Today we are driving to Jenny Lake. Once there, we will take a boat across Jenny Lake and then hike up into the Grand Teton Mountains. Seeing the mountains up close makes us both excited and a little bit intimidated. This could be a challenging hike for us.
Once we were on the boat, we saw trees on the part we would hike. That made it a little less scary.
The first part of the hike was to Hidden Falls. We passed Cascade Creek on our way to Hidden Falls.
Just a little further up the mountain we found Hidden Falls.
On our way to Inspiration Point, the trail got steeper. We could see many different views in just about every direction. The last segment of the hike to Inspiration Point was both steep and rocky.
Inspiration Point is about 500 feet above Jenny Lake. It is a resting place for many hikers. We could see where we had been and where we were headed. We also met a Golden-mantled ground squirrel that liked to beg for food from the hikers.
The hike to Cascade Canyon followed the creek up the mountain.
All the way up the trail, we were surrounded by the mountains and cliffs of the rugged terrain.
At times the trail was slightly up. Sometimes we crossed the creek. One time we spotted a bird standing in the creek. Other times the trail was more steep and open. We could then see the mountain peaks before us. Then the path leveled out as we reached Cascade Canyon. We were about 1000 feet above Lake Jenny at this point.
Cascade Canyon is at an elevation of about 7,800 feet. The creek running through it provides enough water to fill the canyon with green. There are mountain peaks, waterfalls, flowers, animals, and plant life galore. This close to the tree line, you can see the mountains spring up 3,000 to 4,000 feet to form the canyon.
The plant life includes trees, shrubs, dandelions, berries, and flowers.
We even spotted two moose.
Here is a picture of the canyon from as far as we hiked up the trail.
This is a 360 degree photo of the canyon from the same location.
On the return hike, we focused on getting pictures of the creek where the water was running the fastest. We also took a selfie on our break at Inspiration Point.
Our ride back to the dock was quick. It was a little windy, which made for a cool ride.
We found an interesting sculpture on the trail by the lake. It was of the Grand Teton range with labels for many of the mountains.
We enjoyed the challenge of this hike. It was a fun and tiring day.