Grand Teton National Park Hike 1: Taggart Lake/Bradley Lake

 This evening I am enjoying sitting in Starbucks using their wifi, drinking hot chocolate, and staying out of the rain that has been falling all day.  This exact scenario has been playing in my mind since approximately 2.5 miles before my hike was finished this morning.  It was a great hike, don't get me wrong!  But I was cold and muddy by the end and had been walking in the rain for the past 2 hours.  While rejuvenating for the spirit and body, I was also ready for a hot shower when I finished. 

 Almost immediately after I started walking the trail, I heard a noise that sounded like a waterfall close by.  This was a surprise because there wasn't one marked on the map and nobody had mentioned one to me when they were describing the hike before I went!  But sure enough, I walked around a corner and the trail went right over top of the river/mini waterfall I have pictured above.  I also found it to be a perfect photo op because right at the top, peaking above the river between the trees was the summit of a mountain! It was the first beautiful thing I saw in a series of beautiful scenes throughout the hike.

 The next really cool thing was seeing my first pine marten (martin?)!!  I'm not sure how to spell it but this super cute, ferret-like animal suddenly appeared on the trail in front of me.  When it saw me, it froze, unsure of what to do next and certainly frightened that it had been spotted.  After a moment, it squeaked and darted off into the plants.  The cutest part was that it then darted up the tree next to me until it was at about eye level and turned to look at me again!  This whole time it was squeaking and making pine marten type noises which I realized were communications with its friend around the corner.  After I took a picture, I decided to leave them alone and continue down the trail.   





My path took me around two separate lakes.  The first was Taggart Lake and the second was Bradley Lake.  As I came up the trail near Bradley Lake and took out my map to check my location, a man came out of the trees above me and said hello!  It startled me but he turned out to be friendly.  He began telling me (without me asking, by the way) all about mushrooms in the park and how he was hunting for a certain species that grows out here in the west that work very well in cooking.  I learned that all mushrooms with a sponge-like pattern underneath, NOT an accordion fold like in portabella mushrooms, are edible.  After he finished his mushroom lecture, he gave me some good suggestions for other trails to hike later.

 

There are so many trails located very close to my house!  I want to hike them all.  The small amount of time I have to hike them in, though, is a bit frustrating.  But I shall try my very best!  Today was a refreshing day in nature.  I don't miss Georgia one BIT!  Only the people that shared it with me.....

Route 66 deja vu?

 I don't know what you all have been doing with yourselves since the last time we talked but I drove from the east coast to the west (almost coast) for the second time this year!  Who would have guessed that my life would take me to so many different places in such a short time?  I certainly wasn't expecting a second 2,200 mile drive in 2015.  But hey, I'm not complaining.  I've got a pretty amazing life right now!

Because of the route I took west, I have a few new states to add to my list of those visited which I started a couple posts ago.  They are: Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming.  I've never been to any of them before and most of them I want to go back to for another visit one day.  Nebraska would be the only one I don't wish to re-visit.  I literally thanked God while driving through it that I was not born in that corn-filled windy state.  However, I did get a cool selfie with a bison out of it... so I guess its not all bad.

When I got to Wyoming it was much the same as Nebraska at first.  In fact, it was so empty it reminded me of the moon.  But as we kept driving, the landscape changed quite drastically to red rock cliffs, blue mesa-esque mountain sides (like what Danielle and I saw in the Petrified Forest NP), and crystalline rivers flowing by the side of the highway.  The red rock cliffs reminded me of Arizona along Route 66.  It was all I could do to stay on the road.  All I wanted to do was take pictures and stare out the window at the landscape!

 

 The absolute best part of the drive was arriving at Grand Teton National Park!  After such a long time on the road and spending 4 nights at different hotels, I was ready to be settled for a bit.  Getting out of the car for the first time was amazing.  The weather was cool, the air felt crisp, and the elevation made me dizzy for a while.  I'm still getting adjusted to it.  Bonnie (my traveling partner) and I had to stop and take pictures because we were so excited to finally be at our destination! 

 

The next best news was when I learned where I would be staying for the next three weeks.  I have a little cabin all to myself (not pictured here) at the foot of the Teton mountains!  The first few days were pretty smoky so the view wasn't great but since then it has gotten clearer.  The clearer the air, the closer the mountains appear.  I am already in love with this park and I'm having an amazing time working here.  I wake up every day excited to go to work and to see what adventures I will experience.  It has been quite a while since I've felt that way and I want to hold on to that feeling as long as possible.

I'm Still Here.... Literally

Here's just a quick update to fill in a few gaps and get back in the blogging spirit.  It has been a really long time since the last post I wrote but that's a good thing because it means I haven't been bored.  Also, now that I'm writing again, it means I'm coming to the end of my time in Georgia.  Believe me, I couldn't be more ready!  Florida and Georgia have been very welcoming states.  However, I've come to the conclusion that they are largely inhospitable to human life during the summer months.  It is HOT down here which to me means its unsustainable and unhealthy.   

Despite the heat and humidity, one of my favorite experiences this summer was visiting Disney World over the 4th of July!  I met my friend at the All Star Music Resort and we spent the weekend at several of the theme parks re-discovering the magical world I haven't been to since High School! I had flashbacks while I was on some of the rides to when I was there with my marching band friends.  Good times :)

While we were there, we got to watch fireworks twice.  Once in front of Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom and once from the second floor deck of a Japanese restaurant in Epcot.  Bad weather almost cancelled both events but Disney pushed through and was able to have the show go on despite the challenges.  

In addition to Disney World, I have also taken time to visit the NPS National Historic Site right down the road from where I am living.  Fort Frederica is a small park but it is beautiful and has a lot of interesting history surrounding the area.  It's loosely connected to another fort in St. Augustine, FL that Bonnie and I tried to visit but were unable to because we got there right as it was closing for the day.     

 St. Augustine had been built up over and over in our minds by other people into a fantastic little town that simply MUST be visited if you're living anywhere near it!  Well, lets just say that it didn't quite live up to our expectations.  Maybe we didn't see the right parts.  Maybe it was because the weather was too hot.  For whatever reason, it just didn't float our boat.

Quite the opposite, however, is a place called Fernandina Beach.  So far I have visited twice.  Once for my birthday and once before that too.  The beach is the best one I think I've ever been to and the town is charming with lots of restaurants and shops to explore.  I know I will be going back there one more time before leaving Georgia and beginning my drive north and west into the winter season.

A couple weeks back, I learned where I'll be going for the next 11 weeks of training and for my next blog-able adventure.... In just 2 weeks Bonnie and I depart for Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Believe me.  It's worth every single one of those exclamation points, and probably more than that too.  I am dreaming already of long hikes in the woods and breathtaking scenery.  Of geysers and snow capped mountains.  Of elk and bears and wolves howling at night.  I've got visions of sugarplums dancing in my head....

The sunset to the left was one viewed from my front porch earlier this summer.  Now, its symbolizing the end of one phase of life and the hope of a new beginning coming soon.

Stay tuned because I have a full week of driving coming up!  It'll feel like I'm back out on Route 66 all over again heading west for the second time.