#stringlaketrailhead

[tgifmel]

Healthy looking meadow marmot by oldmantravels Always inquisitive. Always amenable to having their photo portrait taken. This marmot was in quite a different environment than his cousin, we found still making a living in a snow and ice landscape up by Lake Solitude. After hiking upon the snow and surrounded by snow for several miles and several hours, returning to the meadows and forest at the lower elevations, overwhelms the senses with colors and fragrance. These are the photos of our return hike from Lake Solitude; down the North Fork Cascade Creek Canyon to the North/South Forks trail junction; down Cascade Canyon to Lake Jenny; and then back along the Jenny Lake trail to my car at the String Lake trailhead. The views were new facing the opposite direction, we met lots of hikers and backpackers coming the other way. Most of the clouds had long since drifted away from all but the highest of Teton peaks. We saw the only bear on this hike near the trail junction, and where we had met the cow moose earlier that morning, she was gone and two bull moose, with antlers in velvet were feeding along the same stretch of creek. We passed many more of the endearing trail clowns and photo bomb artists, the marmots. On the Jenny Lake trail the osprey tended its nest and seemed a little put out with all the hikers passing below its nest. We reached the trailhead, and returned to Jackson Hole to catch up with the stories my two granddaughters had to tell and thank my wife for watching them, while we took a most memorable hike (with some clear mountain air good exercise thrown in, not to mention the scenery, flora, and fauna). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jackson Hole, Wyoming Road Trip: June 18 through June 29, 2018. I drove to Salt Lake City from our house in Eastern Washington on Monday the 18th of June 2018. I drove it straight through in our Honda Fit. Over the next ten days of driving I got an impressive 42 mpg or better, with the little car. Monday through Wednesday 6.18 - 6.20.2018 I stayed at our son's home outside Salt Lake City. My wife was already there, helping with the care of our two granddaughters now two and five. Thursday (6.21.18) morning my wife and I took off for Wyoming in the Honda. We took favorite scenic back roads to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (starting with Utah highway 150 over Hayden Pass) Our son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters left later that day. The kids had use of a friend's condo in Jackson Hole, and were good enough to invite my wife and I to join them for a week there, using Jackson as a "base camp" for hikes and scenic drives in the area. Family fun. Thursday brought stormy weather to Teton Nation Park, making for some interesting photo ops with the sun breaks and dramatic storm clouds racing across the landscape. Friday and Saturday the weather turned sunny, clear and beautiful. We enjoyed a variety of activities in Jackson and in Teton National Park. Walking the streets of Jackson Hole is always entertaining and frequently full of surprises. Sunday my wife volunteered to watch the two girls while my son, his wife, and I took an all day, 17 mile round trip, day hike. For me it was the highlight of the trip. I had researched hiking Paintbrush Canyon to the Divide, but rangers informed me that too much snow lingered on that route and ice axe and even crampons would be best for that route. The same ranger told me that the Cascade Canyon hike to the junction and to the designated camps halfway to Lake Solitude, were hike able (not too much snow) so that is the route we decided to hike. We opted not to take the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake but to start our hike early at the String Lake trailhead, hiking to the foot of Cascade Canyon by that route. We started hiking at around 6:30 am. The first shuttle boat (which leaves at 7am) beat us to the canyon but we much preferred the extra hiking. My son and his wife had previously hiked to Hidden Falls, so we left that off our agenda for this hike. We saw a cow moose on our hike to the trail junction (South Cascade Creek with North Cascade Creek). A hiking couple from France arrived just as we were leaving so we pointed out the moose across the creek, and when we encountered them later in the day they told us that two bull moose had arrived after we left. Up the trail from the moose sighting a solo hiker coming down the canyon warned us that he had spotted a grizzly about a mile up the trail. We kept our eyes open and bear spray handy but did not encounter a bear on our hike on to the trail junction. We took off our day packs at the trail junction and had some trail food. Other hikers showed up including the French couple, Several hikers headed back down the trail, having selected the junction as their day's destination. A few others headed up the North Fork Cascade Canyon route towards Lake Solitude, as we intended to do. It is about 2.7 miles from the junction to the lake and we figured we would make it about half day before deep snow stopped us. Well, we decided to keep going past the designated campsites and the trail become covered with deeper and deeper snow. We did our share of post holing and moon walking but there was only one very short troublesome section among big boulders. Once past that 25 yard section the snow hiking was no problem. Two young women hikers (later I would learn they were from Minnesota and Indiana) led the way, hiking light and fast, we could see them up ahead of us making decisions on the best route when the snow cover made basic cross country the only choice. The French couple followed the three of us and we leapfrogged them all the way to Lake Solitude. Lake Solitude (though 95% frozen over) resides in a scenic cirque. The trail route coming down to the lake from Paintbrush Divide could be seen up above the lake. The two young women passed us as they were leaving the lake and the French couple and the three of us had Lake Solitude to ourselves. It was a wonderful experience and a just reward for the mile and half or so of deep snow hiking we had done to get there. As you might expect we met hiker after hiker as we made our way back to the North Fork / South Fork junction, most asking us for trail beta, which we gladly supplied. Two young hikers told us that they had spotted two black bear on the trail before the junction. Like the "grizzly" we didn't encounter them. At the trail junction a large cinnamon black bear was roaming about. He was beautiful and it is my bet he may have been the bear that the early morning hiker had mistaken for a grizzly, but clearly he was a brown "black bear". He hiked in the woods, found a mud hole behind a downed snag, and plopped in the middle of it. They he returned the way he had first traveled, back down the canyon. On our hike back down to Jenny Lake we were rewarded by the presence of the two bull moose in the same section of creek bottom, where we had spotted the cow moose earlier that morning. On the hike from the foot of Cascade Creek Canyon to the String Lake trailhead we saw the osprey tending a nest, overlooking Jenny Lake. We reached the String Lake trailhead just before 5:30 pm, so it had been an eleven hour, 17 miles covered (three up and back through deep snow) day. All three of us felt great and did due justice to hot showers and a big dinner, when we returned to Jackson Hole. Monday June 25th the kids headed up to Yellowstone and my wife and I relaxed and took short walks and drives in the Teton National Park area (including a fun trip to Two Ocean Lake). Tuesday June 26th, I got up before everybody and took a short hike to Leigh Lake, where I saw a fox on the trail but no moose or bear (there was a warning sign at the trailhead for an aggressive Mommy Moose with a little one, in the area). Back from the hike it was family activity the rest of the day around Jackson Hole. Wednesday, June 27th, my wife and I started our two day back road drive back to our house in Eastern Washington. We drove Jackson to Arco, to Challis, past Clayton, where we got a cabin for the night at Torrey's Burnt Creek Cabins. A most enjoyable stay, Thursday June 28th, my wife and I traveled past Stanley, Lowman, and Banks, Idaho (a favorite route of our traveled many times both directions over many years), on to Ontario, Oregon - - where we got on the interstate and whisked on home. We toured one of the first nuclear reactor sites near Arco, Idaho (EBR 1 and had to ask the tour guide to hear the story of the three workers killed at one of the facilities there). We also stopped to read about and see the results of a 1983 earthquake at the foot of Idaho's Lost Mountain Range (near Mt. Borah - Idaho's highest peak). Photos posted mostly in chronological order. There will be an inordinate number of the Grand Teton peaks, in their different moods and from different angles, and a ton of photos from our Lake Solitude hike. When posting photos I err on the same side of quantity as I do when taking them - - too many! Oldmantravels July 9, 2018 https://flic.kr/p/28UU4Ry

[tgifmel]

Bull moose on trail side of creek by oldmantravels One bull moose (antlers in velvet), waded in then out of Cascade Creek near the trail, as I took photograph after photograph of him. Across Cascade Creek was a slightly larger bull moose, wading through the thick stream side bushes, heading to the creek for a cool drink of water. This slow moving section of Cascade Creek is where we had encountered the cow moose, early in the morning, on our hike up to Lake Solitude. These must have been the two bull moose that had arrived later (as told to us by the young hiking couple from Northern France), after we hiked up the trail. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These are the photos of our return hike from Lake Solitude; down the North Fork Cascade Creek Canyon to the North/South Forks trail junction; down Cascade Canyon to Lake Jenny; and then back along the Jenny Lake trail to my car at the String Lake trailhead. The views were new facing the opposite direction, we met lots of hikers and backpackers coming the other way. Most of the clouds had long since drifted away from all but the highest of Teton peaks. We saw the only bear on this hike near the trail junction, and where we had met the cow moose earlier that morning, she was gone and two bull moose, with antlers in velvet were feeding along the same stretch of creek. We passed many more of the endearing trail clowns and photo bomb artists, the marmots. On the Jenny Lake trail the osprey tended its nest and seemed a little put out with all the hikers passing below its nest. We reached the trailhead, and returned to Jackson Hole to catch up with the stories my two granddaughters had to tell and thank my wife for watching them, while we took a most memorable hike (with some clear mountain air good exercise thrown in, not to mention the scenery, flora, and fauna). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jackson Hole, Wyoming Road Trip: June 18 through June 29, 2018. I drove to Salt Lake City from our house in Eastern Washington on Monday the 18th of June 2018. I drove it straight through in our Honda Fit. Over the next ten days of driving I got an impressive 42 mpg or better, with the little car. Monday through Wednesday 6.18 - 6.20.2018 I stayed at our son's home outside Salt Lake City. My wife was already there, helping with the care of our two granddaughters now two and five. Thursday (6.21.18) morning my wife and I took off for Wyoming in the Honda. We took favorite scenic back roads to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (starting with Utah highway 150 over Hayden Pass) Our son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters left later that day. The kids had use of a friend's condo in Jackson Hole, and were good enough to invite my wife and I to join them for a week there, using Jackson as a "base camp" for hikes and scenic drives in the area. Family fun. Thursday brought stormy weather to Teton Nation Park, making for some interesting photo ops with the sun breaks and dramatic storm clouds racing across the landscape. Friday and Saturday the weather turned sunny, clear and beautiful. We enjoyed a variety of activities in Jackson and in Teton National Park. Walking the streets of Jackson Hole is always entertaining and frequently full of surprises. Sunday my wife volunteered to watch the two girls while my son, his wife, and I took an all day, 17 mile round trip, day hike. For me it was the highlight of the trip. I had researched hiking Paintbrush Canyon to the Divide, but rangers informed me that too much snow lingered on that route and ice axe and even crampons would be best for that route. The same ranger told me that the Cascade Canyon hike to the junction and to the designated camps halfway to Lake Solitude, were hike able (not too much snow) so that is the route we decided to hike. We opted not to take the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake but to start our hike early at the String Lake trailhead, hiking to the foot of Cascade Canyon by that route. We started hiking at around 6:30 am. The first shuttle boat (which leaves at 7am) beat us to the canyon but we much preferred the extra hiking. My son and his wife had previously hiked to Hidden Falls, so we left that off our agenda for this hike. We saw a cow moose on our hike to the trail junction (South Cascade Creek with North Cascade Creek). A hiking couple from France arrived just as we were leaving so we pointed out the moose across the creek, and when we encountered them later in the day they told us that two bull moose had arrived after we left. Up the trail from the moose sighting a solo hiker coming down the canyon warned us that he had spotted a grizzly about a mile up the trail. We kept our eyes open and bear spray handy but did not encounter a bear on our hike on to the trail junction. We took off our day packs at the trail junction and had some trail food. Other hikers showed up including the French couple, Several hikers headed back down the trail, having selected the junction as their day's destination. A few others headed up the North Fork Cascade Canyon route towards Lake Solitude, as we intended to do. It is about 2.7 miles from the junction to the lake and we figured we would make it about half day before deep snow stopped us. Well, we decided to keep going past the designated campsites and the trail become covered with deeper and deeper snow. We did our share of post holing and moon walking but there was only one very short troublesome section among big boulders. Once past that 25 yard section the snow hiking was no problem. Two young women hikers (later I would learn they were from Minnesota and Indiana) led the way, hiking light and fast, we could see them up ahead of us making decisions on the best route when the snow cover made basic cross country the only choice. The French couple followed the three of us and we leapfrogged them all the way to Lake Solitude. Lake Solitude (though 95% frozen over) resides in a scenic cirque. The trail route coming down to the lake from Paintbrush Divide could be seen up above the lake. The two young women passed us as they were leaving the lake and the French couple and the three of us had Lake Solitude to ourselves. It was a wonderful experience and a just reward for the mile and half or so of deep snow hiking we had done to get there. As you might expect we met hiker after hiker as we made our way back to the North Fork / South Fork junction, most asking us for trail beta, which we gladly supplied. Two young hikers told us that they had spotted two black bear on the trail before the junction. Like the "grizzly" we didn't encounter them. At the trail junction a large cinnamon black bear was roaming about. He was beautiful and it is my bet he may have been the bear that the early morning hiker had mistaken for a grizzly, but clearly he was a brown "black bear". He hiked in the woods, found a mud hole behind a downed snag, and plopped in the middle of it. They he returned the way he had first traveled, back down the canyon. On our hike back down to Jenny Lake we were rewarded by the presence of the two bull moose in the same section of creek bottom, where we had spotted the cow moose earlier that morning. On the hike from the foot of Cascade Creek Canyon to the String Lake trailhead we saw the osprey tending a nest, overlooking Jenny Lake. We reached the String Lake trailhead just before 5:30 pm, so it had been an eleven hour, 17 miles covered (three up and back through deep snow) day. All three of us felt great and did due justice to hot showers and a big dinner, when we returned to Jackson Hole. Monday June 25th the kids headed up to Yellowstone and my wife and I relaxed and took short walks and drives in the Teton National Park area (including a fun trip to Two Ocean Lake). Tuesday June 26th, I got up before everybody and took a short hike to Leigh Lake, where I saw a fox on the trail but no moose or bear (there was a warning sign at the trailhead for an aggressive Mommy Moose with a little one, in the area). Back from the hike it was family activity the rest of the day around Jackson Hole. Wednesday, June 27th, my wife and I started our two day back road drive back to our house in Eastern Washington. We drove Jackson to Arco, to Challis, past Clayton, where we got a cabin for the night at Torrey's Burnt Creek Cabins. A most enjoyable stay, Thursday June 28th, my wife and I traveled past Stanley, Lowman, and Banks, Idaho (a favorite route of our traveled many times both directions over many years), on to Ontario, Oregon - - where we got on the interstate and whisked on home. We toured one of the first nuclear reactor sites near Arco, Idaho (EBR 1 and had to ask the tour guide to hear the story of the three workers killed at one of the facilities there). We also stopped to read about and see the results of a 1983 earthquake at the foot of Idaho's Lost Mountain Range (near Mt. Borah - Idaho's highest peak). Photos posted mostly in chronological order. There will be an inordinate number of the Grand Teton peaks, in their different moods and from different angles, and a ton of photos from our Lake Solitude hike. When posting photos I err on the same side of quantity as I do when taking them - - too many! Oldmantravels July 9, 2018 https://flic.kr/p/KmzACK