"Earth and the Great Weather" Redux

highway 33 and the Teton peaks off yonder

We made use of the relatively quick route between Missoula and the Tetons (using I-15 and Idaho 33) that we found on our retreat from our August weather-vexed trip.


And we also made happy use of the multi-use/bike pathways that we discovered then.  Returning to the Tetons with bikes, day-hiking packs, and car-camping gear worked out well, and the clear weather helped!

The 20-mile stretch of paved and separated-from-the-road pathway connecting the town of Jackson with Jenny Lake and completed in 2012 is dedicated to the memory of Gabriella Axelrad, a 13-year-old bicyclist who died near Jenny Lake in 1999, hit by a car while wearing an orange safety triangle on her back and a helmet.  High-visibility clothing and helmets aren't enough protection against inattentive drivers, but those things plus separation from traffic, hopefully, are.  The pathway honors Gabriella's memory beautifully.

What wonderful views and feelings of quiet and freedom!

The pathway has, in addition to views and separation from the road, a tunnel for crossing highway 191 at Moose Junction and separated river and creek crossings.

And separation from the road invites riding in low light.

North of the Jenny Lake campground, there is a paved pathway that goes a short way to the one-lane, one-way southbound road for cars.  As part of that road, a bike lane goes as far as String Lake.  The pavement markings seem to make the bike lane one-way as well, but north- and southbound cyclists, including rangers on bikes use this lane.

String Lake makes a great lunch place!

String Lake

looking across Jenny Lake and west up Cascade Canyon

We also biked the multi-use/bike path that goes from the town of Wilson to the park's Granite Canyon entrance station. 



It also has a great lunch spot!














We also took two day hikes on this trip--



one to Leigh Lake and Paintbrush Canyon and the other up Cascade Canyon.

looking across Leigh Lake and up Paintbrush Canyon

 

lunch near Inspiration Point above Jenny Lake

Cascade Creek

duct-tape boot repair in Cascade Canyon

discussion at the Murie cabin

Mardy's cookbooks in the Murie cabin kitchen

September 3 was the 50th birthday of the Wilderness Act.  We joined celebrations in the Tetons with birthday cake, a ranger hike, and a discussion at the Murie cabin, where discussions on the front porch in the 1960s contributed to the ideas and wording of the legislation creating the National Wilderness Preservation System. 

We spent our nights in the Jenny Lake campground, which meant that we could leave the car at the campsite and take off on bikes or on foot for many of our adventures.  It also made an evening saunter to the lake possible.  It's a quiet, open-piney, friendly-feeling place.  At night we heard elk bugling instead of car alarms and car doors slamming.  One restroom for 50 sites causes a bit of a rush-hour crunch, but it also leads to sink-sharing camaraderie and the chance to meet very nice people.  Sin problemas no hay chiste--loosely, without problems, where's the fun?  We really had fun.