We woke bright and early, as we wanted to purchase our National Park Pass and get into the Park before the crowds. 🏞️

After a quick breakfast here in the Cabin, we were off and running. Not literally of course and made our way to the Park entrance.

As we turned the corner, we were met with the most magnificent sight of the Tetons bathed in mist. It was just wonderful.

Even though we were at the Park entrance at 8.30 a.m., there were two long queues of cars, but we didn’t have to wait too long to get to reach the kiosk. We had our $250 and Si’s driving licence to hand, but of course, they didn’t accept cash, cards only. Typically, Si had to enter his card’s PIN number and to do that, the lady in the kiosk had to pass him the card terminal and that was attached to a very long pole! 😂

I’m sure by the time we had completed our purchase, the card had to have Si’s name written on it and then he had to sign it and then we were then given a Park map and local Park newspaper, the people behind us in the queue must have been cursing, but hey ho, that’s how it goes. 🙄

Everyone’s on holiday, so what’s the rush? 🤷‍♀️

We had intended to do a hike round Taggart Lake today but before we could do that we had to go to Jenny Lake to buy bear spray, water and protein bars. Seasoned visitors know to get to Jenny Lake early as the parking lot fills up very quickly and people end up parking on the road. We arrived in plenty of time so had no problem parking.

We made a quick visit to the shop for our purchases and while walking through, I made a mental note of the things I wanted to buy on our return! 👍

On the way to Jenny Lake we had to pass by Taggart Lake and there were works going on so we decided to do a hike round Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls instead.

In the past, we have taken a boat across the Lake and then hiked to Hidden Falls, but this year we decided we would forego the boat and hike round the lake instead. All Trails said it was just a five-mile round trip. Well, that wasn’t true, it was six-miles.

Now a six-mile hike back home is one we would undertake as easy as pie but here, at 7,000 feet, climbing over huge rocks and uneven ground is another story! It’s hard work. 😓

Once again, we were amazed at how many people were out on the trail, dozens and dozens! That made the hike harder, because we had to keep stopping to let people pass by.

We eventually made it to Hidden Falls, somewhere we have visited before and were surprised at how, even after a hot summer, the Falls were still in good flow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking a few photos and having some refreshment we started our descent.

It’s always easier coming down of course but again, we encountered so many people hiking up, at times it wasn’t easy.

When we got back to Jenny Lake, the inevitable purchases were made and we made our way back to Dornan’s, where once again it was busy.

The weather this morning was just perfect for our hike, not too hot and overcast. Sadly, however, it has now started to rain. ☔️

Tonight we are driving into Jackson to a dine at a restaurant called Gather. We have never eaten there, but recently saw a video on YouTube recommending it. So, we are going to give it a try.

We left Dornans to drive to Jackson and as we joined the main road, there was a huge queue of traffic. Our first thought was that this was the queue to get into Jackson and we would be late for dinner, but we soon realised that the traffic was an Elk jam. There was a large Elk with his harem on the side of the road and people had stopped to take photographs.

Well, we are back from Gather and we’re not disappointed. The food and service was excellent as was our server, Ella. She was from Croatia originally.

We had a lovely chat with the couple on the next table. They were farmers from Binghamton in Upstate New York. They farm 200 acres of produce.

Si started with mushroom toast, covered in blue cheese. I don’t eat mushrooms, but I had the bruschetta with the mushrooms scraped off and it was delicious. Si then had the burger that came with so many fries, they were impossible to count. I had the Elk Bolognese, again, fantastic. Si had non-alcoholic beer, while I had a huckleberry coctkail to start with followed by my favourite amaretto sour. We finished with doughnuts with three different sauces. Again, delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back from dinner the traffic queue was still there as were the elk!

After a very busy day, we are ready for our bed!

We are not sure what our plans are for tomorrow apart from one and that is we will be eating dinner at Aurora Snow King. A fine-dining restaurant at the summit of Snow King Mountain in Jackson. It offers panoramic views of the Teton Range and the Jackson Hole valley. It is 7,808 feet (2,380 meters) above sea level. We travel to the top of the mountain by cable car. 🚠

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read our blog. Comments or Likes, always welcome.