The Changing Seasons – August 2021

I’m so excited for this Changing Season post because I have been dying to tell you all about my EPIC trip to Wyoming. I booked the trip forever ago, sometime in 2020, long before I even knew if Covid restrictions were even going to allow me to take the trip, but I planned it anyway and as luck would have it I was able to go. YAY!!!!!

The trip was booked through REI and it was to The Grand Tetons National Park. It was a backcountry/kayaking/hiking trip. I was joined by two friends in Jackson, WY 2 days prior to the actual trip beginning. This gave us some time to do some hiking, acclimate to the elevation change and just enjoy the cute little town. Then on the first day of the REI trip the three of us joined a group of 7 other adventures and 3 guides. We got into our kayaks and paddled away to an island dedicated just to us. It was our base camp for a week’s worth of kayaking, hiking, camping, swimming and soaking up all the beauty that is The Grand Tetons.

Now that I sit down to put the details of the trip into words, I am struggling to do it.

How does one explain the instant bond 13 strangers formed on an island? Or describe the feeling of getting to see moose, elk, mule deer, pronghorns and mountain goats? Or tell you what it is like to see so many bald eagles you lose count? Can I express the feeling of ice cold glacier water against my skin as I swim and laugh with my new friends, or how clear that lake is all the way to the bottom? I don’t know how to explain how it feels to have camping and trails so isolated because they were exclusively for our group’s use. And I struggle to define the joy of singing Beatles songs on our way up the mountains to not startle the bears. What adjectives do I use to describe what it’s like to lay on a rocky beach at 2am looking up at the Milky Way knowing it’s your last night in The Tetons? Would you believe me if I told you it was perfect that we had every type of weather from smooth waters and clear blue sunny skies to paddling in high winds and one day even getting off the water to hide in the low Willows as the hail pelted us and the lighting strikes danced all around? How do I capture in words the sunrise yoga, the games, the physical challenges, the laughter or the freeness of it all.

There are not words big enough for the experience I’ve had, but if I had to pick just one…MAGICAL…is the only one that comes to mind. Pictures could never capture or contain this magic, but I tried my best and here are few of my favorites.

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Although this trip was not the only thing I did this month, it was definitely the most exciting and I felt like it needed a post all of it’s own. I have many more photos to share and will sneak those into this blog as I am able.