Le Grand Teton and Surprise Lake

We woke up early (6:00 am) and were packed and on the road to Grand Teton by 7:00.  We went straight to the southern visitor’s center and were ready to get our hiking information. We walked the trail around the visitor’s center waiting for it to open – we didn’t see any bears, but did see a fox! After checking with the visitor’s desk and checking out the gift shop, we were ready.

We drove the 15 minutes up to the trail head and parked.  Looking out of the parking lot we were able to see Disappointment Peak, which rises about 11,600 feet above sea level.  

We set off on the trail head with intentions of seeing Surprise Lake which was 5 miles up the mountain, about a 3,000 foot gain.  The trail was full of switchbacks and absolutely beautiful views. When we arrived at Surprise Lake, we found the prime Lunch Rock and dipped our feet in the glacial pool.

Surprise Lake was our intended terminus for the hike; once we arrived we realized that Amphitheater Lake was only a mere 0.2 miles ahead. Easy! We went for it – and struggled immensely the entire time. We were realizing that we were so not conditioned to the altitude. After a brief few pictures at Amphitheater Lake, we started our 5-mile descent.

Upon completion of the hike Lea and I were exhausted from the 10 miles we hiked and the high altitude.  Our camper friend from the previous night suggested the Ranch Inn, so we checked in after visiting the Browse and Buy consignment shop and stopping for a quick appetizer snack.  Showers were a welcomed sight to wash the day’s dirt and salt off our bodies and the Ranch Inn is within walking distance of every amenity Jackson had to offer.   We had an excellent dinner and few beers at Snake River Brewing Company, ending our night packing up and preparing for tomorrow’s adventure.

Devils Tower and the Grand Grand Teton Campsite Quest

Waking up early from our campground in the Black Hills National Forest we were able to hit the road pretty quickly.  Our target for the morning was Devil’s Tower National Monument.  We headed up to the Monument and were unfortunately greeted with overcast skies and light rain.  We made the most of it by driving around the area and taking multiple pictures from afar.  

It is remarkable to see a large igneous intrusion rising out of practically nowhere, as well as the gigantic prairie dog village!

Following Devil’s Tower, we headed south to the Grand Teton National Park.  This was a good 7 hours of driving through the changing Wyoming landscapes.  When we set off, the ground was void of trees and expansive and within 2 hours of the Park, we started to see larger geological formations and eventually we could make out the snow-capped peaks of the Teton Mountain Range.  

We pulled into the Park around 4:30 and we noticed the sign at the front gate which identified only one campground as open.  When we inquired with the ranger at the booth, she mentioned a few campsites available about 10 miles away on Forest Service land that were an option if we were “self-contained”. We interpreted this as … we have water, we have food and a tent, we are self-contained within this vehicle. This is definitely an option for us!" We made a quick stop at the Visitor’s Center to get some hiking ideas and overheard this “self-contained” Forest Service campground was hike-in only. We were not about to hike in our entire setup. Back to the drawing board – let’s try for that only open park campground.  When we pulled into the campground about an hour later, they were just putting up the “Campground Full” sign. After a little map research, we determined there was another campground on Forest Service land about 8 miles back the way we’d come from. The entire drive to the campsite, we were waiting for a slew of cars and campers coming the other direction, indicating the campground was full. We finally made it to the end of the paved road, where the campground was located and found a beautiful campsite on a lake with a tiny view of the Tetons through a break in the landscape. We also met a fellow camper who would hook us up with a great motel in downtown Jackson Hole for the following night.

We settled in and quickly; cars were driving past multiple times – the entire campground was full.  We cooked up some pasta and identified our hike for the following day.  We planned to hike from Lupine Meadows to Surprise Lake but we wanted to stop at the visitor’s center to double check our planned route, as well as check out the stickers and postcards, our determined memorabilia from this trip. 

Badlands NP and Black Hills

After the previous night’s tent-destroying debacle, we formulated a plan centered around a trip to Cabela’s to get a new tent.  The plan had us touring Badlands National Park in the morning, then we had to swing by Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  They had been advertising since we pulled into South Dakota so it only made sense to support a local business.  It seemed like every 1/8^th of a mile was a new sign.  Both the free ice water and five cent coffee were calling to us.

 

The one thing that is great about South Dakota is that the speed limits are 80 mph so we were able to travel from town to town rapidly.  The problem with South Dakota is that there are hardly any towns across the state. 

Our tour of Badlands was fantastic.  The geology on display is remarkable and we wanted to take a chance to hike around, but due to our new itinerary, our time restriction only allowed us to drive the loop.  We drove through the park on the access road and stopped at all the scenic locations to take a few pictures. 

Following Badlands was an hour drive (at 80 mph) to Rapid City, which is at the foot of the Black Hills.  We visited the Cabela’s and settled on a cheap option for a tent because we needed something to stay in.  After our Cabela’s trip, we headed for Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We had beautiful skies overhead and the crowds were there in force.  We made our way to the optimum viewing station and enjoyed the chiseled faces out of solid granite.  We also walked the brief trail around the base of the carving and were able to enjoy some interesting angles of the work. 

After Mount Rushmore, we made a trip down the road about 25 minutes to Crazy Horse.  Crazy Horse is not completed but that does not stop them from charging $11 per person.  When completed the work will be amazing but as of now, it is slightly underwhelming. 

While at Crazy Horse we noticed the clouds turning black.  We had freshly experienced trouble with dark skies and so we looked at the map of the Black Hills region and we decided to drive a while and camp in the Black Hills of Wyoming, closer to the following morning’s first stop at Devil’s Tower.

As we were high-tailing it out of South Dakota we could see the skies opening up and there were tornado warnings popping up around Badlands, so we were thrilled when we arrived at our site with clear skies and few neighbors.  We did meet a very nice couple who shared some information about Yellowstone National Park; we hope to investigate these suggestions in the next few days.  

Resiliency When All Hail Breaks Loose!!

Resiliency is a term used to describe many different things.  In an ecological sense, it is used to describe an ecosystem which when faced with an outside pressure or disturbance will return to its original state.  This is a fitting term for the habitats which we experienced  in the Badlands of South Dakota.  These ecosystems are prone to fires and the organisms that reside here are used to periodic burnings.  Over time a fuel load (dead organic matter) will build up on the surface of the ground and when fires sweep through the area.  When these areas burn organic matter releases trapped nutrients back into the soil.  The soil is also home to a collection of seeds from the plants and when a fire moves through the area these seeds will germinate and regrow, returning the ecosystem to its pre-fire state.  This behavior of burning and stored seeds germinating does a good job of keeping invasive species out of the area. 

Another use for the term resiliency is with human mental capacity.  When faced with adversity, a resilient person will remain even-keeled and not buckle under the stressors. 

Since we are on the topic of resiliency, let me tell you about our experience in Badlands National Park. The day started off early.  We left Chicago at 6:15 am.  We immediately jumped on I-90 heading west and around 8:15 we finally arrived at Wall, SD which is just outside of Badlands.  We had intentions of camping at Sage Creek campground, a primitive site located 25 minutes from Wall.  Lea decided we should eat in Wall and all we would have to do is set up our tent and fall asleep.  After eating a nice meal we proceeded to the campground and were slowed by a herd of close to a hundred bison slowly crossing the road.  Off in the distance as we drove into the camp site was a dark cloud active with lightening.  A brief look at the radar showed that this storm cell was not going to hit us and we continued on to the campsite.   As we arrived at the site we met up with about 30 other tenters  and found a spot on the circular field campground.  We quickly pitched our tent and had moved all of our sleeping equipment into the tent.  As we were brushing our teeth, the wind began to pick up.  I noticed our tent had ripped loose of the shallow pegs in the soft soil and was tumbling across the field.  I ran over and grabbed on to the tent and had to just hold it down because the winds were now sustained at about 20 miles an hour.  Lea met me at the tent and we each grabbed on and struggled to get it back to our initial location.  The wind was now beginning to blow harder and with the wind came rain.  First light drops, then bigger and bigger drops then hail.  Our tent collapsed under the winds and we were just laying out in the middle of a grass field being bombarded by dime to nickel-sized hail with thunder and lightning erupting all around us.  As we laid on the collapsed tent, doing whatever we could to prevent it from blowing away we noticed every other set of campers running for their cars and abandoning their collapsed tents.  The storm lasted 15-20 minutes and at the end, we were soaked head to toe, our car was soaked thoroughly and we sat, slightly dejected thinking about what to do next.  The tent was ripped from the winds and the poles bent.  It was decided that we were leaving the campgrounds and going to find a hotel room in Wall.  As we were pulling out from the campground we could see we were not the only ones abandoning camping, an estimated 80% of the tents were destroyed and the remaining 20% were probably destroyed too, they just didn’t start to pack their belongings up yet. 

That night we were dejected, we were beat up and scraped up, but mentally we were resilient.  We formulated a plan for the next day to go to a near-by Cabelas and get a new tent and carry on with our adventure.  

4th of July in the Windy City

We spent today enjoying the sights of Chicago.  The weather was chilly and overcast; early on in the day, there were fewer crowds.  We started the day by heading back to Millenium Park to try to take some better pictures of Cloud Gate, better known as the Bean.

The Bean is a very difficult subject to photograph because I don't really know what is the best intention of the photograph, but I am pretty sure having fun is required.  

Following our encounter with the Bean we headed to the highly recommended city architecture tour.  This was a 90-minute boat ride through the Chicago river and it was lead by a docent from the Chicago Architecture Society.  The vantage points of the skyscrapers and other historical buildings along the river couldn't be better and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Chicago. 

We spent the evening catching the fireworks off of the Navy Pier.  We had great success catching the show from the River Walk and not at the Pier.  We found a nice section of grass and sat down and enjoyed the show.  

Chicago

Earlier than we would have liked on Sunday morning we set off on our journey. Time of departure was 3:15am. Why so early?  We figured that by the time we were ready to stop for lunch we could have knocked out 9 hours of a 12-hour drive.  We set out early in the morning, fully packed from the night before and headed for I-84 West and eventually I-80 West.  After just over 12 hours and 750+ miles, we were safe and sound in Chicago.

We actually decided to forego a stop for food along the way, instead opting for some granola bars and a snack, which left us quite hungry when we got to the city.  The first thing we decided to do was to visit the highly recommended Lou Malnati's Pizza.  We ordered a small pizza and enjoyed our first authentic deep dish pizza.  Far different from the thin crust foldable pizza of the east coast, this was a delicious snack.

The rest of the early evening was spent walking around the city, specifically at Millenium Park.  It was here that we saw Grant Park which is a beautiful open air amphitheater and the world famous Bean, so we had to get a picture or two.  We plan to head back today, armed with better cameras than just the phones.

After walking around the park, we headed down to the lakefront.  A nice cool breeze came off of Lake Michigan as we strolled around to Navy Pier.  The Pier was full of people and we just walked around, enjoying the views back at Chicago's skyline as the sun set

We were exhausted and decided to head back to the hotel and sleep after a long day.  Tomorrow is planned to be full of adventure in Chicago.

The Ultimate Surprise

I have known the departure date for our trip for a long while.  July 3rd has been set in stone as the big day and leading up to that date there was a lot that had to be done.  Right up until the beginning of July we had supplies rolling in.  There was one extremely important piece of equipment I needed for the trip and that was an engagement ring.  Lea and I have talked about the whole marriage thing and it was time that I ask her if she wanted to spend not only seven weeks with me but the rest of our lives together.

Ideas on how to propose have been jumping through my head for a long while and I eventually settled on the location (Indian Ladders Waterfall on Hornbecks Creek in the Delaware Water Gap).  It is Lea's favorite waterfall and I now had to get all the other moving pieces together.  The first part was the ring itself.

Lea is unique and she wanted an engagement ring to be unique as well.  I was told only a very brief descriptor for the ring; a raw emerald.  I went to a local jeweler and told them I was looking for a raw emerald ring and they proceeded to ask me what that was.  This was not the experience I was looking for.  I eventually found a small custom jeweler and the process couldn't have been more painless.  I had a lot of input into the design of the ring and overall I was thoroughly pleased.

        

So now to the big day! I was under the gun for the timeline.  The ring was finalized on June 29th and I planned to propose on July 1st. I couldn't risk having the ring in the car during the trip because I figured Lea would find it and I would be so stressed out hoping for the perfect moment.   The back story was set in that my mom was going to be showing me how to use a new lens for the camera and eventually she would ask Lea and I to take a picture together in front of the falls and I would eventually go to a knee and ask the all important question.  In addition to my mother being there, my father came along to help Lea move out and Lea's mother was going to be there as well, hiding among the trees waiting for me to ask the question and then she would pop out.

Well, long story short, we are now engaged and couldn't be happier.