We were tired. This high-altitude recreation is tiring. So, today was supposed to be an easy day. Another visit to the Laurance Rockefeller Preserve, a little shopping in Jackson to replenish supplies and a stop at the new visitor center at Moose to upload the past couple of days worth of journal and photos. What could be easier.
First stop, the LSR Preserve. What a difference a weekend makes. We arrived fairly early and the small parking area was nearly filled. Volunteers were directing traffic, only allowing a new car in as one leaves. Luckily we found a spot. We decided to take the short hike to Phelps Lake and back. It's less than three miles, Ellen said, it's just like a walk in Whitney Woods at home. That's if Whitney Woods were at 7,000 feet and very dry. So we nixed the daypack and water and the bear spray (with the number of people walking the trails a bear could not possibly be within miles) and off we went.
The LSR Preserve was created from the Rockefeller family's JY Ranch which was donated to the National Park Service. The Park Service removed thirty buildings, roads, utilities and other structures and restored the landscape. The result is beautiful, but not quite wilderness, more like wilderness by Frederick Law Olmstead (who designed World's End in Hingham and Central Park in New York). There are boardwalks and bridges to scenic viewpoints. The woods are more open with less brush and tree debris on the ground. At the lake, benches are strategically placed for the best views of the water and mountains behind. At one vista, two small rock outcrops in the lake and a tiny island with two trees could be a Japanese landscape painting.
The views were outstanding even if we had to share them with other groups of hikers. We left the lake side and proceeded along the trail and across the bridge at the lake outlet. Finally alone we rounded a corner and there was a bear walking across the trail and into the shallow stream. Forget the bear spray, see a bear. Finally we figured out how it works.
We have this theory that bear spray and bear bells were actually invented by bears as a very profitable business. They pay no attention to the bells, and the bear cartel has a rule that if you are accidentally confronted by a hiker with bear spray, pretend it irritates and run away, promoting the sale of more bear spray. Of course, every once in a while a bear forgets that it's not supposed to be a condiment and has a spicy snack.
Back to our bear. It was a black bear and it actually didn't even see us or just ignored us. It swam across the lake outlet (or walked on the bottom), rambled across a small islet and off into the woods on the other side. It was only about 50 yards away until it went into the woods.
It was a more animated walk back to the visitor center than our walk out. Interestingly, we were asked by several hikers going the other way if we'd seen a bear. Well, yes we did and here are the pictures to prove it.
By the time we got back, we were thoroughly parched. The altitude and dry air is like that. Even after some long drinks, we were thirsty for the rest of the day.
When we were at Glacier, we were in a visitor center when a couple of hikers came in to report a bear sighting. There the rangers were very interested and even had a long form where they recorded all the details of the sighting. When we reported the bison kill by the wolves in Yellowstone, the rangers wanted all the details. Here, we walked into the visitor center and reported the bear sighting and the volunteer was nonplussed, "Oh a bear, ho hum".
After that disappointing response, we retreated to the center's library so Ellen could write down some of the interesting environmental titles for later reading and I perused a hardbound copy of the Preserve's submission for LEED Platinum certification. It was a thick volume, but had great drawings of the design of the visitor center and the maps of the removal of the previously existing structures and the land restoration. It was extremely detailed, right down to a copy of the purchase contract for an alternative fuel vehicle, a Prius, for the single full-time employee of the center.
It was then off to Jackson for lunch and shopping. After finding parking near downtown, we walked around looking for a decent lunch stop. Downtown Jackson is much more tourist-oriented than our last stop (Bozeman), right down to the arches on each corner of the town common built of a jumble of elk antlers. Mostly tourist shops, sports outfitters and restaurants. After being snootily told at one small restaurant that there was a waiting list for the empty outdoor tables, we went next door to the Jackson Hole Roasters coffee house for a couple of excellent sandwiches and good coffee.
After looking into a few shops on the way back to Speedy, including a small fly-fishing shop where the owner enthusiastically explained his huge collection of pre-tied flies, right down to tiny flies that imitate midges, to us neophytes, we were off to the "real" part of town to the supermarket and gas station.
Heading back to the campground, we noticed that the two wildfires that are burning to the east of the park seemed to have rejuvenated with large plumes of smoke visible in the distance. It was not affecting us directly, but a reminder that it is fire season here.
For a day that was supposed to be a rest day, we were beat and thirsty by the time we got back to Signal Mountain. A simple dinner was in order, a salad with spicy chicken sausage slices. Ellen remarked, as she was frying up the Nieman Ranch sausages, that they seemed a bit greasier than her normal brand. A quick look at the packaging answered that, they were 100% pork sausages—and very tasty at that.
We took our tea and cookies down to the lake to watch the sunset, the boats come in, and the odd person trying to water-ski on an ice-cold mountain lake in the twilight. After that chilling sight, it was back to Speedy to collapse under the winter side of the Travasack. This relaxing is very tiring.
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