Spectacular Paddle Trip - String and Leigh Lakes

Grand Teton National Park (70"s, clear blue skies, perfect)

This paddle trip is one of our all time favorites.  As a rule, we prefer kayaking down rivers.  However, this was certainly an exception.  The scenery was splendid, weather perfect, and our paddling companions were so much fun.  Priceless!  

The launch for String Lake is located within the Grand Teton National Park.  It's best to arrive early since parking is limited and it can get very crowded with swimmers in the afternoon.  We arrived around 9 a.m. with our friends Diana and Pat (lurkers of our blog & RV Dreamers) and Patsy and Bob (volunteers at Ding Darling and the Elk Refuge).  

Patsy paddling in the distance

You can pull up to the launch area and drop off  all  your gear  It's a short walk to the launch site and very easy to put in.  String Lake has crystal clear water and you overlook some very spectacular mountain ranges.  

Diana and Pat in their Sea Eagle

We just took our time and enjoyed the quiet solitude.  At this point there were not too many people on the water.  It was dramatically different in the afternoon on our return back to the launch site.  We saw lots and lots of paddle boarders.  This is certainly very popular here and the calmness of the lake makes it very easy.  

Mt Moran in the distance

This rock was draped wit swimmers in the afternoon

Patsy loves her new inflatable kayak

Pat is ready to upgrade to a hard sided kayak

Notice the clarity of the water

I tried out my new Keen water shoes for the first time.  Love them! They are very comfortable with a good arch and foot protection. Plus, they match my kayak so nicely, don't you think.

After a about an hour and half we arrived at the portage site to Leigh Lake.  It is about 100-150 yard portage to the other lake depending on who you asked.  :) We forgot to bring our little cart which would have made this a snap to portage.  Oops!  Pat was quite the trooper and helped everyone transport all their boats and gear.  We had a nice lunch and then headed out onto Leigh Lake.  

Launch in the distance.  There are some stairs involved  down to the water

This is a glacial formed lake and much larger than String Lake.  It's about 2 miles in width and a little longer in length.  It's a very deep lake and the views of Mt. Moran were spectacular. Patsy and I remarked about how blessed we are to be here and see this beautiful place.

There are back country primitive camping sites all around this lake. Hmmn, maybe this will be in our future.  There is also an easy trail around the lake too. Here is a link to a map of the lakes and campsites.

Beautiful Mt. Moran

 It was interesting to see the glaciers up close on Mt. Moran.  

Bob and John

We paddled around and gawked at the mountain range for quite awhile.  Reluctantly we had to turn around and head back the way we came.  We have seen this mountain throughout our stay in the Tetons.  It's especially prominent when you are in the Colter Bay area.  It was amazing this time to see it so up close.  

 What a beautiful paddle.  Certainly one we hope to repeat again soon.  

John checking out the glaciers with his binoculars

Wonderful Visit With Diva (John's Sister - Martha)

Moose, WY (70's, mostly blue skies, chilly at night)

Carol, Martha, and John

John and Martha (overlooking Jackson Hole)

We had a great visit with John's sister, Martha (affectionately known as Diva), for ten days. She traveled from Sao Paolo Brazil to visit us and to attend a conference in Virginia afterwards.

Her visit started with fireworks and followed with lots of fun touring the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, hiking, river rafting and even a hootenanny.

We really enjoyed the 4th of July parade in downtown Jackson.  It's always fun to attend these parades as we travel across the country.  New to us this time was seeing rafts in parades and lots of cowboys.  

Non-marching band

Pretty cowgirl princesses

Local cowboy dinner show

On the days we worked at GTA, Martha attended several interpretive talks led by the National Park rangers.  She especially enjoyed the ranger led hike at Laurence D. Rockefeller.  Each morning she drove us to work and had our jeep to explore the area and sometimes met us for lunch.  

Over the holiday weekend we drove the motorhome up to Flagg Ranch and stayed for two nights so we could be closer to Yellowstone and give the diesel engine of our motorhome some exercise.  It's a very nice campground with a friendly staff and nice restaurant.   We spent one evening at Colter Bay and attended an interesting talk about the stars led by ranger who has been doing this program for over 40 years. Afterwards we were able to look through two telescopes into the night sky.  Pretty cool!

Colter Bay

Oxbow Bend

 Our trip to Yellowstone was extensive.  John did a great job of planning a great overview for Martha.  It's one BIG park but we were able to see some of the more popular highlights.  

Lehardys Falls

Beautiful Yellowstone Lake

Old Faithful at sunset

Martha and I enjoyed watching this bubbling geyser located near the rushing river. The short video below demonstrates its uniqueness.

Old Faithful Inn (in the distance)

Elk

Wildlife was abundant and the highlight of the day was seeing a mother and her two twin cubs playing in the wildflowers.  

Buffalo

Mama Black Bear and her twin cubs

Artist's Point is a must stop in Yellowstone and we were blessed with perfect weather. We started our trip early in the morning and managed to avoid most of the crazy crowds.

Artist Point

Lower Falls 

Tower Fall

Lamar Valley

Mammoth

We returned to our campground and spend the last few days enjoying the beautiful scenery and our time together.  John and Martha had a fun time on a float trip with the outfitter Lewis and Clark.  They got rained on at the end and were rather chilly but still really enjoyed the trip.

John enjoying the Snake River Float Trip

Snake River

On Monday before Martha left we attended a local favorite called the Hootenanny @ Dornan's.  This Monday night tradition has been happening for over 50 years and anyone is welcome to play a two song set. John Denver at one time  performed here and it's one of our favorite things to do.  Martha said it just like a slice of Americana.

All and all it was a great visit.  Martha hopes to return next winter when we are back at Ding Darling. Thanks so much for visiting us! It was very special and we sure did enjoy sharing our "front yard" with you.