Why do they call it "Labor Day"?

I think I know why....

We started off on the east shore of Jenny's Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

Now if you look at this picture, it doesn't look that far across the lake. You can kind of see where the ferrys dock on the other side and the mountain doesn't look that far away. It was a little windy and there were a few white caps rolling across the lake. So those of us who wanted some action decided to canoe across to the trail. Some of us were a little leary of the lake (the elderly and those with small children) and the effort it would take to cross and they turned back (cowards). They took there canoes back to the dock and boarded the ferry and got a free ride across that lake.

So let me tell you, it was a serious work out. And "the sea was angry that day my friend" (Sienfeld).

Note Jan...she's wiped out!

So everyone told us to go around the edge of the lake. It's safer to hug the shoreline instead of go straight across. So Val and Faren take off around the edge. Well we started to do that and then decided to just cut across. I said to Chad "either we're smart and going to save us a lot of time and energy, or we're idiots. If we capsized in the middle of that thing. It turned out we're smart (I think). When we finally hooked up with Val and Faren, they were red in the face, sweating, and frustrated. Val said he was this close to just throwing his hands up and walking away from those canoes and walking the rest of the way around. The wind was blowing them backward and they were paddling so hard to try and make some headway.

This is Val trying to bring his body temperature back down. This water was freezing. I wasn't worried about canoeing across that lake with my baby until I got to the beach and felt the water. It was so cold. We would have died of hypothermia if we would have capsized. Idiots! What were we thinking!

After making it across and regrouping...regaining our strength, we hiked up to Hidden Falls. We haven't been here for a few years and it was fun to do it again. It's pretty and a nice little hike. Mia walked the whole way. She didn't want carried. Last year we came to the park and saw a grizzly bear and a black bear. This year Jerry brought some bear spray and I was so glad and relieved. I stuck close to him. Jerry picked some wild raspberries along the trail and they were good. I'm sure the bears think so also.

We took a little side road home to the place where Chad parked to climb the Teton last month and we saw a bear up on the hillside. We also saw Sicilee's friend in the parking lot. She had just got done hike the Middle Teton that day and told us that we just missed a bear walking by the trailhead sign. My mom, Haddi, and I saw a bear walking through the trees also. I love to see them from my car.