Monday, September 14, 2015

Laboring at GTNP

We were able to caravan with friends to Grand Teton NP on Labor Day for a day of fun. The previous days had been windy and cold, but we had perfect weather on Monday! 

We met up early in the morning to get to the alpine slide in Jackson just after it opened. Getting to the slide required a ride in a chair lift, and the way the guy was taking tickets meant it was just Hadley and me in a 6-person chair!  I'm pretty sure she could have slipped under the handrail pretty easily, but I did brave it for one picture because she loved it so much!  I might have my family ski-buddy after all!  :)

Here's the top of the slide.  I didn't get any pictures from the slide this time, because I was riding with H, and John was riding with O, and I didn't want anything crazy to happen. But I did take pictures 2 years ago when we did this before, if you want to see what it looks like.  Side note: they were building a roller coaster on the mountain, which is the structure over the slide.  It looked like it would be a blast!

Owen was very hesitant and reluctant to go on the slide, but Hadley was pretty excited and shouted "Woohoo!" most of the way down.  At the bottom, Owen said he had fun, but didn't want to do it again, and Hadley said, "Let's do that again!"  She even asked about going there again sometime over the past week.  (It's closed for the season now.)

After the slide, we hopped back in the cars for a trip into the park for a picnic.  The tables were all full, but we couldn't have asked for better scenery.

After lunch, it was a quick walk down to the ferry dock to cross Jenny Lake.  We had not done the ferry before, but we thought it was a fun idea to try with the group. The kids loved it!  It was very fast, but I think we'll walk next time to avoid the crowds and expense.  The longer hike is definitely doable!

I think the hike from the dock to Hidden Falls was only supposed to be half a mile, but it sure felt longer than that.  I guess that's what happens when you have 8 adults and 9 kids trying to hike together.

There was some pretty scenery along the way, and Owen was feeling fairly cooperative for the camera and the hike!

Finally, Hidden Falls!  Still impressive and just as I remembered it from 4 years ago.

The lighting reflecting off the waterfall in the background made group pictures difficult to do, but we tried anyway for that rare family photo.

Again, Owen was hesitant to walk down to the waterfall, but once we did, he was glad we had made the trek of stepping stones over the creek.  (see a pattern here?) We were getting misted on, but I got my picture!

The rest of the group turned back for the ferry, but we weren't quite satisfied yet, and Owen was just hitting his stride, requesting more hiking.  So we ventured on, which was a dead end just past the waterfall, but then we took a side trail and came upon a beautiful panorama of Jenny Lake.

Now we could catch the ferry back, but we did have to wait a while at the dock.

We caught up with the rest of our group at the Snake River Brewery for some dinner.  The kids were all exhausted, hungry, and crazy, but at least we sat outside and didn't bother too many patrons.

Mary, our resident 1st grade teacher, kept the kids entertained and busy with a game while the bill was paid.  Pretty entertaining to watch this spread of ages and friends try to follow directions and compete.

What a fun, full day!  We are so thankful to be close enough to such scenery to make a memorable day trip with friends.

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