First Snow

We woke up Saturday morning to a lot of snow! About 4-7 inches of snow, depending on who you ask. It's way too early for that much snow. We had a few flurries a couple of other times, but this is the first white stuff to stick around for a while. (At least it's mostly gone now!)

The kids were enjoying being lazy inside until a neighbor friend came to ask them to play outside. Then they were gone for two hours! They even broke out the sleds, in addition to making a snow fort, having a snow ball fight, and playing fetch with the neighbors' dog. Yea for good, clean childhood fun!

This will be our look for the next six months...

Here's my artistic take on the early snow: Winter pooped all over fall!

But the forecast was good enough for Sunday that we decided to venture to Jackson and Grand Teton NP (always a gorgeous spot in the fall), before fall was over.

Although it was supposed to be 50 degrees that day, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Hiking in the snow was new for us. And we didn't think to bring our snow boots, so the kids feet got pretty wet! 

If the trail wasn't snow, it was slushy mud. Yuck! Between cold toes and a muddy slip she had on our last hike, Hadley wasn't very excited about this muddy trek, so she got some help from Dad over some of the more treacherous parts.

While the trail wasn't in the best shape, the scenery was still spectacular, even highlighted by the dusting of snow, and the crowds were pretty thin.

So we pressed on from String Lake to Jenny Lake in the muck.

Made it! Our reward was a beautiful view!

We turned around and then decided to cross the creek for a different path back to the car. Luckily, it was an uneventful crossing!

Another stunning view of Jenny Lake, from the official overlook, on our way out of the park.

And one more artistic shot for this post: our delicious post-hike beers (fun to say - Dunkeldorf and Dortmunder) at our favorite brewpub in Jackson with Snow King's newly dusted ski runs in the background. Perfect day!