Solitude Lake - Just A Saturday Away

Saturday morning came early as I left the house by 6:00 AM and headed over to Sara's house. Sara is a SLP that I get to work with at school. She is a sweetheart and an avid hiker. We'd talked about hiking together but almost let the summer slip by without going until... she emailed and said, "Let's go".
She had plodded out a trail (one of her favorites) up Cascade Canyon, across Jenny Lake up the Wyoming side of the Tetons. We would hike to Solitude Lake, have lunch and hike back down. The ferry would take us across the lake to the start of the trail and if we made it back by 7:00 PM we could take the ferry back across. If not, we would hike around the lake.
We were both excited to get going so we left her place by 6:30 and headed north to Jackson Hole. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining, the skies clear and the temperature warm but not hot. We left our sweaters in the car.
Dan has hiked this trail before but it was all new to me and I loved every bit of it.
We took the ferry across the still, morning lake

and started up the hill.


































We stopped at Inspiration Point to take pictures
















and then again at Hidden Falls.






































The trail was well cared for with beautiful wooden bridges across the streams
and breath-taking scenery with the Tetons in the background.



The wildflowers were in bloom everywhere.




















Along the way we spotted a moose.






Can you find it in this picture?









Maybe this will help.

We climbed about 3000 feet in the 7 + miles to the Solitude Lake where we soaked our feet, ate our lunch and took a little nap in the sun.
There was a little island in the middle of the lake and some of the hikers took a dip in the freezing water.



The hike down was quicker but we still didn't make it to the dock in time to catch the last ferry back so.... we did the extra 2.5 miles around the lake shore to the parking lot.

On the way around the lake we came across a black bear eating berries in a field. He didn't notice us and we didn't take the time to get our cameras back out. Good thinking on both our parts. It was almost dark when we got back to the car and we were both pretty crippled up and laughing our heads off. Maybe we were delusional but it helped us forget the hurt.
On our way home we stopped for pizza in Jackson. The crowd at the resturant was actually staring at us as we tried to get out of the car and go it. The pizza was wonderful but the best thing was taking off my shoes and walking out barefoot.

It was around midnight when we got home and by morning we were both ready to go again.

Dan had a vase of three roses and a sweet card sitting on my dresser for me when I got home.
A wonderful ending to a fantastic day! Can't wait to do it again!

Sara's pictures are much better than mine and you can find them on FB ~ Sara Kinney. Enjoy!! We did!!