes this challenging.  Consulting AllTrails, I started up Black Butte, which they have listed as “dog-friendly” and “rarely used”; it is within the park boundary so I was hoping the ‘rarely used’ descriptor carried more purchase than the incorrect ‘dog-friendly’ one.

There was one car at the trailhead as we started up the hillside.  There are plenty of bear warning signs around so I carried bear spray and noted, with joy, that the trail up the hillside meandered along the tree line instead of through it.  I am fine if I can see what’s coming.  Up and up and up we went, my non-altitude-adjusted lungs gasping and the ferocious wind hammering against us.  Since I don’t make a lot of noise (in general or when hiking) I decided to turn on Colorado Public Radio, hoping that the bears were not fans of Bach.

According to Garmin, we climbed 1000 feet (from 6500 to 7500) in ¾ of a mile.  Phew!  There was no break from the wind and it continued to roar so I sat at the top with my back to it, enjoying some hot coffee, a package of Belvita and a little Debussy.  It was magical listening to the music and watching the wind bend the trees as if they were conducting an orchestra.

From there I could see that the trail entered a treed area and, since I had still not seen another hiker, I decided to turn back; that high up is a great place for bears to hang out and I wouldn’t be able to see what was coming. 

Not nearly sated after only three miles, we headed to Cache Creek Trailhead which is definitely dog friendly, just two miles from downtown Jackson, and the start of many miles of trails.  We added two more miles along the creek and by the time we got back to Beagle we were pooped!

Needing a little bit of familiarity for my last day, we returned to Cache Creek this morning, starting our hike in a cool 42 degrees and ending it, 5.5 miles later, at 68.  A wonderful trail system, beautifully maintained and well signed.

But the coolest morning of all came a few days ago:  While preparing Beagle to leave Henry’s Lake State Park, I heard what I thought was an acoustic guitar and I thought, “How nice, one of my neighbors is playing lovely music this morning.”  But I knew something was up when I looked into the back of Liebchen and saw Opus sitting atop his travel crate gazing out the back window.  (He had happily jumped inside the crate after our nice long hike that morning, ready for his mid-morning nap.)

I followed his gaze and saw a young man sitting outside his travel van, dressed like the 70’s (complete with a bandana holding back his long, curly hair) with a large dome shaped item between his legs.  It appeared to be metal and he was playing it half like a drum and half like a piano.  It was soothing and mellow and lovely and very, very cool.

When he was done, I thanked him and Opus returned to the inside of his crate.

-K

PS:  The top photo was actually taken a few years ago on a prior trip…the mountains are much more beautiful in the Spring.