Wow, I was so sore this morning and found it hard to get started this morning as my shoulder was really sore. The campsite was pretty nice and had water nearby, so I was able to cook breakfast, fill up, and get rehydrate since
I didn't even feel like cleaning much water last night. I had considered doing another night out and looping through Lake Solitude and the Paintbrush Divide instead of just going straight down the Cascade Creek Trail, however after the previous day I just wanted to take it easy. The best realization was that the rest of the trail would pretty much be downhill all the way back to the car, even though it would still be 9.5 miles of trail! There were several nice creek crossings as the trail paralleled the creek. The temperatures remained comfortably cool and it was a couple of hours before I even saw another soul.
Most of the trail was about the same with towering canyon walls and forested trails. There were several things I really hoping to see on my trip and even one of the minor things was able to get checked off my list. I was alerted by a couple of hikes about a moose up ahead and once I found a group of people standing around I was able to locate a lone female barely visible across the creek in the high grass. I wasn't extremely disappointed, however when one thinks of this species most often it is the male antlers that come to mind.
I decided to hang out for a while and hope the female would eventually move so I could get a better picture. I sat on a high rock for about an hour and was rewarded with something unexpected. Just across the river I was one of the first to spot some rustling that ended up being two males start to move around and was able to get some great shots of them drink and move around.
There were so many great unexpected moments on this trip with this of course being another. I continued on a bit more to get over to Inspiration Point above Lake Jenny. I'm glad to have done the trail in this direction as it is a good feeling to be able to look out upon the final destination and what lies ahead. After relaxing for a while I headed down to the lake with a stop at Hidden Falls. When I got down to the lake I decided to take the passenger ferry back so I could enjoy a clear view of the Teton range and reflect upon the trip, though nearly fell asleep a few times before getting back to the ranger station.
After getting back to the car and getting some of the trail dirt washed off, I was once again on the road. Before leaving the park I grabbed a couple of NPs stamps for the Memorial Parkway and Grand Teton National Park and the stopped by the
Chapel of Transconfiguration for a picture-perfect view that conveyed a sense of there nature and the simple life can cohabitate. Though I cannot place it, this place seemed familiar as I'm sure I had seen this kind of shot before, even if long ago, as I figure that it is pretty popular for photographers. I hit a geocache along the way to Jackson and stopped by a Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped ice cream cone to celebrate my first week of the trip; since of course every adventure has ice cream.
I parked downtown Jackson for a while and walked around checking out the shops and grabbing a local brew at some watering hole. One of the most known features of Jackson, besides the skiing, is Antler Park in the middle of town, which really doesn't consist of much more than several arches made of elk antlers. I drove quite a while south and took a well needed shoring at a truck stop and recharged batteries and downloaded pictures and GPS tracks while my clothes were in the wash. What a lovely day it was.
Wow, I was so sore this morning and found it hard to get started this morning as my shoulder was really sore. The campsite was pretty nice and had water nearby, so I was able to cook breakfast, fill up, and get rehydrate since 
I didn't even feel like cleaning much water last night. I had considered doing another night out and looping through Lake Solitude and the Paintbrush Divide instead of just going straight down the Cascade Creek Trail, however after the previous day I just wanted to take it easy. The best realization was that the rest of the trail would pretty much be downhill all the way back to the car, even though it would still be 9.5 miles of trail! There were several nice creek crossings as the trail paralleled the creek. The temperatures remained comfortably cool and it was a couple of hours before I even saw another soul.
Most of the trail was about the same with towering canyon walls and forested trails. There were several things I really hoping to see on my trip and even one of the minor things was able to get checked off my list. I was alerted by a couple of hikes about a moose up ahead and once I found a group of people standing around I was able to locate a lone female barely visible across the creek in the high grass. I wasn't extremely disappointed, however when one thinks of this species most often it is the male antlers that come to mind. 
I decided to hang out for a while and hope the female would eventually move so I could get a better picture. I sat on a high rock for about an hour and was rewarded with something unexpected. Just across the river I was one of the first to spot some rustling that ended up being two males start to move around and was able to get some great shots of them drink and move around. 
There were so many great unexpected moments on this trip with this of course being another. I continued on a bit more to get over to Inspiration Point above Lake Jenny. I'm glad to have done the trail in this direction as it is a good feeling to be able to look out upon the final destination and what lies ahead. After relaxing for a while I headed down to the lake with a stop at Hidden Falls. When I got down to the lake I decided to take the passenger ferry back so I could enjoy a clear view of the Teton range and reflect upon the trip, though nearly fell asleep a few times before getting back to the ranger station.
After getting back to the car and getting some of the trail dirt washed off, I was once again on the road. Before leaving the park I grabbed a couple of NPs stamps for the Memorial Parkway and Grand Teton National Park and the stopped by the Chapel of Transconfiguration for a picture-perfect view that conveyed a sense of there nature and the simple life can cohabitate. Though I cannot place it, this place seemed familiar as I'm sure I had seen this kind of shot before, even if long ago, as I figure that it is pretty popular for photographers. I hit a geocache along the way to Jackson and stopped by a Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped ice cream cone to celebrate my first week of the trip; since of course every adventure has ice cream. 
I parked downtown Jackson for a while and walked around checking out the shops and grabbing a local brew at some watering hole. One of the most known features of Jackson, besides the skiing, is Antler Park in the middle of town, which really doesn't consist of much more than several arches made of elk antlers. I drove quite a while south and took a well needed shoring at a truck stop and recharged batteries and downloaded pictures and GPS tracks while my clothes were in the wash. What a lovely day it was.
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