We debated whether we should hike around the whole lake (Jenny Lake Loop is a ~7 mile loop), or just do a small piece, but once we arrived at the visitor center, we found a great compromise; there was a shuttle boat crossing the lake every 15 minutes, so we could hike ~3.5 miles to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, and then take the boat back to the trailhead. Perfect!
On the trail, we saw this funny-looking bird, standing literally a foot off the trail.
Its head looked distinctly snake-like, and yet its feathers reminded us of a turkey. Kally dubbed it Snurkey. Looking at a hotel wildlife classifier brochure, we thought it was a sage grouse, but Wikipedia now tells us that it's really a ruffed grouse.Chris and I also spotted a couple of marmots off the trail, but they scrambled away quickly so we couldn't get a picture.
To get to Hidden Falls, we had to hike across some snow, but wow, it was awesome. It was the tallest cascading waterfall I'd ever seen, and I thought it was even cooler than Lower Falls in Yellowstone.
Our steep climb up to Inspiration Point was rewarding too. Gorgeous view.
But who's looking at the view, right? :-P I think Chris may have been most inspired at having cell reception.
Plus there were some very people-friendly chipmunks... It seemed like *someone* (i.e. maybe three someones) had been feeding them.
For dinner, we ate at the Jackson Lake Lodge, which was probably our group's favorite restaurant of the trip. They served us moose-shaped butter!
Kally recommended the Jackson Lake Lodge because it had a lovely view of the Tetons from the dining room, and her friend mentioned that it was a great place to watch wildlife.
I don't know if this is funny or just truly awful, but while I was looking at those lovely mountains, all I could think of was the Coors "Love Train" commercial. And Kasandra said she was thinking about Arrowhead Water. How sad is that?
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