Cache Creek

     The fourth morning finally brought some reasonable weather. It was cold, but it was clear. The sun made it feel fairly warm. It was finally dry enough for us to drive the other part of Mormon Row to see the original homesteads occupied by some of Jackson Hole's first settlers. We then made our way to Blacktail Ponds for breakfast at the overlook, followed by a short hike along the creek.

View leaving the campground

Pronghorn in the fields with mountains behind

An old barn on Mormon Row

Mormon Row homesteads

Our view for breakfast at Blacktail Ponds

Blacktail Ponds trail

More awesome reflections

     I got a strange phone call while we were at Blacktail Ponds. The IT Department from work just happened to catch me in one of the very few spots in the area where you have cell service. The call was to tell me to turn my computer back in to the company since I hadn't worked there in three years. I was like, "What? I just worked last week. Did I get fired?" He had gotten some bad info from my old boss, who said I had not worked for the company in three years. It's only been two years since I worked full-time at his clinic, but I still go down there sometimes when they need help. He had just called me during this trip to ask if I could come to their clinic to help them. It took some convincing to get the IT guy to believe me and then he still wanted my laptop by the next day for some updates. I told him that wasn't going to happen as I was in Wyoming. He finally called my new boss and got things worked out. It was so weird. You go on vacation for less than a week and suddenly nobody knows you anymore.

     After I got my work issues straight, we drove down the road just a little piece to a gravel road that descends down to some of the small splits off the Snake River. The road is known as Schwabacher Rd. and takes you down to Schwabacher Landing. I highly recommend you go here if you are ever in the area. There is no official hiking trail, but there is a path leading out of the parking lot that weaves along the edge of the water. You can follow it for some great views of the mountains and their reflections in the calm streams. We saw lots of wildlife too including some ducks and an immature bald eagle. Bald eagles start out dark brown, but once they reach adulthood they get the white head and turn a different shade of brown on the body.

Ducks at Schwabacher Landing

Bald eagle flying in

Immature bald eagle

No shortage of reflections in the Schwabacher area

Eagle from far away

GoPro shot from the trail

     The further out you hike, the better the views get and the more you get away from the crowd. Everybody hikes to the first big pool, but after that you can get the trail to yourself. The eagle flew off after a crowd spooked it, but we got to see him soaring above the trees while we hiked further out toward the river. Some of the ducks by the landing kept flipping upside down as they searched for food. We laughed as their little booties were all that stuck up out of the water. I could have sat and watch those ducks all day.

The eagle soars above the water

Diving ducks

     After the hike, it was time for some more mountain biking. This time we went to the east side of Jackson to the Cache Creek trails. It was perfect riding weather. I explored the trails on my own first, climbing up the mountain and taking a brand new trail called Skyline across the ridge. I saw two moose on the way up. I saw many riders out enjoying the nice day like me, but most of them were not very friendly. I seem to have a lot of trouble finding friendly riders on our trips which is crazy considering mountain bikers are friendly in general. I finished my loop with a fast descent back down the mountain to the parking lot, where I picked up Shannon and we climbed part of the way up the mountain to a small cascade next to the trail. We then took our time cruising singletrack back down.

Putt Putt trail

Moose in the trees

Skyline trail

The cascade we climbed to

Video: Flowing cascade along the Cache Creek Trail

Shannon rolls over Cache Creek

     We finished our ride before the sun began to set, giving us just enough time to get back into Grand Teton National Park to watch sunset at the Snake River Overlook. That overloook was not the best for sunset views as the sun drops behind the tall mountains very quickly and things get dark in a hurry. We moved south one overlook and had dinner while we watched elk graze in the pastures. At first there were many other families there with us, then a bus full of high school kids stopped in for some pictures. They were pretty rude, taking over the overlook and being loud. They were very inconsiderate of all the other people and it caused everyone to leave except for us. We waited them out and finally they loaded back onto the bus, which left us to enjoy the view and rising moon by ourselves for a while. We drove back to the campground in the dark yet again, dodging wildlife along the way. We were treated to seeing a porcupine crossing the road, an animal neither of us had ever seen before.

Snake River Overlook at sunset

Big cloud across the valley

Elk grazing

The big cloud turned red

Moonrise

     That was our last day of exploring Grand Teton National Park. We would have to depart for Utah the next day. We sure did enjoy our time here despite the cold, and sometimes rainy, weather. It's one of those places that anyone who enjoys the outdoors should visit at least once. Below is a video from some of the views we saw within the park.

Video: Grand Teton National Park views