Arrival Thursday, June 11
33 Miles | 1.5 Hours
We drive into the spectacular backdrop of the Grand Tetons and score the last available campsite with electric hookups at Signal Mountain, thanks to a great tip from Mari's colleague. (Thanks, Bill!).
We meet our campsite neighbors Tim, Kristen and their daughters Olivia (8) and her sister (6) and hit it off right away. Tim is a well-known Colorado-based photographer who's been up here countless times, and this is where he camps!
Our new friend's share a couple of their favorite family-level hikes, such as Heron Pond where they saw a bear swimming and a moose the day prior, as well as Cascade Canyon. They share that the famous Grizzly Bear #399, a mama with 4 cubs who was covered in the national news just days earlier was sighted that morning in our very campsite!
Mari and Datta let Sibri play with her new friends and head over to the lodge to get some work done where there’s great wifi to make up for the complete lack of coverage at the campsite.
That night we roast s’mores on the campfire while the girls watch Princess Bride with the TV balanced off the back of the trailer after Mari jerryrigs the wiring out the bathroom window.
The next morning we take Tim’s recommendation and hike out to Heron Lake. It’s about a 4 mile loop, we see lots of Canadian geese and some white pelicans, but no bear this time (kinda thankfully as far as Mari and Sibri are concerned).
Sibri is creating a very cool body of work featuring extreme close up shots of dandelions and assorted yellow wildflowers.
After lunch and hitting the souvenir shop we explore the footpath over to the boat launch where Mari gives two really nice game wardens some advice on poaching eggs. Datta decides to check out the boat ride to Cascade Canyon but ends up enjoying the hammock a little too much. Instead he explores the Signal Peak Summit trail that starts right from the campsite and leads to some beautiful ponds up the hill but stops 2.5 mi from the summit because it’s getting dark and there are bears out there.
The trail says no bikes but there’s nobody around...the ride back down the hill on the narrow single track is awesome. We definitely would come back here.
Departure Sunday, June 14
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