Grand Teton National Park -- Coulter Bay

The girls and I spent Thursday, July 09 through Sunday, July 12 camping in Grand Teton National Park with my parents and my sister Lindsey. This trip was a gift from my mother and, inadvertently, from my Grandma Bert (Tilly). You see, my mom had gone with her family to Coulter Bay every year when she was growing up. They would stay and camp in their trailer for several weeks. This year my mom decided to take Bert to Coulter Bay for three nights. My mom made all the necessary arrangements, but then several things came up that prevented Bert from joining her. Since Bert couldn't come, my mom invited the rest of us. I'm sad Bert couldn't make it, but I am SO grateful the girls and I were able to go! It was so beautiful!!!


Morgan, Brynne, and me in front of Jackson Lake with the Tetons in the background.
My sister Lindsey is a budding photographer. Just look at this picture she got of Morgan!

Lindsey and me in front of the cabins we stayed in. My mom, dad, and Lindsey were on the left; and the girls and I stayed in the cabin on the right. It was perfect being right next door.

Those first few pictures were actually taken on the last day. The rest of the pictures go in order of occurrence. We drove to the Tetons via Dubois (in Wyoming). We stopped there for gas and got a picture of the girls riding on a giant rabbit. You can see my parents standing by our car in the bottom right of the picture. We decided to drive Lee's car because it had enough room for all of us to ride together and still fit the luggage (barely). I actually rode in the front seat with my parents while the girls had pillows and camping chairs stacked all around them in the back seat. It was a little squishy, but definitely worth it; especially once Lindsey got there cause then we could fit her too.

As soon as we got to the cabins, Brynne wanted to head outside and try out Grandma's new super frisbee -- finally a frisbee I can throw! (Although, admittedly Brynne still threw better than me...)

Our first night there, we went to an evening chat with a park ranger. That night the presentation was on "scat". Yes, that's correct, animal poop. It was actually very interesting. The ranger had samples in bags to pass around and even told us it was okay to touch the scat from plant-eating animals. :) I had no idea how much you could tell from scat, but I feel very enlightened now. The night of the presentation, the girls were so excited to go on our our scat scavenger hunt. We waited until dark (because the girls were also really excited to use flashlights), and then walked around the cabin area looking for scat. It didn't take long before the hunt turned more into a license plate hunt instead of a scat hunt, but the scat hunt became part of every walk we went on after that. The girls actually managed to find Elk scat in several places the next day. I'm so proud of my girls! :)

Brynne and Grandma on one of our many walks around the cabins.

We went on a big walk each of the two full days we were in the Tetons. I think the thing the girls liked most from the walks was being able to climb on the rocks. They knew they weren't supposed to leave the trail, so they watched carefully for rocks that were right next to the trail. I tried to convince them on several occasions that they might want to preserve their energy for walking, but they couldn't resist the pull of the rocks. :) The other thing the girls really enjoyed was asking to pet all the dogs we came across. The girls probably "met" eight or more dogs during our visit. And after spending time petting each new dog, I found myself listening to Morgan beg me to get her a dog. I'm pretty sure she even tried tears at one point. (Poor girl wants a dog really bad, but I haven't figured out how we could have a dog with all our crazy schedules and gallivanting...)

The first walk we went on was to Hidden Falls. It was a 2.7 mile hike around Jenny Lake. I was so proud of the girls -- they didn't complain about the walking at all until the last .2 miles that happened to be an uphill climb.

Morgan and Brynne with Grandma and Grandpa Ross at Hidden Falls.

Originally we planned to walk the 2.7 miles back to our car, but we realized the girls would not make it (i.e. we were all really tired). Thankfully, there happened to be a boat ride on this particular trail that would take us back to the parking area. It was a quick boat ride, but I think it was right up there with the rocks and dogs as being one of the girls favorite things about the trip. With the walk down to the boat and then to the car, I figure we walked 3 miles that day -- great job Morgan and Brynne!

Here's a picture of Grandma Ross and Brynne riding the boat. I just realized I have lots of pictures of Brynne and Grandma Ross together. You can tell Brynne loves her Grandma! :)

Morgan posing at the head of the Hidden Falls trail. This gives you an idea of how beautiful it was in the Tetons.

Following our day one hike and a brief nap for the adults; Grandma, Morgan, Brynne and I headed down to the lake (Jackson Lake) for a swim. It was really cold, but the girls got right in. Grandma managed to get in pretty quickly too. I will admit I was a bit slower (in my earlier days I would have been the first one in), and by the time I got in everyone else was ready for a break.

Morgan and Brynne found a log they tried to make into a boat.

Morgan and Brynne with Grandma Ross showing off the beautiful view from the lake.

Brynne took a break to warm up on the rocky beach. I took the opportunity to take some cute pictures of her. This is one of my favorites...

This shot is out of order, but the night before we left Morgan got a big owie. The mosquitoes were particularly bad that night. (Note: The new "Clean Feel" Off brand mosquito spray doesn't work -- stick to "Deep Woods" Off!!!!) We went to another ranger presentation at the amphitheater. Morgan kept trying to slap the mosquitoes, and we kept asking her to be quiet so we could learn about members of the Beaver family. When the presentation was over, Morgan let out all the bottled energy and went loose after the mosquitoes. She was so wrapped up in her quest that she didn't realize she was reaching a bit too far for a mosquito. She tripped and fell over one of the benches and got a nasty bruise on her leg. We had to carry her around the rest of the night and the next morning a bit (thanks for your help, Linz) before she was willing to try and walk on it.

The second day we decided to take it a bit shorter on our hike, so we just went on a 2-mile hike around String Lake to Leigh Lake. Brynne still had a hard time making it all the way back, but she did. I was a mean mom and didn't want to carry her because I wanted her to be able to say she did the hikes by herself. I also wanted her to build a little stamina. :)

After the hike, we had a picnic lunch and took a scenic drive back to our cabins. We stopped along the way for this picture of all of us by Jenny Lake: Grandpa Ross, Morgan, Me, Grandma Ross, Brynne, Aunt Lindsey.

That day we decided to skip the lake and try out the nearby Jackson Lake Lodge pool. We had lots of fun playing in the pool, but the girls didn't want to get out because they were cold. I solved that problem by suggesting they join Grandpa who was "sunning" (i.e. getting warm) on the pool benches. I couldn't resist this picture of the three of them all lined up. :)

During the very small amount of "in-between" time we had, Morgan and Brynne worked to become Junior Park Rangers. They had to do several different activities to try and learn about the park and how to take care of it. When they had completed everything, they were sworn in as rangers and were given badges to wear (you can see Morgan's badge in the picture below).

This last picture was taken the morning we left (as were the first three pictures at the top of the blog). We went down to the lake to enjoy the scenery one last time and take a few pictures (okay, so maybe it was more than a few...). Brynne decided she didn't want to take so many pictures and chose to duck out of some of them (see below).

Morgan and Aunt Lindsey in front of the Tetons and Jackson Lake.

We had so much fun during our vacation that we're hoping to make it into a yearly family outing. None of us have trailers like my mom did when she was younger, and I'm sure we won't be staying for weeks like her family did; but I'll take what I can get of the Tetons! I am very excited for the day when we return!!!