Thank You, Theodore Roosevelt: Day Two

 

Day Two: All Who Wander Are Not Lost

Over breakfast, we invoked the “Let’s Just Figure It Out” approach to planning our intended hike for the day.  This was also the potentially most expedient way to do it, since the restaurant provides free internet service.  It’s kinda like the old internet cafes here in the National Parks.  We also utilized a paper map, definitely old school.  Since Dan is the map reader in our family, I weighed in with a place I’d like to see (Hidden Falls) and let him figure out the possible routes.  This confirmed for me yet again that we ‘just figure out’ things through extremely different lenses and it is a testimony to our mutual ability to negotiate, even when saying to our partner, “I have no idea what you’re looking to do.”  Have faith and patience it will all work out.

To verify the hike we’d chosen would work, we stopped at the visitor center (one is conveniently located in each housing/restaurant area in the Park).  Dan was confident the path would lead us to Hidden Falls and so we set off on our day’s hike, rated moderate and without too much elevation to it.  (One website I checked also indicated this particular hike would be appropriate for those in wheelchairs, although it would be difficult to navigate.  I’m here to tell you unless you brought along a large party of able bodied persons who could carry the wheelchair the bulk of the way, in particular up the stone steps and inclines, this was not suitable for wheelchairs.  Who are these people who write these reviews?  The kind of person who heads out to backcountry camp with his/her wits and wiles to sustain them, that’s who.  And definitely under 30 and probably born in the wilderness and left to fend for themselves.)

I had read that on this particular hike, you could detour to Moose Pond where there would be a good likelihood of seeing moose.  It’s reasonable to ask that if you’ve already seen a moose or two at the Zoo, why bother to veer from the intended path?  Well, it’s just not quite seeing a moose in its natural environs, is it.  Along the way, a couple hikers enthusiastically encouraged us to take the detour as they had recently done so and seen a mother and her baby. 

So when the (very small) sign directing hikers to the Moose Pond Loop appeared, we took it.

An aside here about trail signage in the Grand Tetons: it is sparce, small and basically placed at knee height which could potentially make it difficult to spot if you are 70 and 71 years old, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping over rocks, branches, roots, etc. 

Moose Pond is exactly as you might imagine—a large pond surrounded by grasses and wildflowers, set in a gully down from the trail.  We looked hard, but no moose.  Disappointed, we briefly questioned whether to continue on the Moose Pond Loop or double back to the original Hidden Falls Trail.  Dan felt sure the Moose Pond loop would connect with the Hidden Falls Trail, so we set off.  No map and no GPS, just good old fashioned dead reckoning.  I figured Dan had looked at some maps at the Visitor Center so he knew this connect was there.

On the other side of the pond, our intrepid spirit was rewarded with a moose sighting!  See below

Look closely to find the moose.  It's a cognitive game.

Continuing, the trail did not go uphill at all, which concerned me because if you’re going to a waterfall, at some point you’ve probably got to be on a trail that ascends, right?  Another sign we maybe should have just retraced our steps to the original trail was that we were the only people on this trail.  The Hidden Falls trail is quite popular so we had encountered quite a few fellow hikers, who are basically a friendly bunch, they say hi, a few want to share their hiking story, ask where you’re going, comment on your t-shirt/hat if it is emblazoned with a saying or destination.  Where we were was quiet, serene, and flat.

All Who Wander Are Not Lost, remember.  They just stumbled onto the Lupine Meadows trail, beautiful in its profusion of wild flowers.  The trail ended in a remote parking lot and Dan continued to say, “It’s a loop.  It was supposed to loop back to the Hidden Falls trail.”

Fortunately we stumbled upon a couple heading out for some backcountry camping, who knew where we had been and how to return to the trail.  Defying common wisdom, Dan asked for directions.

Not long after reconnecting to the trail, we came upon a group of hikers who were clearly watching something in the woods.  “Moose!”

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after all that effort, we enjoyed an up close and personal encounter with a moose, who lacksidasically munched branches on both sides of the trail without giving the gawking humans so much as a glance.

We didn’t make it up to the Falls.  By the time we got to Cascade Creek, I christened those rushing waters Hidden Falls and we decided to head back.  And on the return, we found that the Hidden Falls trail actually skirts Moose Pond from a higher elevation and, naturally, there were 2 moose and the baby visible when we walked by. 

                                        

But had we not wandered off the intended path and returned significantly later, we would have not met up with Ms Moose enjoying her afternoon snack.

In his Facebook post, Dan wrote that we were hopelessly lost.  I think we just figured it out.

Look how cute we are after hiking nearly 8 miles!

Our day ended with dinner at the iconic Mural Room in Jackson Lodge, where we were seated by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Tetons at sunset.

All Who Wander Are Not Lost.