Day Thirteen

We went to the Grand Teton National Park today. It was spectacular, the mountains completely different than the other ones we’ve experienced on this trip. These were jagged and snow-capped; ridges like razors slicing open the clouds. All sharp and unapologetically majestic.

                We hiked along Jenny Lake, one of the clearest bodies of water in the world. The water was so impossibly clear it was like looking through freshly cleaned windows, the kind a bird would accidentally fly into. Looking down into the water, I couldn’t even tell how deep it was, because the clearness made it so much harder to tell. I could see every pebble on the bottom.

 The trail lead up to Inspiration Point, a lookout over the lake at 7,200 feet in elevation. The view of the lake was nice, but when I turned around and looked back towards the peaks, my breath was taken away. Clouds were rolling in and the mountains were outlined in purple gray clouds, making them look even harsher. On the hike back, it rained a bit and there is nothing more beautiful than rain in the mountains. Once we finished our hike, we looked around at the park a little more before deciding to hit the road again.

When we decided to stop for the night, I booked a hotel. For some reason my phone would only show the booking page in Spanish (my other tabs were fine) I skimmed it, everything looked okay. We got to the hotel and discovered we had to be 21 to get the room. One nerve-wracking call to Expedia later, we were able to get the cancellation penalty waived, thanks to the very kind gentlemen at the front desk of the hotel. While I cancelled the booking, Elizabeth and Jasmine had found a hotel, but were having trouble finding it. Finally, we found it. It was cheap, decent, we walked in, the lady asked for my ID, and informed me she couldn’t give me the room because I wasn’t 21. This was a Super 8, and we’ve already stayed at a few of them with no problems about age. We stopped at one more place, only to discover that it is actually Wyoming law that you must be 21 to rent a hotel room. We all burst into laughter. Of course this would happen. So we drove to South Dakota and discovered that there were no rooms available for under $150. We ended up sleeping in the car because by this time it was almost four in the morning.