We got up at 6:30 a.m. (very early for us) so we could make the 9:00 a.m. ranger-led hike to Taggart Lake. We had a group of about a dozen, led by Ranger Justin. We lucked out again. Justin was both knowledgeable and very entertaining. He started out as an electrical engineering major but quit and spent 5 ½ months hiking the Appalachian Trail. After that experience, he went back to school and got bachelor’s degrees in forestry and park management.
Working at Grand Teton National Park is clearly a good fit for him. He loves to ski and hike and climb mountains and fish and hunt. And he seems to take 40 below days in stride. He regaled us with tales of life in the wilderness. In the winter, he works at the National Elk Refuge, guiding sleigh rides.
As we started out on the trail, some Sandhill Cranes flew overhead. Their calls sounded very unusual to our ears, quite different from the Canada Geese we've been hearing recently.
We hiked across a large glacial moraine, stopping for Justin to point out something interesting at each stop. He talked about the aspen groves, which are actually a single organism, all clones of a single male aspen. He pointed out the varying environments and how the plants differed from the sage flats to the mainly bare rock of the mountains. We saw boulders split by frost wedging. We saw trees with some of their bark stripped by hungry bears, which enjoy the sweet cambium. Justin pointed out the downed wood that had been ripped open by bears looking for insects. The bears stand and wait while ants swarm up their legs. Then they lick the ants off their fur.
Justin has had some hair raising encounters with bears. Like all the rangers here, he carries bear spray. He demonstrated how to spray towards the ground to create a wall of spray. If you spray at a bear’s head, your arm will be jerked back by the recoil, and you’ll end up spraying upward into the air. One time he was in the parking lot of the visitor center when a charging grizzly came around the corner and headed straight toward him. At the last minute, a mini-van drove between him and the bear. Justin jumped on to the front of the vehicle, grabbed the windshield, and hollered for the driver to gun it.
Justin pointed out Lodgepole Pines, the main species of evergreen in the park. If you pluck one needle cluster and pull the needles apart, they form an “L” for Lodgepole. He showed us the flat needles of a fir and pointed out that when you grasp the branches, the needles seem soft and friendly. The mnemonic is “Flat, friendly fir.” Spruce, on the other hand, have square needles and seem spiky when you grasp the branches (“square, spiky spruce). He showed us some lichens, which help to disintegrate the rock into soil (Alice Algae and Freddy Fungus took a lichen to each other and got married, but since then they’ve been on the rocks.”)
The program concluded at the shore of Taggart Lake. Like Jenny Lake, it was formed by a glacier. Moving slowly, the glacier dug out the lake basin and deposited debris along lateral moraines and a terminal moraine.
After the guided portion of the hike ended, we walked part way toward Bradley Lake so that we could see up into Avalanche Canyon, which is where the original glacier that formed the lake flowed out of. We sat on the lake shore quietly before backtracking and taking the Bradley Creek route back to the parking lot.
It was 1:00 p.m., so we drove to Cottonwood Picnic Area to eat our lunch. When we got there, a busload of young people had taken over the picnic tables. None of the tables was in the shade, and it was quite hot. A couple of rangers had recommended a trip to see Menor’s Ferry. We drove there, where we found a large square solid wood bench to sit in the shade and eat our lunch. Then we went to Menor’s General Store, where Ken got a huckleberry soda. I took a couple of sips but was not impressed.
We waited for the 2:00 p.m. ranger-led tour of the historical buildings. The tour started in Menor’s homestead cabin, which he enlarged to house his general store. The ranger had a special affinity for the area, since he had grown up nearby. His parents both worked for the park. By the time the tour started, Ken was lightheaded and had to sit down. I got him some fresh water from the jug offered by the volunteer staffing the general store. I got some for myself too, but it was too late. Both of us were dehydrated. I continued on with the tour while Ken sat on a bench outside the store.
The tour went on to the Transportation Shed, not an original building, but put up to house the wagons and carriages of the type used in Jackson Hole in Menor’s time. Then we walked over to Maud Noble’s cabin, which was quite spacious and had several rooms. Its claim to fame is that Horace Albright met with some local leaders to discuss protection of Jackson Hole. They sat around the fireplace in Maud’s cabin and took the first steps towards making Jackson Hole part of the Grand Teton National Park.
At 3:00 p.m., the 45 minute tour was not over yet, and we hadn’t taken the ferry across the Snake River. I walked back and suggested to Ken that we move along. He was still lightheaded, so I drove. We went to the Discovery Center, hoping to sit in comfortable chairs in air conditioning to watch
We’ve been having trouble keeping our electronic devices charged. Ken’s phone was off for much of the day. It was after 7:00 p.m. when he turned it on and got a voicemail from Ullmer asking him to return the call at his earliest convenience, probably not a good sign. Ken called back and left a voicemail and sent an email, so we’ll probably hear more tomorrow morning.
This morning a mouse had been caught by one of the sticky traps. The poor critter was still struggling, so I drowned it before taking the trash to the dumpster. We’re hoping that we don’t have any more intruders.
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