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Jenny Lake Overlook
This is the view of Jenny Lake and Cascade Canyon from the overlook. The mountains still had a beautiful white coat of snow on them from the week! So, most Fridays the Thirteenth are frightening, but mine was pretty fabulous. I was scheduled to have an all-day “prep day” today, which basically means that you can do whatever you need to do to prepare for your programs. We have a variety of programs that we do as rangers so it is very time-intensive to work on them. On my prep day, I decided to work on my Inspiration Point hike by going on the hike and figuring out where I was going to make my stops. I had written up what I wanted to say, but I needed to practice my presentations at each of the stops.
Even though it was just a couple days after it was snowing, the weather was incredibly beautiful. The skies were clear and it was a great day for taking some great photos. I took the Jenny Lake Scenic Loop, which stops at the Jenny Lake Overlook which has a fabulous view of the lake, the mountains, and the canyon behind the lake. It is amazing that I get to work at such a beautiful place every day!
I stopped by the visitor center to say hello to everyone and grab
Cascade Creek
This creek runs through the canyon, down Hidden Falls, and into Jenny Lake. some bear spray before I embarked on my hike. Bear spray is like pepper spray but for bears. It is oil-based, not water-based like the human pepper spray, and is used as a last resort when encountering a bear. There are actions you can take to lessen your chance of a bear encounter - making noise as you hike, looking for evidence of bear activity (such as bear scratches, scat, etc), and generally being aware of your surroundings. However, if for some reason a bear does charge you, the bear spray can be used to immobilize the bear so you may escape. I do not know anyone who has had to use bear spray but as rangers we are required to bring bear spray on our guided hikes and backcountry patrols. We can also borrow it for our personal hikes, which is nice because bear spray runs for about $45.
I took the shuttle boat over to the other side of the lake. The boat bypasses a two-mile hike around part of the lake so it saves you some time on your hike and many visitors choose to take the boat as opposed to walking the whole way. From
the boat dock on the other side it is half a mile to Hidden Falls, an impressive waterfall that is always fun to see. After Hidden Falls, you continue another half mile on a fairly steep trail up to Inspiration Point, which has a beautiful view. On my ranger-led hike I will have about 7 stops during this one mile hike, with each of these stops focusing on some aspect of the geology of the area. This geology talk has required a significant amount of study and long chats with the resident geologist rangers at Jenny Lake. However, I can finally discuss plate tectonics on a basic level and explain how glaciers create U-shaped canyons out of the granite and gneiss rock out of which these mountains are created. I hope you are impressed. I practiced the stops on the way up to Inspiration Point. Once I reached the top I took a lunch break and had a wonderful picnic lunch with an excellent view of the lake and valley. On the way back down I practiced my stops again so that I could be ready for my first hike next week.
After my hike, I worked on my
Boulder Hill
This hill was completely covered in snow when I went on the hike during District Day. Impressive to see how much had melted already! programs a bit more, focusing on my Junior Ranger Program that I will be creating and leading. Mine will focus on the trees around Jenny Lake and the importance of the trees to the greater ecosystem here in Grand Teton. I am in the process of creating a booklet that will help the kids identify the trees that we have here and describe the ways they can help protect the trees that we have here. I am designing a variety of activities that include games and arts and crafts. Should be fun!
Once I was done with my prep day, I returned home for a quick dinner. I then met my friend Nick to go “Morel Hunting,” which is a search for morel mushrooms, which are highly sought-after and apparently quite delicious. I had never heard of these mushrooms but apparently they grow in forested areas. We went to Timbered Island, a very strange feature here in Grand Teton. The surrounding area is the sagebrush community, which means that the soil is very harsh and the only thing that can grow are sagebrush plants. However, in the middle of the sagebrush is this considerable “island” of pine trees. We
Inspiration Point!
This is the reward for doing a fairly steep hike up to Inspiration Point. headed over there in search of our morels. We did end up finding a few of them, which was fun, then we explored a bit more and ran into some elk on the other side of the island. It was a fun trip but it quickly passed 9pm - it is very hard to keep track of time our here since it stays light so late - and I needed to get home to prepare for the next day. I was doing a snow hiking school that started early, so I needed to get my sleep! We cooked the few mushrooms we had collected. They were very tasty and worth the effort. I then headed home to prepare for the next day. It turned out to be a great Friday the 13th - filled with hiking, exploring, and yummy mushrooms.
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