July 08 // Jenny Lake Campground, Grand Tetons National Park. Wyoming. [link to photos]

About the only word that can accurately describe today would be “incredible.” We woke up around 7:00 am or so, quick tore down the tent and packed up our things, downed a peach and an energy bar, and made like a bandit for the coveted Jenny Lake Campground. When I was looking for a place to camp in the Grand Tetons, I read several reviews online, that Jenny Lake was the place to camp — and they were right. And of course the view along the way — spectacular. We saw a grizzly just a hundred yards or so off the road and further on down near the dam, a dozen moose — mostly calves, sows and one bull — crossed the road to make their way to some lush grass near the lakeside. But on to Jenny Lake!

This small, tent-only campground nestled in the southern most part of scenic Jenny Lake, has about 30 some spots from what I recall, and they fill up quickly. With many people reserving (or more accurately, claiming) their spot for several days at a time, the campground often fills up by noon. Two days ago, it filled up by 10:30 am. And from our own personal experience, I can see why it fills up so rapidly. Between the generous spacing between camp sites, the peaceful surroundings (mostly couples and few families), and quick access to the Jenny Lake looping trail, it is heaven on earth. And if you’re fortunate enough, there are probably about a half dozen coveted spots that give you a handsome view of the southern most mountains of the Grand Teton range. And when I say handsome view, I mean, step out of your tent in your jammies and POW (cue angel choir rejoicing in C major) the majestic Grand Teton mountain range beckons you to put on your hiking boots and come and explore the foothills that surround them.

We were fortunate enough to land a quiet place, tucked in a grove of tall pines that shelter us from the afternoon sun and offer just enough view of the sky to keep our camping area reasonably well-lit in the evening. It’s an all-around pleasant place to be with the robins singing their songs, deer roaming the campgrounds for their evening meal, and only the occasional sound of cars passing in the distance on the scenic drive through the park.

All the sites in Jenny Lake are accompanied with a bear box for stowage of ALL items that might remotely smell interesting to bears, including water bottles, dishes, cleaning utensils — anything and everything goes in there. We also have quick access to running water and it’s just a short-to-moderate walk to the restrooms depending upon where you are located in the grounds.

One thing to note if you stay here — bring your own towel, some environmentally friendly soap to wash with, and a wash cloth to wash with. Most of the rest rooms do not have paper towels or soap dispensers — and for good reason. Those things not only cost money, but are an unreasonable strain on the environment when people are fully able to bring their own towel, soap, and wash cloth. But also be warned… there’s no hot water and the water is QUITE COLD in the morning; so that brisk morning wipe down is certain to wake you up like a hot cup of coffee. There’s something invigorating about an extremely cold, soapy wash cloth making contact with the unmentionables — it is more than enough to startle you out of your slumberous state.

For our activity for the day, we decided on a long day hike around Jenny Lake; and trust me, it’s a long one. We left a little after 10:00 am, and holding down a leisurely pace with a few necessary stops, we pulled into our camp site around 4:30. Six and a half hours of hiking is nothing to sneeze at, and is MOST certainly exhausting if you’re not used to that sort of thing.

The south and southwestern areas of Jenny Lake, including some of the overlooks and Hidden Falls, are perhaps the more popular and more beautiful portions of the nine-mile loop trail. The falls were simply breath-taking and the cold mist that gave us all relief was most certainly rewarding for the long three-mile hike up there from the south Jenny Lake Visitor’s Center. The next few miles took us through an area that must have seen a fire ravage through there years ago, with charred trees reaching and leaning over and rich green grass that covered the mountain side.

We really started to hit the wall, though, when we reached the northern most part of Jenny Lake, where we crossed a wide stream that fed into Jenny Lake. Shoes came off, feet in the water, and we rested up before the last two hour leg of our hike. The dogs were certainly barking by then, and would be absolutely howling on our last mile or so to the campground..

The eastern side of Jenny Lake, though beautiful in its own sub-alpine sort of way, didn’t really compare to the western side, where you’re walking over mountain-fed streams, a shoulder’s glance away from seeing the majestic Tetons at your feet, and of course the incredible Hidden Falls. It was certainly a full day for us — we milked Jenny Lake for all its worth, and it did the favor of milking US for all we’re worth.

So after a long day of hiking, we had fresh salads that Natalie made up, some dehydrated chili (Yum!) and will soon be cracking open a bottle of white wine and roasting some s’mores to round off our evening here in the pristine Grand Tetons National Park. This is certainly a place that I will return to some day with my kids, to give them the experience of camping in the mountains, being a short walk away from beautiful, crystal-clear lakes, and breath-taking mountains at your feet. We won’t make them endure the painful nine-mile hike that we went on, but it is most certainly a must-stop for all nature lovers. I am extremely grateful that we stopped here, and got up early enough to find a place in Jenny Lake. That is also a must-stay location. It’s quiet, reasonably secluded, and you have great hiking trails available to you wherever you go.

Tomorrow we head off to Yellowstone after an early morning of taking some sunrise photos, breakfast and a quick campsite tear-down. We’ll be on our way for another night of camping, and then a hotel break in Whitefish, Montana. What a trip this has certainly shaped up to be. One of the best indeed.

Addendum:

Of course, the minute that I log off my laptop, pack it away, and we crack open our bottle of white wine, the most remarkable thing happened. We were casually talking about the day, about our lives, kids, music, our future, wedding photography — a whole range of subjects — when Natalie suddenly shh’s me and tells me to grab my camera. Walking into our camping area at a leisurely grazing pace was this young buck, with not even stubs to call antlers. He slowly made his way towards our tent grazing on grass and tree seedlings, walked over to our bear box to give our food a quick smell — obviously deciding that our taste in food was inferior to fresh foliage — and eventually made his way onward to other areas.

It was quite remarkable, for the second time this evening being so close to deer, that you feel like you’re that much closer to heaven and the fullness of God’s creation. It was perfect. A great dinner, wonderful wine, good conversation, great s’mores, beautiful deer and other animals, and finally winding down to a quiet evening in the gorgeous Grand Tetons National Park.

This is, indeed, the best vacation that I’ve had so far.

And if I may be slightly transparent for a moment, I also feel like for the first time that I’m ready to become a father, ready to take my children camping, ready to show them the splendor of creation, how we are to respect it and be good stewards of it, and to appreciate the life they’ve been given to the best of their ability with what they’re given.

My wife and I talked a bit more about things like ovulation cycles, her changing her work schedule and what that implies, and even her desire to become charismated into the Orthodox church. I’m so proud of her making such a huge leap of faith with the limited information and experience that she’s had thus far. But with the talk about things like life and Theosis being a life=long journey or process, and the value of things like confession, community in the Church, and the life-giving nature of the Eucharist, I think that she’s starting to see what I saw in the Orthodox church — the fullness of the faith that we found the evangelical church of America to be lacking.

It’s been a good day. A very good day and it couldn’t have been any better. I’m excited to see what the rest of our vacation holds in store for us.s

July 8, 2008, 7:52 pm

Filed under: General

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.