Grand Teton Winter

I have been wanting to go cross-country skiing in GTNP all winter, since hearing that you could do so. I don't know why it didn't cross my mind earlier! John had obligations in town, so Owen and I ventured out for a mom-son day. Although we are clear of snow in town, they certainly have plenty still up in the mountains. Owen got a little carsick over the pass, so we took it easy and had lunch in the car in the parking lot for a while. Luckily, I think the best view was from the parking lot!

When he was feeling better, we decided to get some fresh air and just walk around a bit. Turn out, the snow was crunchy and hard enough that we didn't really need skis or snowshoes! So we kept walking. Owen had a great time making new tracks off between the trees and over little hills.

I went into hiking mode and wanted to see how far we could get up the mountain for the views, but kids have a way of making you slow down and see things you wouldn't otherwise. Every boulder was a climbing adventure. Every track was a potential squirrel or rabbit hiding nearby. Some of the creek had thawed and was running under the snow, so of course, we had to kick in more snow and watch it disappear.

And the hills were sledding opportunities! I think this kid has been missing snow fun this warm winter. See his tracks down the hill? He called this "butt slides" and could have done this for hours! I gave it a try too, but he was way better at it!

My selfie game needs work! I can never figure out how to get faces and background in the same frame... I'm going to say that my arms are just too short. Ha! 

So I let the 8-year old take my portrait to get the mountains in the back! Not bad!

I love Jackson, so we had to stop for some hot cocoa and pastries before going back over the pass. Wish we could spend more time doing this kind of thing! It was a fun, if long, day!