35-Year Anniversary in Grand Tetons

Jackson is not set in stone, but it has become somewhat of a tradition for Chieko and my anniversary.

The end of September is an excellent time to come up here and enjoy the beautiful fall weather without the summer crowds.

Being kind of cheap on the sleeping end, this year (and last year) we stayed in The Hostel in Teton Village. It's a rustic, no-frills place with plywood-thin walls. Next time I think we'll stay in a place where we can't hear the guy snoring next door (really) or the family on the other side singing Happy Birthday over the phone to some faraway relative at 7:30 in the morning. Or we'll bring earplugs.

This tree has a lot of berries that seem like they'd appeal to a bear trying to fatten up for winter.

Oh, look! There's a bear fattening up on berries. A guy nearby said bears feed 20 hours a day this time of year.

This big bear climbed way up into this scrawny tree to reach the highest berries.

This is Mt Moran and the Snake River.

Also a three-year tradition, we hiked to Phelps Lake, which is on the property the Rockefellers recently donated to the National Park. This is where the Rockefellers had a lodge and cabins and where Chieko worked during a couple of her Utah State University summers.

A rock in the lake.

Rocks really in the lake.

This weird mushroom got black slimy stuff all over my hand. Now I feel weird.

This weird mushroom was growing out of a crack in a fallen tree.

This is a granite bolder near Phelps Lake.

Mr. Squirrel was walking down the boardwalk rail right at my camera, but then he suddenly turned and high-tailed it out of there.

A small waterfall on the trail to Phelps Lake, just above the Rockefeller visitor center.

We like to see the Bar J Wranglers on the last night of the season, because the show is a bit looser--the summer help gets to play pranks, like putting a mouse trap in Bryan's glove--and Babe sometimes shows up.

I guess you can tell that this is the entrance. But if you guessed that you'd be wrong. The entrance is to the left. You would know that if you had paid attention to the picture just above this one.

The crowd is waiting for dinner.

One guest is waiting for dinner.

My steak is cooking in the foreground on the right.

Cups of lemonade waiting for the horde of guests.

Babe didn't disappoint us. He showed up to do the introduction that he's so good at. This part of the show has never been the same since he retired about eight years ago.

Babe is telling his famous "Rooster's Revenge" cowboy poetry while Bryan annoys him with rooster imitations and calls.

This is the $25-per-person gondola that goes from Teton Village to the top of the ski mountain.

The gondola fits 100 people (luckily there weren't that many when we rode up. I counted 45.).

At the top of the mountain.

This is looking north toward Grand Teton, the tippy top of which is behind Chieko.

This is looking into Jackson Hole (the valley) with the Snake River running through the middle. Jackson the town is nestled behind, between, and to the left of those two mounds on the left. If you blow the picture up you might be able to see the Jackson Hole ski runs on the mountain behind the town.

A fire was burning on the Idaho side of the Tetons and leaving a haze over Jackson Hole.

Here's your free ride on the gondola. Click it. It's quick.

Chieko at Jackson Lake Lodge, on the Lunch Tree Hill walk.

Also on the Lunch Tree Hill walk. Rockefeller used to come here with a picnic. That's where the hill got its name.

I did not break the dead limb off this tree just to take a picture. Well, maybe I leaned on it a little too hard.

The Suburbans in the Jenny Lake parking lot had to belong to some kind of government agency. I thought Secret Service, but the trucks all had Montana license plates. Your guess is as good as mine. We didn't see guys in suits and earphones walking around anywhere.

Astle Beach at Jenny Lake. I will always have memories of Mother and Dad sitting here in their camp chairs while we splashed around in the water (some people whose names I won't mention did synchronized swimming in Jenny Lake once--Sara, Jennifer, Heather, and Tiffany could tell you who they were).

Canoes are for rent on the lake.

Looking across the lake.

These rocks on the bottom of the lake are really hard and really slippery. I recommend flip flops or Tevas if you want to go wading.

This is the boat that shuttles the people who are too lazy to walk the two-and-a-half miles around the lake to the Hidden Falls trail.

Riding across Jenny Lake to the Hidden Falls trail.

This is the creek below the falls.

And this is Hidden Falls.

I highly recommend coming to the Tetons in the fall.

The weather is gorgeous, the people are few, and it's just one of my favorite places on earth.