Without much warning, we had entered Grand Teton. Ahead of us, the Tetons rose from the horizon in bluish-grey splotches. Was the view majestic? Opinions differed. Elizabeth was categorically labelling our view a “dub”, even with no the mountains having no definition. I was significantly less impressed. It took little imagination for me to be able to tell that this view was normally beautiful. But come on. This was the Tetons. I shouldn’t need any imagination for one of the world’s most recognizable natural features.
Of more immediate concern to me were the natural features along US-26 in the eastern part of the park. I *knew* these features. To understand my excitement, you’d have to understand that on Friday, August 13 I was just two days removed from my summer internship at NWS Blacksburg. I really liked that job; there were some challenging projects and I liked the people I worked with. But it was also a remote internship; just by the nature of it, I had plenty of downtime. One of my favorite time-killing activities all summer was pulling up park maps, especially the Grand Teton map, and studying them in conjunction with Google Street View. So, after we flashed our America the Beautiful Pass at the modest Moran Entrance Station, it was sort of like meeting people you’d only ever interacted with online. Pacific Creek, the creek that forms when a stream divides and waters flow down opposite sides of the continental divide? Awesome! Oxbow Bend, a famous photography spot where the Snake River reflects Mount Moran in the morning? Sweet. The Jackson Lake Dam? Whoa!
But *damn*. That smoke was a hard pill to swallow. We turned onto Teton Park Road and once again began closing on the mountains through the heart of Jackson Hole. Incredibly, the three of us looked well on pace to be early to our rendezvous time at Jenny Lake. Our service wasn’t good enough to check in with everybody else, so I used what we like to call “blind faith”. Either way, we were early enough that we could get out and enjoy the view, such as it was. I eased the Subaru into a small parking lot known as the Moran Overlook, which, as the name suggests, overlooks Mount Moran. It was an undoubtedly pretty scene – little bands of scrub brush as far the plain existed, terminating at the sheer faces of the Tetons. Here, I took some of the first photos with my 24-70 mm lens that would become a staple at my attempts to do photography on this trip. I’ll include a couple of unedited and edited photos here.
I should be smiling more, right? Maybe (definitely) I was still feeling nervous over what was no just an hour or two away.
To this point, I had been somewhat shocked by the lack of traffic inside of Grand Teton National Park during peak season on a Friday afternoon. As it turned out, we got to Jenny Lake and I realized we just hadn’t been anywhere popular yet. Jenny Lake’s parking lot was as full as I’d anticipated, with cars circling around and waiting for an opening. We tucked in behind a family and got ready to join the loops. To my surprise, the family in front of us found someone pulling out immediately. Even more to my surprise, brake lights were on just a few spots down from their new spot. Enthusiastically, we threw our own car to a stop and waited. And waited. Finally, Elizabeth asked if we should move on rather that continue waiting. I had a better plan – why not just get out of the car and ask them if they were staying longer? I brazenly did just that, and discovered that the family with the brake lights on were eating lunch in their car on paper plates. These people had a full-ass meal going. I think I made them feel guilty even though I tried to be really polite and not hustle them, because just a moment later they pulled out. The spot was ours. The dad who found a spot next to us gave a happy dad dance to celebrate our success. Now I could focus on two things – gathering the four disjointed groups meeting at Jenny Lake into a cohesive party, and enjoying the less-hazy-now-that-we-were-closer view.
Using Jenny Lake’s limited cell service, I confirmed that Janelle and her family were on pace to be at Inspiration Point at 4:00. I also confirmed that my family was the Jenny Lake Visitor’s Center. I wondered where they would be – and then I looked up and there were Rich and Taylor. Talk about a gratifying moment – so much coordination over weeks had gone into this moment. My family! In a moment that will surely belong to the ages, my dad (who at my request had packed walkie-talkies) informed Alex that he “had a visual on Nolan”. You’ll understand my confusion when I walked up to them amid raucous laughter at Alex’s reply over the radio: “Take the shot”. The one-liner of the trip had already been uttered.
Elizabeth and Pam caught up to us, as did Kris and Alex. My parents were on the tail leg of their own trip that had taken them to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Devil’s Tower, and several days in Yellowstone before driving down today. My siblings had flown from Grand Rapids to Jackson Hole this very morning. They would only be joining us through the weekend. We got word from Terri and Garrett that they were finding parking at Jenny Lake now, having flown into Bozeman. Only Michael and Irene remained unaccounted for, and presently I got word that they were delayed in Jackson Hole trying to find a place to stow Tucker for the afternoon. Honestly? Not bad coordination.
I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the puffy vest now. You may have noted the puffy vest in the pictures of Elizabeth and me at the Moran Overlook, despite the fact that it was a very sunny and warm day at Jackson Hole. I had stubbornly worn the vest all day since sending Janelle the picture of us in Laramie. I figured up in the Tetons, at least, things would cool off. Maybe this was the case, but not down at the elevation of Jenny Lake, where it was about 80 degrees. It was too late to the take the vest off – the ring box had been in my pocket all day. But it didn’t stop me from complaining about the heat. And it didn’t stop Elizabeth from telling me to just take the vest off.
Inspiration Point lies on a cliff on the western side of Jenny Lake, at the base of the Teton Range. The visitor’s center is on the southwest side of the lake. There are two ways to get out there -a trail clockwise along the lakeshore, or a shuttle boat. I had originally earmarked the trail as a good, family-friendly hike for everyone to do together on the way out, but plans change. Now, we had to be up to the point by 4:00, so we talked about hiking on the way back instead. It was a little after 3:00; the timing was perfect. We walked along a little lakeshore path behind the visitor’s center to the boat launch, marveling at the clearness of Jenny Lake beneath the dock. The boat operator gave us a brief safety talk, asked us to wear masks on board, then whipped the shuttle out to the middle of the lake. The views were sublime. I told Elizabeth it was a B+ view, but that could potentially have been a lie.
A short time later, we were dumped off on the western bank of Jenny Lake. There was still a ways to go; first, in a jog westward away from the shoreline on the start of the Cascade Canyon Trail, then on a side trail that led up to Inspiration Point. I’ll admit it, I slightly underestimated this hike. At first, I hung with the pack, chatting and enjoying the view of the bubbling Cascade Creek near us. Within minutes, the heat, my jacket, and an increased grade on the trail left me huffing, puffing, and embarrassingly sweaty. Elizabeth insisted that I just take the vest off, and I continued to ignore her. The trail branched off, with Hidden Falls straight ahead and Inspiration Point to the right. I innocuously suggested that we may as well get the climbing out of the way and see Hidden Falls on the way back down.
The part of the trail on up to Inspiration Point proved to be actually pretty grueling. It was marked by switchbacks and outcroppings. I kept hoping each swing around a switchback that brought us back overlooking the lake would be the final one, but after a few false alarms began to despair of making it there by 4:00. Our group strung out; Taylor, Kris and I were near the front, while Rich, Alex, and Pam were far enough behind to necessitate walkie-talking usage to facilitate communication. We gradually rose above a hazy Jenny Lake. My nerves were shot.
Finally, after a particularly treacherous stretch that wound around a sheer drop-off, Taylor reported that we had reached Inspiration Point. Miraculously, it was 4:00 exactly. Aware of Janelle’s tight schedule, that involved hiking all the way back to the Visitor’s Center for a sunset proposal along the Snake River, I herded everyone up to the overlook. I caught Janelle’s eye – she was casually sitting with her family on a rock, overlooking all of the Inspiration Point action. The, I wandered over to the ledge and pulled out my camera from my backpack and took like 3 pictures. I barely remember doing so. The pictures suck, and even if they didn’t, I’d barely remember the view of Inspiration Point regardless. They were my last pictures as a single man.
Everyone was up the ledge by now. It was just after the apppointed time – no time for wasteful chit-chat. I asked (someone? Rich?) if they would take a picture of Elizabeth and me. We lined up next to each other – out of my peripheral vision, I saw Janelle pull out her camera. I turned to Elizabeth.
“You’re probably wondering why I wore this vest all day.”
