Fri., May 23, 2008--Hiking Jenny Lake

Friday was a promising day for hiking. The weather was in the 50s so we dressed warm and headed for Jenny Lake. We stopped in the visitor center which just opened! The ranger said the trail on the east side of the lake should be okay, but the west side with Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point was still over 80% snow. The shuttle boats were in the water and running, but they were giving tours of the lake unless you were properly attired to hike to Hidden Falls--then they would let you disembark!
We started off on our hike with plans to stop at Jenny Lodge for coffee and dessert at our halfway mark. First obstacle on the trail--steps. We are accustomed to the elevation and don't get as winded when we climb.

The lake had too many ripples for a good reflection, but it made a good picture break.

There was some snow on the trail, but nothing like the Taggart Trail! We even saw some animal prints in the snow. These prints belong to a big cat.

We saw them in several places along the trail--but no cat!

We passed the observation overlook and kept on going. As we neared the north end of Jenny Lake, the snow deepened and we began to posthole as not many people had walked before us! We found a spot free from snow to take a picture of the north end of the lake.


We continued on toward String Lake and the road to Jenny Lodge! The snow was even deeper and Joyce was postholing with every few steps. It even looked like one of the last hikers was on skis! Not really, someone slid down leaving marks that looked like cross country ski tracks.

By this time we were both cold and pretty miserable--we decided lunch at Jenny Lodge would be better than coffee and dessert. Ah!!! There was the road and the lodge was in sight! But oh, no! It couldn't be! The lodge was not open for the season! We sat on the front porch and ate our protein bars, thinking of chocolate cheesecake and hot coffee!

There was no way we were hiking back the way we came so we started off down the road. It was much faster and shorter. By the time we returned to the car, we had hiked 5.65 miles!

And the sky was darkening the mountains as the rain started to fall. Back to the rv to warm up and dry our shoes! Tomorrow is another day.