The World is a Beautiful Place
Sometimes you have a day that’s challenging but unequivocally perfect. This was one of those days. It was messy at parts. Downright annoying at times. Still, at the end of the day, our cups were overflowing. Here’s a story about blessing.
Featured photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5xF2kJuiFZzBif4J8
May 29th, 2023 - Grand Teton Day 3
River mud gooshed under our hiking shoes. I planted the camera tripod at the edge of the river, pushing it down into the soft soil. A few stray raindrops dribbled on my hair. The weather was questionable that morning. It had already rained once and the clouds were lingering, heavily shuffling through the sky above the river. But for now, thankfully, it was dry.
Like yesterday's Moulton Barn, the Oxbow Bend of the Snake River is another hugely famous sunrise location. The slow-moving water is hemmed by lacy trees, wrapping around to frame a mirror’s reflection of the craggy mountains. The river softly lapped at our shoes. A pair of ducks quacked in harmony with songbirds. An osprey swooped low. It was peaceful.
It was peaceful, that is, until two tourists on the bank above us started talking. They were loud, enthusiastically awake in a way that grated against my sleepy nerves. It was only 6 AM. How on earth were they so conversational?
Thankfully, they quieted before the sunrise. The sun gently pushed through the misty grey clouds with a muted splendor. The aspens glowed vibrantly green, reflected in the mirror of the river. A cloud-crowned mountain range shone up from the water’s surface. Click, click, click. I kept the camera shutter going in a steady stream. In just a few minutes, the moment was gone. A new rainstorm had sprung up, wiping away the mountain’s reflection entirely. It was a short glory, but a wonderful one.
It was still remarkably early. With hours before our 10:00 ferry across Jenny Lake, we decided to go sightseeing. As we drove, I found my gaze drifting out the window. “Yesterday, we saw elk, pronghorns, and bison,” I commented. “Now the only thing left to see is a moose!” I’d never seen one in real life, and my fingers were crossed to see one here. Gravel crunched under the tires, snapping me out of my reverie. Tyler was pulling over. Confused, I looked at him and then followed his gaze out the window. Two moose were trotting along a fence near the road. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There they were, the moose I was hoping for. They’re so much weirder in real life! Their legs gangled and their heads were awkwardly long. They even have bristly manes on their necks, like zebras. I was elated. My first moose!
Not long later, I spotted two hot air balloons floating above the blue mountains. I’ve always loved hot air balloons, but ever since Tyler proposed to me in one, they’ve been my favorite. It’s a special opportunity to reminisce whenever we spot them in the sky. Now here were two of them, drifting through the morning of our first wedding anniversary. They seemed like a good omen for what promised to be a beautiful day.
When we were later crammed into a ferry to cross Jenny Lake, I briefly doubted the beauty of the day. It was starting to get cloudy again, and as we journeyed up the Cascade Canyon trail, our pace was slowed significantly by the other tourists in our crowd. We’re fast hikers, and prefer solitude. To top it off, we’d just realized that we’d accidentally left Tyler’s rain jacket in our cabin that morning. We’d driven at least an hour to get to Jenny Lake, and we were now bound by the ferry schedule: our only way back to the parking lot from our trailhead. With no way to retrieve Tyler's jacket, we just had to hope for clear skies. No such luck. The crowds were loud, our hike was laboriously slow, and the sky was already leaking rain.
Nonetheless, we persisted. I’m so thankful we did! Cascade Canyon became our favorite trail of the trip. Once we got past the crowded waterfall and Inspiration Point, the trail wound between mountain peaks and along a creek. It was rocky and lush, pine trees and meadows alternating. A waterfall trickled down the side of a cliff. It did rain again, trapping us ironically at the base of Storm Point. A friendly clump of pine trees kept us mostly dry, despite Tyler’s missing coat. We continued when the rain lightened, spotting a moose grazing in a marshy part of the creek. With the pine trees layered with craggy mountains, the trail was a perfect summation of Grand Teton.
We ventured back into Idaho after we finished our trail. We were hesitant to leave the park so soon, but with an afternoon flight planned for the next day, we needed to cover some ground. We found ourselves in Soda Springs, a quiet town in the middle of nowhere, Idaho. Dinner was eaten at a local Mexican restaurant, where we the only strangers in a room full of friends. They eyed us as they called across the dining room to each other. We ate our chips and salsa and eyed them right back. They were interesting!
Curious about the town, I Googled it while we waited for our food. Turns out it was once famous for its abundant naturally-carbonated springs in the region. It is also home to the only manmade geyser in the world! The geyser was unintentional, the result of accidentally digging into a pressurized spring while trying to create a swimming pool. Originally, the town just let the water shoot out of the ground consistently. When they received complaints that it was interfering with Old Faithful’s predictable outbursts, however, they tapped it. Now it is set it on a timed-release system. Like clockwork, the spray of water bursts from the ground every hour. I glanced at my watch. 7:50 PM. We could make it!
Tyler drove like a madman, but we did get there in time. It was fascinating, a 100-ft tall spray of lukewarm water shooting into the sky. It went for a full ten minutes, allowing us plenty of time to walk its perimeter and stick our hands in. It was clear, tepid, and slightly sulfurous in smell. It ran happily down a mineral-encrusted yellow hill, steaming in the cool evening air.
Nearby, there was one of the famous carbonated springs, so we checked that out too. It was sheltered in a little gazebo, ringed by signs forbidding swimming but permitting drinking. The water bubbled up into a mineral-lined pool and out into a stream. It was perfectly clear. Like Eve, I turned to my Adam and convinced him to drink the liquid temptation with me. Ever the trooper, he cupped his hands into the bubbling spring and took a sip.
And promptly spat it back out.
We later learned that carbonated water is a little sour and very hard. If you poured lemon juice into water and then drank it from a rusty pipe, it might taste like the spring. It was kind of gross! What a great memory made. One year of marriage, and here we are. We go on adventures together and taste water from questionable springs. That’s the type of thing that makes a marriage strong, right?
Hiking trails and scenic spots:
Oxbow Bend
Moose-Wilson road
Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls
Cascade Canyon trail
Soda Springs geyser and Hooper Spring
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