We started about 7 a.m. on Friday.
A little way past Randolph, Utah, we met a minor slowdown.
Sheep everywhere. They weren't just crossing the road; they were crisscrossing the road and generally going in the same direction as we wanted to go.
The sheepherders and dogs seemed to enjoy crossing back and forth as much as the sheep did
The Grand Teton visitors' center in Moose, Wyoming.
A relief of Grand Teton National Park.
Chieko in front of the Episcopal church built in 1925.
The church is still in use today.
Michael and Chieko in one of our favorite spots.
Chieko at our most favorite Teton picture place. It's missing only the horses and moose that often hang out here.
The Bar J Chuckwagon has been our must-go-to event in Jackson for the past 25 years or so. I think we've missed only the couple of years that we live in California, but we've visited twice a few years and even three times one year. We understand Bar J has sold the ranch, and this year may be the last chuckwagon here.
For something to do while waiting for dinner, a walking/train-ride path goes past a few scenes, such as this teepee and Native American family.
The cook is throwing 12-ounce ribeyes on the charcoal grill.
Annie waiting for the dinner and show to begin.
Brian introduces the dinner and explains how we will stampede through the food line.
Besides ribeyes, you can have BBQ ribs, roast beef, chicken or combos. You also get beans, a baked potato, cornbread, apple sauce and spice cake. This is roughly similar to what wranglers would have eaten on a cattle drive (at least the beans, cornbread and cake are similar; cowboys wouldn't normally have had beef and certainly not chicken).
The performing wranglers also serve and clean up.
Babe Humphries started the Bar J Wranglers 39 years ago. He retired a few years ago but still shows up sometimes for announcements and at least one song or a cowboy poem.
Here are some samples from the Bar J program.
(These videos are compressed to upload to Blogger, so they look best if left small.)
Our camping spot at Gros Ventre. The is our go-to campground. Officially in Grand Teton National Park, this large campground is conveniently located between the town of Jackson and the park entrance. In years past you could always find a camp spot long after all the other campgrounds were full, but last year and this year it filled up in the afternoons of the 4th-of-July weekend. We arrived about noon, so we had no trouble getting our choice of spots.
The Weavers with Chieko and Michael.
Annie waiting for lunch at Gibbon Picnic stop in Yellowstone on Saturday.
Yes, there are a lot of Asian tourists who are not used to western toilets in Yellowstone.
The Boiling River north of Mammoth. It's illegal, not to say down right dangerous, to get into any hot spring in Yellowstone, but it's okay to get in the rivers, and when a hot spring dumps into a river, like the Gardiner River here, it makes a nice soaking spot.
I've sat directly under the hot spring water pouring into the river in the past, but this time the water was scalding. Someone also removed the little rock wall that used to protect the soaking area from the main river flow, so we had to contend with the river's cold current.
On the way back from Mammoth we took the east-side route over Mount Washburn hoping to see some wildlife. We weren't disappointed by this young black bear, who was bouncing through sage brush like a happy jack rabbit.
The wildflowers on the slopes of Mount Washburn are beautiful.
I'm caught taking pictures.
Next, this young grizzly gave us a good show.
Now the only animals I've tried several times to see but never have are the wolves. We've driven Lamar Valley several times and stopped at places that have dozens of people with spotting scopes watching for the roaming wolf packs, but when we've stopped, the wolves have gone undercover.
Finally, I see a wolf. And doing something I would never even hope to see: Being a wolf.
He was a lone wolf. His dinner is a young moose.
There are always plenty of bison, even ones with bird friends.
The Hayden Valley at sundown.
The next morning Jackson, Sara, Jared and I got up and rode our bikes from the campground to Jenny Lake. No other bike ride can compete with this place for the beauty.
If you don't want to watch the whole thing, skip to 3:20 to see the ride along the Tetons, and 5:22 for a ride down the hill.
On a foot bridge over the stream flowing from Jenny Lake to the south.
The Weaver biking clan.
I have no idea who this guy was. He came up, put his arm around me and took a selfie. Then he took one with Jared and one with Jackson. He didn't seem interested in getting one with Sara (we guessed maybe he wants to show his friends all the Americans he met, and she didn't look quite "American" enough?), so she jumped in and took one with her camera. I think the only English he knew was "Thank you," and he laughed a lot.
In the afternoon we headed up to Signal Mountain. Then a shower at Colter Bay. Ahhh. That was nice. Then BBQ at Bubba's.
But before dinner, we checked out Jenny Lake. South Jenny Lake was a madhouse with people, but the one-way road from the north end and along the east side of the lake was peaceful and beautiful. We skipped rocks, waded and just had a great time.
The Weavers posing near sunset.
No words.
Chieko wanted me to take a picture of the Milky Way for her Instagram, so I wandered into a field in the campground about midnight and took some long exposures. It took time and experimenting to get the lighting and all right, and she kept coming down the road to tell me I should come in because a bear or moose was going to get me. None did.
On Monday we wrapped camp. The Weavers headed home while we road the boat across Jenny Lake intending to hike to Hidden Falls.
After we paid our money (with senior discount) and left the harbor in the boat, the boat operator informed us that the trail to Hidden Falls was closed for an upgrade. So we decided to hike to Inspiration Point, which is just a little farther and higher. If you look closely you can see Chieko going up the rocky trail near the top of Inspiration Point.
This funny Asian guy is using a rock to scrape the bark from his new-found walking stick. Then he pursues a hiking race with Chieko (I don't think she was really aware of the race). He said something in Chinese to Chieko as he passed her; I think he said, "I win. Haha." We do finally reach Inspiration Point.
Inspiration Point overlooks Jenny Lake and the valley, but the view to the west is also spectacular.
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