listen to the wind

Oh! we could hear the wind in the trees all day long. Denise said the wind helped by keeping her cool. Sometimes it felt like we were walking in a windstorm.

Our early morning target was Oxbow Bend. It would be a quick drive on a big highway, but it's a bit slower here. The speed limit on the road we were traveling was mainly 55 miles per hour, 45 mph at night. It was morning when we were traveling, but it was dark when we started so Denise thought the night speed limit was appropriate. We stopped once to try to convince some horses to pose. We drove by two bison resting by a fence on the side of the road. I wanted to stop but Denise thought they were too close to the road. I guess mind photos will need to do.

Then we arrived at Oxbow Bend, a place where the Snake River draws curves across the ground. There were a bunch of people standing partway down the hill looking at something. Oh! there were two moose munching on the plants on the bottom of the river. That was so cool!

It was hard to get good moose photos because they were ducking between trees at the edge of the water. She took some photos anyway, then she walked around to absorb the landscape, beautiful. The moose were still there when we returned so she tried again. I hope that we have one or two reasonable moose pictures.

Next we followed a dirt road to a place called Cattleman's Bridge. There used to be a plank bridge across the river there. It's been gone for a long time so we had to imagine the bridge.

Next stop, Jackson Lake Dam... Denise thought it was still early enough to see reflections of the mountains in Jackson Lake. It's a good thing we saw that earlier in the week because the wind was kicking up waves on the big lake. No reflection today!

Before heading out hiking we stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge to grab some coffee and a muffin. We sat for just a bit, then headed to Jenny Lake to hike to Hidden Falls. I was really glad that we took the boat across the lake instead of walking both ways. A quick boat ride, a walk up and up to find the falls, and then we walked around (part of) the lake to return to our car.

We ended our wanders today earlier than yesterday; I think Denise is tired! Before we stopped we zipped back into the National Elk Refuge for a bit, came back to our home away from home, then walked to the side of the refuge that's close to our B&B. It was fun watching the ducks with their butts up in the air. I wonder what tempting treats they were finding under the water.

--- Rover