Isn't It Grand? (day 12)

Well, the scenery in the Grand Tetons is, but the campground is wearing thin.

For the last few days of our trip, ever since Custer, the weather was best summed up this way: if you don’t like it, wait an hour and it will change. It’s veered from downpours to sunshine, from 35 degrees at night to 60 during the day. But today has been sunny far more than cloudy, a pleasant change. We could even see the peaks of the mountains.



We welcomed the good weather since we went for a four mile hike today. First we took a boat shuttle across Jenny Lake.



We then hiked up to see Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, before doubling back to the visitors center.



It was a lovely hike, but we’re glad we got out early. From Inspiration Point, we could see throngs of people getting off of the later boat shuttles, and the paths became packed with people. We can only imagine what it’s like in the summer (same goes for Custer during Sturgis.)

There were marmots all over the place.



We also finally saw a moose. (No bear yet though, although there are A LOT of warnings about grizzlies.) (The picture is fuzzy, because I’m overreaching the capabilities of our otherwise trusty Canon Sureshot.)



When we went back to the trailer for a rest, I discovered that the campground's bathroom had a burst pipe. One of the two toilets is already busted and the building isn‘t exactly spic and span. The adjacent campsite loop’s bathroom is closed while the one two loops over has its own plumbing problems. The showers are back at the main “drag”, a 15 minute walk (we took the car), and cost $3.75 a piece.

This is a let-down: we’ve been surprised by how uniformly nice the campground bathrooms have been so far on this trip. Maybe the fact that Grand Teton is a well-used national park who farms out maintenance to a resort management company is an issue. Regardless, it’s becoming evident that we’re going to shop for a trailer with a bathroom when we get back…

Today’s good thing: A tie between sunshine and naps.

Today’s bad thing: The mass of ants who emerged in our campsite’s parking spot and the two dozen or so that followed me into the van.

Tom