Lake of The Crags

"You are surrounded by small perpendicular peaks that are a beautiful miniature of the giganitc peaks found in other areas of the Tetons. Around you on all sides are these perpendicular spires and peaks and the area is studded with snow fields. This area has one of the most beautiful mountain views in the Tetons, lacking the grandeur of the spectacular great peaks but in many ways surpassing them all in beauty. This is a place that has always affected me as a sort of Shan-gri-la, where I like to sit and think and contempate the solitude and beauties of nature."
~Paul Petzoldt

You said it, Paul.

One morning, our gang of seven set off for the Lake of the Crags. Brad went there in 1993 and Dan has been a couple of times as well. I do not know of any human being that can hike as well as these two. So when they suggested that we go up there, I knew that we had crossed a threshold with my children - they are now considered hard core hikers.

This is Brad in 1993. He went to Lake of the Crags with my brother, Ed.

Wood and Susan kindly offered to watch Lucy, Kate and Sadie for the day so that Abby could come too. We started out at String Lake. There will be no Jenny Lake Ferry for us-- because ferries are for wusses. The trail to Hanging Canyons isn't a maintained trail so we relied on Dan and Brad's memories as to where to get off the main trail.

Steep. Have I mentioned how steep the trail is? There is a 2800 foot elevation change in two miles. I told everyone before we went on the hike that I'm a slow hiker, especially uphill. I did not (or maybe I did, depending on how you look at it) disappoint.

It got to the point that they had to stop every once in awhile to let me catch up to them. Rachel later told me that she was glad I made it necessary for them to stop periodically, as Dan sets a pace that a mountain goat would have a hard time keeping up with. Brad stayed behind to make sure I was still moving. I figure I was lagging behind for a purpose. You see, when predators hunt, who do they go after? The weak, the sick and the old; thus culling the herd so that the group in general remain healthy. I was ony protecting my hiking buddies. You are welcome.

Rams Head Lake. Just a hop, skip and a scramble away from Lake of the Crags.

Lake of the Crags. All together now....oooh, aaaah. We took a well deserved rest and soaked in the surroundings.

The water was painfully cold, as is evidenced by the chunks of snow floating on it. But we must keep smiling, right?

We tried to take a family picture. So which one should we use for our Christmas picture this year?

This is my choice.

The hike down was a bit easier for me but I learned an important lesson, I will not wear my hiking sandals for another long hike again. Rocks kept getting in my shoes and my feet got really cold on the snowfields. Look at us, we are glissading! (That means sliding down a snowfield while trying to avoid bruising your body and your dignity.)

 We made it to String Lake to find that Grammie and Grampa had taken the kids to play in the water. It was a good day, but we all felt it the next morning.Dan told me that the kids kept up with him the entire time with Caleb jumping from boulder to boulder and the girls not even breaking a sweat.  Brad calculated that the girls and I hiked about 24 miles on this trip and he and Caleb logged in 50. Yup, I guess that means we are a hiking family.
I think the difficulty of the journey made the destination that much more beautiful. Life is funny that way.

We Could Have Been Eaten By a Bear...

...but we weren't. And that's good.

We made one more trip for the season to The Tetons and Yellowstone. I know what you're thinking, "What? You went there again? Don't you get tired of doing the same thing so many times?"

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, we went there again. No, we aren't doing the same thing again. There were several things that we did that we haven't done before or don't do very often:

1. We went on a few hikes that we had never been to before.
2. We got to spend quality time with Dan, Abby and their cute girls.
3. We got to hang out with Derek and Laura and family for part of the time. (Okay, we do that a lot, but we always enjoy it.)
4. We hiked with Trent and Caroline. (Which we don't do very often and we enoy it.)
5. Rachel drove in the National Parks, and did a really good job doing it.
6. Brad, Dan and the kids went for a nighttime hike to Huckleberry Hotspring and had a soak in the light of the full moon and the company of a bullfrog. I had a nice quiet time in the cabin by my own self.
7. The girls and I drove home and left Brad and Caleb there (they came home with Wood and Derek).
8. Rachel, Emma and Caleb went on their first 11 mile hike up into the Tetons.

Instead of just hiking to the lakes we usually sample, Brad found some places that we had never been to before. Here we are at the Lower Schwabacher Landing of the Snake River. It was a thoroughly pleasant walk by and through the Snake River. We even got to see a snake swimming in the Snake River. Huh, we've never seen that before.

We got to hike to Emma Matilda Lake with Trent and Caroline, Wood and Dan and Abby (and all kidlets that are usually connected to Dan or Abby).

Heh, it looks like Kate is putting something on top of that pine tree.

(Not the actual bear we encountered. This photo was taken with a telephoto lens from the safety of the car.)

We hiked to Phelps Lake with the intention of swimming and jumping off a boulder into the cold water. Instead, we got cloudy, windy weather and a bear that followed us along part of the trail. It was minding its own business, just rooting around rotten logs for tasty grubs. But we Millers have a deep respect for nature and anything that might possibly rip one to shreds so let's just say having a bear saunter within 10 yard of us made us uneasy. At one point we climbed up on the boulder we would have used to jump into the lake and just watched it. Kate and Lucy were scared of the bear until I named it StrawBEARY Shortcake. While we were on the boulder, we broke out our lunch of sushi and turkey sandwiches.

In retrospect, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

But we made it out unscathed and knowing we now have a cool story to tell about a bear encounter.

We went swimming/wading in Moose Falls in Yellowstone. Lucy and I had an adventure where we were stuck out in the middle of the river because I was too wimpy to get my clothes wet.

We sat out on rocks and pondered nothing in particular.

At one point, Dan and Abby headed back to California and Wood, Susan and we hiked along the Howard Eaton Trail that follows the Yellowstone River. The adults thought it was a beautiful hike but Rach, Em and Cabes thought it was boring.

It was only because the day before, we hiked to Lake of the Crags, which is just a smidge more challenging.

But I'll save the descriptions of that hike for another day.

I love it up here.

A Whirlwind of Activities

The week of July 25-30 was full of a plethora of activities. There was a little something for everyone. Valerie and her girls came up from California for a little visit. Jake stayed at home with his dad because he had football tryouts, much to the disappointment of Caleb and Jake. Although they didn't get to spend time with each other, both boys had a good week with Jake getting to spend quality time with his dad and Caleb having his days filled with other cousins.

Rachel, Emma, Sara and Sydney got to go to OYA (Outdoor Youth Adventures) in Idaho with each other. Rachel had gone two years ago and she wanted to share the experience with her sister and cousins. Those four girls have always been closer than sisters but after camp, they were even tighter. I knew they would have a good time, even if they did have to use an outhouse, sleep in a tepee and not shower the entire time they were there.

While they were in Idaho roughing it, I got to spend quality time with Valerie and Grace. Val and I were a little concerned with Caleb just being with Grace, we were afraid that they would be bored and complain, it turned out that our fears were unfounded. One afternoon, we went to Thanksgiving Point with Laura, Max and Ellie. I haven't been to the Dinosaur Museum in years and it brought back fond memories of me taking my little ones there (sigh).

Caleb and Max's weird sense of humor really suit each other. They are always making me laugh.

 

Valerie Triplett, best friend and good sport to excavate dinosaur bones in a sandbox with Grace.

Of course we had to go over to the Emporium and have ourselves a little treat. I think that ice cream cone is about as tall as Ellie's head. Ice cream headache!!



Thursday afternoon, Caleb, Brad and Grace went up to Lava Hot Springs with Derek's family. There they met up with Grammie, Grampa and Sam's Family. Valerie and I stayed home. Thanks to Aunt Rachel for taking the pictures (she's always been good at documenting good times, I however, often forget).

They spent hours tubing down the river

Grampa is always checking to see if everyone is having fun and being safe. We love him.

As you can see, everyone was enjoying the therapeutic qualities of the hot springs.

 On Friday, Valerie and I drove to Rexburg to pick up some tired and dirty girls who were dropped off at BYU-Idaho. On Saturday, we were going to have a memorial service in Kilgore Idaho for Pat Bennett, Susan's grandfather. So we drove to Idaho Falls and checked into a hotel.

The first things the girls did was shower.

The second was to fall asleep while watching TV.

Who knew Idaho Falls was such a nice place? After dinner, we went for a walk along the river front.

 The next morning we drove to Kilgore to the little cemetery there. Parley "Pat" Bennett was a police officer in Los Angeles in the 20s. He moved there with his little family to find a better job for them because they couldn't make a decent living in Idaho at the time. He was killed in the line of duty by a robber and he left behind his wife and two small children, Kenneth and Enid (Susan's mother). He was buried in Los Angeles and his wife, Elizabeth moved  back to Idaho with her 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter.

As an interesting aside, Brian (Valerie's husband) had a great grandfather that also served in the LAPD at the same time as Pat. Being such a small force, they undoubtedly knew each other. Small world, huh?

Susan and her brother and sisters have been discussing having a headstone in Kilgore next to Elizabeth. After many years of discussing, they were finally able to have a headstone made and placed in Idaho next to his wife. All of Susan's children and Susan's sisters came to have a memorial service. It is an exact replica of the headstone in Los Angeles.

As you can see, Kilgore is remote and not near anything in particular



Derek, Susan and Sam. Susan is holding a picture of Elizabeth and Sam is holding a picture of Grandpa Pat

 After the service was over, we drove into the hills and had a nice picnic. Then we all went our separate ways and went home.



The memorial service was perfect. One of the many things I admire about Susan is her love of family, not only for her posterity but for her ancestry. She has passed that love to her children and her children's children. I know that it meant a lot to Susan to have all of her children come to Idaho and share this moment with her.