Last Day at Tetons

The last day that we spent at the Tetons was beautiful. We had great plans of going kayaking at Colter Bay. Then we'd have a picnic lunch and do some hiking. We got to Colter Bay around 10a.m. and went to the boat rental place only to discover that one person in each kayak had to be 16 or over. Only 2 could be in a kayak and since Jodie's only 15, we couldn't all go. So I left all the kids and went by myself...not really, that's just how it went in my head. We were bummed because this was something we had really looked forward to. So instead we went to String Lake which is the "warmest" lake in the Tetons because it is shallow. After our picnic lunch we set out to hike around the lake. We didn't get far because getting in the water was just too tempting for Chase and Jayme. Calling the lake "warm" though is a bit of an exaggeration...all the lakes are filled with melting snow for crying out loud. Anyhoo, here's some pictures of our day.

This is String Lake, so named because it is long and skinny....like a string. Creative.

Look how green it is. The color was so different than any lake I've seen.

They should have called it Jade Lake, that's way more creative.

Chase decided to wade out a bit. Looks "warm" right?

Jayme's either thinking it over or she's got an ice lake headache.

There's a rock out there that Chase wants to walk to. The water's icy cold

and there's sharp rocks covering the bottom, but

he doesn't let it stop him.

Feelin' pretty good about himself right about now.

He starts callin' for Jayme to come out.

She's inchin' her way..

The face says it all.

She made it, but of course Chase somehow figures he deserves the credit.

"Oh man, now my shorts are wet. Didn't think about the chaffing

that would cause."

Jodie's just takin' it all in and not about to be tricked into going past her ankles.

So now they have to get back.

No fat to help warm that body.

Jayme's wondering what she was thinking.

Can't ya just hear those teeth a chatterin'?

On the drive back to camp we saw a coyote. See his little head way out there?

That's the best I could do. It was still cool.

Then all of a sudden we came upon this bear on the side of the road. There were only a couple of cars there, so he must have just come around. The dark line at the bottom of the picture is the car door, that's how close we were. I was sitting on the console between the front seats and leaning over Jodie to get the picture.

He was just foraging around and eating grass.

He's a black bear even though he's not really black.

Black bears can be many shades of brown as well.

Check out his front claws.

See the car mirror on the side? That gives you an idea of how close we were. I'm not sure what the sticks were doing there. I think there was some kind of grass being planted which is probably what attracted him to that spot.

That was a great way to end our last day at the Tetons!