Wind Rivers Hike......

Wow!! What a fantastic few days we spent hiking up in the "Wind rivers". The good news is we didn't see a bear, and bad news??????????? I forgot my camera. Ouch! But Jen is going to email me some pics to post. I will post them when she sends them. Here is the low down on our trip.
Those that went:
Myself, Brenda and Jackie, went in Brenda's truck with all of our gear and coolers in the back. Connie, Jen, Vickie, and Sally went in Jens SUV. The highlight of the drive? Near Evanston, Connie saw a large cougar feeding on the side of the road. The GPS failed us.....you know...".turn right in .3 miles". Therefore we relied on the good old map. We had a great drive thru Evanston, Hammerer, and arrived in Pinedale where we stayed for three nights.

Our accommodations: Teton Lodge /Pine Dale
As we drove into town, we saw all of these really nice hotels. I thought, oh maybe it is this one, or this one, but no, we kept driving. Then we went down these side streets that looked a little scary, and sure enough we pulled into the "Teton Lodge". I thought for just one moment, "Baker, Nevada revisited". You have to understand, a tepee on the freeway would be a step up from the accommodations in Baker, Nevada. Can you say mosquitoes, no air in 100+ degree heat, bed bugs, no screens on windows, and sharing the shower with huge bugs.....that was what the accomodations in Baker, Nevada were like. The brochure had said "recently remodeled"....NOT. Back to the "Teton Lodge" in Pinedale, Wyoming. Here is the deal, we had to stay in a place that had kitchenettes. This was one of the few motels that had them. We had three rooms. Brenda, Jackie and I shared a room. Our kitchenette consisted of a small fridge in the bathroom......and a microwave on the dresser. But hey, we had a large couch and a coffee table. The decor was a little of this and a little of that. It was a log cabin sort of , complete with dusty hanging plants. There was a gas stove that made the room sooo hot! We had to rely on ceiling fans to keep us cool. Other than questionable blankets on the bed, it wasn't really too bad. Just old and well used. The most unique feature was the bathroom door. They had to cut out a little square in the door so they could close it because the light switch was in the way. Oh and by the way, the door pushed all the way through, like a swinging door and we did not even have to pay extra for that. Special for sure.

The Food: The first night we ate at a local restaurant in Pinedale called "Cafe on Pine". The food was OK, the service was not. But we enjoyed each others company and the owner came out and told us before we were seated that we would have to be patient, but it would be worth it. We were patient, and although the food pretty good, it can not compare with Connie's cooking. The next night Connie worked her magic. She cooked Salmon with dill sauce, new potatoes from her garden glazed with Parmesan cheese and fresh green beans from her garden, and of course homemade zucchini bread with chocolate chips. The next night we had Parmesan chicken with wheat pasta and marinara sauce and spinach salad with fresh carrots and tomatoes also from her garden.. Homemade cookies topped it off . Thanks Connie, we ate like queens!!!

The Hikes:
We had to change some of the hikes we had planned because there were fires in the area we had planned on hiking to. Thursday we hiked about 12 miles in the "Green Lake" area. on the "Clear Lake trail" We were going to hike to two different lakes, but were given wrong information. So we hiked to the "natural bridge" formation which was beautiful. Then we hiked up some pretty steep switchbacks to an amazing water fall called "Slide Creek Falls". It looked like the spillway because the area that the water was falling on was very wide, and flat. From a distant, it looked like snow, but up close it was a water fall. It was amazing. It was pretty hot that day and so many of us ended up with blisters or re blistered our blisters. The lakes were beautiful and that whole area was amazing!
On Friday our hike was all in the pines. This was a beautiful hike on the Elkhart Pine Creek Trail. It was about 11 miles long. The day was overcast. We hiked to "Photographers Point" which was just beautiful. You could see the wonderful majestic mountain ranges from there. Jen thinks it was Fremont Peak we were looking at. The wild flowers were gorgeous that day. We met many hikers that day that had hiked in one or two weeks ago and had been camping. We met one family from Sandy that had leased some Alpaca's from a place in Provo to haul in their gear. That was fun. We ended up at a Ekland Lake for lunch that was so calm and mirror like. We also saw outfitters with horses and mules going in to pick up campers gear. During our trip we saw plenty of wild life, deer, antelope, and NO BEAR. That is the one thing we did not want to see. There were warning signs warning about grizzlies in the area. Jen had bought us bear bells but they were so obnoxious, no one wanted to hear them. So Sally made me sing Primary Songs to keep the bears away. I guess it worked.

Well, that about sums up the hikes. A great three days, great company, great food, great shopping, great hikes, great friendships, and great therapy. I feel renewed and rejuvenated.
Lest you think we suffer when we hike, let there be no mistake....I'll give you an example. When we pulled in with our truck full of gear, a guy at the motel said "with all that gear are you ladies camping for a few days?'. In unison we said "no"!!! "We don't camp"...., we hike, we shower, we shop, we eat, we laugh, we cry, but we don't camp. We like showers and clean sheets. Til next year. ......