wyoming: be bear aware.

hello! i'm writing from the beautiful jackson lake lodge in the grand teton national park in wyoming. out the huge windows directly in front of me i can see the snow covered peaks of the teton range, the highest are covered by clouds at the moment. we haven't been lucky with weather so far in western wyoming, and last night was probably the coldest and wettest night in the tent as of yet. during one of our drives yesterday it was hailing, and it might have snowed overnight. the tent was thoroughly soaked in one corner last night, which spread with the continuous rain and soaked some of our blankets, sheets and clothing. luckily the tent has held up pretty well otherwise- and i did stay warm and mostly dry with my layered clothing, sleeping bag and blanket. the rainfall was pretty steady throughout the night, and we really felt as though we were part of the rain and nature because you heard every drop and felt the wind shift direction.

although camping in the tetons hasn't been the most comfortable experience- it definitely will provide long-lasting memories. we were one of the few campers at the campground that stayed the night in their tent, many people are traveling and camping with their RVs and are better protected from the elements. this morning while brushing my teeth in the bathroom with the ice cold water i was joined by another female camper, who looked just as disgruntled as i did with the soggy state of the campground and chilly weather. she turned to me before i left and said, "some night, huh?" yup - it was some night. we learned the lesson of how to properly use our tarps- we had originally set up one tarp under the tent, but that actually caused more water to pool under the bottom of the tent and soak through in that corner. when we got back out to camp last night around 10pm after having dinner at the jackson lodge (it was too windy and wet to cook) kevin pulled the tarp out from under the tent, which i was sure was going to cause the entire thing to collapse. it was quite a spectacle i'm sure - me holding an umbrella, warmer clothes, and trying to balance the flashlight at the tent while holding on to a corner of it while kevin pulled the tarp out from under. there was some shouting and confusion during all of that, and i'm laughing thinking about it now.

we definitely were not expecting such cold temperatures on our travels - but we are pretty north in our country right now - and it is the end or nearing the end of the summer season in most parks. it definitely was a jolt to my senses to change from air conditioning in the car to heat - and we've had to pick up hats and gloves along the way to keep warm. somehow before i knew it, summer has ended! probably not until we reach southern california will we be shedding our many layers of clothes and turning down the heat in the car. i'm excited for that since the cold weather isn't my favorite. we're hoping for some better weather in yellowstone over the next few days, it's supposed to be dry and in the 60s! i plan on getting in some good hikes - since i've only really explored the tetons by car and a few shorter hikes/walks. it is a decent size park though and each lodging area and campground offers different views of the mountains and the lakes. you can only really access different points of interest by car (or shuttle bus i'm sure) which is somewhat frustrating when trying to have as little of an impact on the environment as possible. there isn't much that i can do about that though- just trying to minimize our driving back and forth as much as possible, which is somewhat difficult!

speaking of our impact on the natural environment, humans interacting with and affecting wildlife is a huge concern in the national parks where they have large animals like bears. there are "be bear aware" signs everywhere here - wyoming really is bear country. we haven't spotted any grizzlies or black bears yet - but have stopped on a windy road where other people were talking photos and peering into the woods with binoculars. apparently we had just missed a momma black bear and her two cubs. because of humans' presence in the parks where the animals are protected, we are expected to take extra precautions with food to make sure bears are not eating garbage or food left behind. they state that 14 bears are killed a year because they eat human food and then either become a threat because they are not afraid of people, or they are sick from their change in diet. i never really thought about how i could harm a bear's life, just that a bear could seriously harm mine!

we have a few more days in bear country and then we'll be leaving on monday (when i turn 23!) for seattle. it's about 741 miles away- so we most likely will be stopping in southern montana or northern idaho for a night before continuing the drive. on the 14th we have tickets to a mariners/red sox game because my friend leah is awesome. kevin is pretty excited about it - i don't realllly watch baseball, but it should be fun! we'll be staying with my friend tiffany in seattle for a few days, and i'm super excited to explore the city. i'm sure we won't be getting away from the rain for a while, but ah well. you also may have noticed a change in plans again - we won't be making it to glacier national park on this trip. the weather just is too cold and rainy/snowy for camping, and we added days to stay in the tetons and want to stay on track to get to LA at the end of the month. it wasn't worth the risk of not getting good hikes in because of the weather, and being caught on icy and dangerous roads. i want to go to glacier next summer before the warm season is over - and do it right next time. we're a little disappointed, but i think it makes sense for our travel plans and being able to see leah before she heads back to MA on the 15th.

hope everyone back home is doing well and miss you all!