day 16

Grand Teton National Park to Helena

Was struggling this morning to figure out what I wanted to do. Thunderstorms and a 5 hour drive were on the horizon. I had originally planned to drive through Yellowstone, but didn’t want to add that much time to my drive and plus I had only swam in 2 of the 3 lakes on my list!

I made myself some yogurt with fruit, and coffee (I also managed to spill boiling water and super fine coffee grounds all over myself and the table in the process) and drove over to String Lake. I jogged around the lake for about 40 minutes to warm myself up and made my way into the lake. Thunder and lightning was coming up quick so I had to be fast to be safe. I walked out about 30 feet and the water was barely knee deep so I basically had to lay down to get all the way in. It looked ridiculous but it felt amazing. As soon as I got out it started to rain - perfect timing.

I hurried back to the ranch to pack up my bed right at check out time. I made a sandwich and enjoyed it in the kitchen area while watching the rain. I snapped a pic of the library before leaving because it was such a perfect, cozy spot.

Drive was about 5 hours today - listened to my book, an ep of Normal Gossip, a couple eps of the Handsome pod, and lots of Angel Olsen.

This particular route was not the most dazzling, but the rain made for some epic views. Lots of what I think was wheat fields, silos, old buildings, and the tiniest of tiny towns.

Made it to my spot in Helena - a large b&b with 12ish rooms, a big shared kitchen, and lots of little spots to hang out. A longer term guest named Gerald showed me around. I asked him if it was okay to keep anything in my car and he said he wouldn’t chance it. SO I proceeded to take every single thing out of my car up two flights of stairs in the rain. It was humid and brutal but I’m not trynna mess around! I got settled in, took a shower, did a load of laundry (which included my white chore coat that I had spilled coffee grounds all over) and made myself some dinner.

For dinner I made half a bag salad I bought a couple days ago and roasted some asparagus. In an oven! I can’t really describe how good it felt to use a real kitchen. Made me miss home.

day 15

A whole heckin’ day in the Grand Tetons

Today my plan was to go see Jenny Lake, which is the largest lake in the park and a 7-mile hike around. After waking up I moseyed over to the kitchen area to wake up a bit and the two women who had greeted me upon my arrival waved me over. Their names were Nikki, a therapist who also teaches new counselors, and Victoria, a retired gynecologist who moved to the states from Austria as a teenager… basically the coolest women in Wyoming. They were best friends and were visiting for their 5th-ish time from Iowa. Nikki had me dying laughing describing getting a pap smear as, “you move down to the end of the table, they stick a folding chair in there, crank it open, then use a toilet brush to scrape out your insides, and have the audacity to be like ‘just a little pressure!’” We were cackling all morning long. To top it off they made me coffee and some of their homemade oatmeal. The oatmeal had finely chopped up figs, cherries, and ginger, ground flax seeds and chia. It was clearly made with love and I appreciated it so much. I felt so taken care of and it was a beautiful way to start the day.

I headed over to Jenny Lake, and did my heckin thing! The first third of the hike (while on the same side of the mountains) was a bit dull, but the rest made up for it.

At one point I saw a large bird flying around and stopped to watch. It was an osprey carrying a big ‘ol fish. I heard some loud bird calls and looked to my right and saw a baby osprey sitting in a nest atop a large dead tree. I was so distracted I didn’t even realize I was blocking the path until people came up to me and had to say excuse me.

The lake was absolutely stunning. The left photo is where I wanted to swim, but there was no inlet. The right photo is where I ended up swimming. I had to climb down a bit to get to the shore and I fell a little bit on the way down but totally worth it. On my climb back up I ran into a group of people who were stunned that I had gone in the water. They asked me to take their photo and told me that they had all been in a live musical in Jackson Hole 50 years before and were visiting for a reunion. They were all so sweet to me, proud of me, and just excited as hell to be there.

That hike really took it out of me. I went back to the ranch, took a really hot shower (amazing), enjoyed some tea and dinner, and read a bunch in the library. While I was eating I chatted with a man who had biked from Jackson Hole up to Montana and back as well as a man and his daughter Caroline(!). They were from one of the Carolinas. They were traveling with his best friend and his best friend’s son showing his daughter the magic of backpacking. The man looked so much like Samual Herring from Future Islands I was so sure they were related… but they weren’t.

I set a goal of going to bed at nine, but failed miserably. I crawled into bed around 8:20. The rest of my cabin mates came in and out and I overheard that some of them had just spent 4 weeks hiking 500 miles across Colorado. What a world.

day 14

Evanston to Grand Teton National Park

Woke up feeling grateful for my night in Evanston - the Prairie Inn Motel was very cute, and gave me space to get myself organized, laundered, and ready for a couple days of being in the Grand Tetons. The people working and staying there who I encountered were all very kind and smiley and welcoming. In the morning I snapped some pics of the Inn and went next door to Jody’s Diner for some coffee and a $6.34 breakfast sandwich with ham and american cheese. I love these cheap meals because I can swing giving a big tip! My server was sweet as sugar and I shared my table with a military vet named Jeb who had to be in his 80s. He was eating a short stack of pancakes covered in blueberries and whipped cream and was enjoying the hell out of it.

Only had to drive three hours today - listened to my book, Casper Allen (on recommendation from people I met in Silver City) and a lot of Weyes Blood.

Driving through Wyoming was lots of farms, hay, and cows. As I got closer to the park, I passed through a few small towns that had some great signs!

And then suddenly, there they were! I gasped.

I couldn’t check into the Climber’s Ranch until 4pm so I thankfully had some time to explore. I went straight to the visitors center and asked the ranger at the desk, “Which lakes in the park am I allowed to swim in?'“ And she smiled and replied ALL OF THEM!

I took my map to the car, quickly identified 3 lakes with doable hikes around them and set a goal to swim in all of them before I left. First on the list was Taggart Lake! The hike was 3.8 miles with a perfect inlet to the lake and a perfect view about 1/3 of the way through. I was feeling hesitant to get in the water since no one else was - it feels so weird to get in while all these people are hanging out looking at the view! There was a family of three adult brothers and their parents next to me and they were thinking about going in so I went for it and they followed suit! It wasn’t too cold at all and we were all better for it. They thanked me for inspiring them to do it when I left :)

Extremely grateful that I found the Grand Tetons Climbing Ranch to stay at during my time in the park. The ranch is 10 cabins with bunk beds, a large covered area for cooking, really nice bathrooms with showers (such a plus), a kitchen packed with tools for cooking, and a library full of climbing books and comfy chairs which I absolutely adored.

While I was checking in, two women who were also staying there welcomed me with huge smiles and were so excited to hear that I was there for the first time - they assured me that I was going to love it. I set up my bed, took a shower, went on a tiny walk, made myself some tea and dinner, and retired to the library. In between reading my book (Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb) I ended up chatting with 4 twenty-somethings who were all on a roadtrip together before heading back to college in Florida. They played Rummy and listened to jazz while sipping on some Moonshine they bought in Montana. They offered me a sip which I accepted :)