Tanner and me beside Jenny Lake, near the beginning of the hike
Kelsey, me and Tanner, getting close to the top
Pausing for a break, almost to our goal. A lot of the hike was uphill, and the view it gave us was amazing
We made it! Tanner, me, Kelsey, and Jesse at Inspiration Point, elevation 7,200 feet. Behind us is the beautiful Jenny Lake
I’m
currently sitting out on my back porch enjoying this nice evening. It’s been a
pretty simple, relaxing day off. Cristina worked the morning shift today, so
she was gone by the time I got up. Turns out Tanner actually is working today,
so I’ve only seen him briefly at dinner a little while ago. After sitting out
here for a while this morning, Jesse and I headed to the EDR together for
lunch. Nate and Elliot have been over in Paintbrush Canyon hiking around all
day, so I haven’t seen either of them at all.
After coming
back from lunch, I did a short hike not far from the lodge, stopping at one
point for a while to just relax and soak in my beautiful surroundings. It was
only a couple of miles, but made me feel like I’d done something with my day
off other than just sit around my dorm. Like I said in yesterday’s post, I’d
hate to just waste my day off hanging around inside when I’m in a place like
this.
Last night
after writing my last post, I went over to Tanner and Jesse’s room and hung out
in there with them for a while. Cristina, who’d been hanging around Yellowstone
for most of the day, eventually got back and came in to join us. After that, by
the time it was dark, I grabbed a pillow out of my room and lay out on the back
picnic table for a while just looking up at the sky. As I’ve mentioned in a
previous post or two, the night sky here is different than I’ve seen it
anywhere else. I’ve never seen so many stars; they just fill up the sky. I
know, of course, that they’re always there, no matter where I am, but here in
Wyoming they seem so much brighter than anywhere else. Seeing as how Wyoming is
the least populous state in the country- San Antonio alone has more than double
the population of this entire state- there’s hardly any “city lights” here that
would usually drown out the light of most of the stars, so even the pretty dim
ones are visible here. I’ve even seen shooting stars here multiple times. I
stayed out on the picnic table admiring the beautiful night sky until the cold
night air and thoughts of my soft, warm bed drove me inside (actually my bed
here really isn’t that soft, but I’m usually so tired by the end of the day
that I hardly notice).
Tomorrow I
really want to go to the pool. Maybe I can get Jesse and Tanner to join me
since they’re both off. Cristina doesn’t go in until three tomorrow, so if we
go right after lunch she’ll probably join us. I don’t think I’ll go back to the
Whistle Pig tonight; if I do, it probably won’t be for very long. I really do
love that place, but I think tonight’s more of a night to just enjoy the back
porch that is my favorite spot in this entire park, as I think I’ve mentioned
before. I wouldn’t say that this is the most beautiful spot in the park; it
faces east, so you can’t actually see the Teton Range from here. But the simple
beauty of this spot is one of my favorite things about it. Everything from the
smell and shade of the pine trees, the wildflowers growing all around, the
regular visits from robins, woodpeckers, chipmunks, squirrels, and even foxes,
make this back porch a great place to be. I think, the main thing that makes it
my favorite spot is the wonderful experiences I’ve had right here with my
friends. From drinking coffee out here in the mornings with Jesse and Cristina
to stargazing with Tanner to grill nights with the whole gang, this is the
perfect spot to enjoy the great company of my amazing friends here.
So Jesse
took some pictures of us from the day we went hiking up to Inspiration Point a
couple of weeks ago, but hadn’t been able to post them because of an issue with
his computer. Well, he finally posted them earlier today, and so I’ll include
some of them here. Better late than never! It was a pretty strenuous hike, but
the view from Inspiration Point was completely worth it!
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