Hiking high above Jenny Lake in the Tetons is the start of the adventurous part of our trip

On Tuesday, we waited out a short rain storm before heading out to cross famed Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The short ferry ride arrives right at the start of the iconic Cascade Canyon Trail, which is a hike I did back in 1995 with my dad.

Jenny Lake is a glacier-fed natural lake that freezes in the winter and is about 60 degrees in the summer. It reaches a whopping 250-feet deep.

Once across, our chosen trail for the day (so many trails to choose from in Teton/Yellowstone) starts out as a crowded route for the first mile up to Inspiration Point. Once past that, the crowds thin out and the trail opens up to breathtaking scenery and abundant wildlife as it winds through the canyon surrounded by majestic mountains and ending 5 miles in where we had lunch on rocks above a beautiful waterfall.

We saw a momma moose and her baby. Then later, Rachel stopped to go to the bathroom behind a high rock. She looked not far down the hillside and there was a huge male moose with massive antlers chowing down on the plants. We also saw a badger and plenty of pika and birds, but no bears on this hike.

The hike was definitely challenging, especially the higher up we went and since it had been a while since my legs had endured a significant western hike. But it was well worth the effort, and it made the night’s beer, Manhattan, bison burger, and shrimp and grits at The Mangy Moose in Teton Village all the more rewarding.