Grand Tetons National Park Day 2

Yesterday we took a short hike around the Colter Bay area of Grand Tetons National Park. This morning we decided to take a much longer hike. (If you're following along, this was Tuesday, Aug 20, the 8th day of our roadtrip.)

Although this hike wouldn't take us along the shores of the lake, it still promised wonderful views of the mountains, forests, a couple of smaller lakes -- just an assortment of the beautiful things you expect to see on a hike in this part of the country. It certainly didn't disappoint, as the above view was one of the first we encountered.

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It's almost impossible to take a bad photo when you have such inspiring subject matter:

If there's a break in the trees, just snap a shot and there you go: Beautiful photo!

The trail started out quite wide and easy:

Later on it got smaller, but never became very difficult. It was nice not having to break a trail like we did in North Dakota when the buffalo "chased" us.

Before this trip I never knew that a forest could have a grassy floor!

Eventually we got to the first small lake. Do you like water lilies?

I hope you do, because there were plenty here.

I mean PLENTY.

You know who likes water lilies?

Beavers. They apparently like munching on the tender plants -- but we didn't see any of them at this time of day. The guide book said that early evening is the time to see them snacking in the water.

There were other water plants too:

Glad to see that my own little pond isn't the only one that gets overrun by the plants!

Hiking toward the other end of the lake gave even better views:

We just had to stop and enjoy for a while!

How could you not be captivated by this view?

What view? I'm trying to fatten up here -- it's almost winter!

I guess if you live with it every day, you just don't appreciate it, right?

The hike continues tomorrow...

(You may have noticed that my wife is carrying a big stick in that photo. It's not a walking stick -- she was using it to bang on rocks and dead trees to help scare off bears. We were warned that there were black bears in the area, and that you had to make lots of noise so you'd make them aware of your presence -- surprising a bear is not fun for anybody involved.)

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