Summit Day-Teewinot

Michelle and I woke up at 4am and headed to the trailhead to wake Jim. He had decided to hike down from their campsite on the Grand the night before so he could join us on the climb of the East Face of Teewinot. He slept in the Durango for the night. We hit the trail just after 5am with headlamps to light the way. As we got higher on the mountain we had some beautiful views of the sun coming up over the mountains. The meadows of wildflowers were amazing to see in the light of the early morning.

The climb up the mountain involved two sections of snow that we had to climb with our ice axes and the scrambling back and forth across ledges to work our way up the face.

Teewinot is one of the most spectacular summits in the Teton range. It is not the tallest (12,325 ft.) but definitely the most exposed and literally comes to a single point which is not like most mountain summits. It also has an amazing backdrop with the Grand Teton and Mt. Owen in the background. After some pictures and food we headed back down the mountain. The journey down was a lot more taxing on the legs because of steep slope. We got back to the car 9 hours later just as the afternoon thunder and rain storm hit with some sore feet and tired legs.

Summit Day- Grand Teton

While the rest of us were off touring Yellowstone, Jim and crew were climbing towards the summit of the Grand Teton (13,775 ft.) via the Exum Ridge. Both Jim and Jon had been up the route before but it was a first ascent for his 65 year old dad and 9 year old nephew. It was a long day of belaying 15+ pitches but luckily they had beautiful weather. After getting everyone safely back to camp at the Lower Saddle, Jim packed up his gear and hiked out that evening to the car so he could do Teewinot with us the next day.

Yellowstone

The next day we woke bright and early as we had a 2.5 hour drive just to get to the park. We put the kids in the car in their PJ's so they could sleep a little longer and fed them breakfast once we got to Jackson. We stopped at a few of the scenic pullouts along the way as we drove past the Tetons. This is a picture of Mount Moran from Oxbow bend.

We started the day off by stopping at Old Faithful. It was erupting just as we were driving in so we had a little over an hour before it would erupt again. The older kids got signed up for the Junior Ranger program and began working on their booklets while the younger ones explored the forest nearby. We watched the next eruption of Old Faithful which lasted about 3 minutes. The geyser shoots about 150 feet into the air. It's quite a site to behold. Whitney is proudly wearing her Junior Ranger badge from the Tetons the day before as the geyser is finishing.

Afterwards we hiked up the nearby Geyser Hill trail to check out some the other geysers and hot pots. Some of the pools were beautiful with the different colors due to the microbes and some of the geysers were stinky with the sulfur gas they expel.

We grabbed some lunch at the nearby cafeteria while watching Old Faithful erupt again. It was back in the car and off to our next stop of the Fountain paint pots which had some really colorful pools (hence the name) and some smaller geysers going off. We then headed the the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We stopped first at the visitor center for the kids to receive their Junior Ranger patches for completing the necessary activities in their books. I love the program because it helps to get the kids excited about what they are seeing and helps them to learn more about the park. We saw two sisters that had vests on that were covered with Junior Ranger pins from across the country. We then headed to Artist's point which had an amazing view of the Lower Falls and of the canyon.

On the way there we saw of first large mammal, some elk grazing in a meadow below the road. Heading back to the main road we saw our first bison just off the side of the road. We then headed back along the main road to Hayden Valley with the hopes of seeing more large animals. We were not disappointed as we ended up seeing literally hundreds of bison. Many walking along the road and close enough that we could have reached out the car window and touched them. The kids thought it was awesome to see the bison so close. They were causing quite a traffic jam on the road though. I was grateful to be in the security of a car and not sitting on a motorcycle facing a large bison walking straight at you.

We also saw a bear a ways off across the river and a herd of elk. We had a quick picnic dinner then headed back to Jackson for the night. It was a long day (16 hours) spent in the car and seeing the sights but Yellowstone did not disappoint with amazing natural features and a bison wildlife safari.

Grand Teton National Park

(The Cathedral Group of the Teton Range- South Teton, ?, Middle Teton, Grand Teton, Mt. Owen, and Teewinot- We've climbed the five ones named here)

Day two of the adventure began with a drive from Afton,WY, where we were staying at an uncle's house, through the ranches of Starr Valley, WY, along the Snake River and eventually to Jackson and Grand Teton National Park. We headed to the park where the kids learned about beavers and signed up for the Junior Ranger Program. After a quick stop at the climbing rangers station we headed to String Lake for a picnic lunch.

After lunch we took the whole gang on a two mile hike to Leigh Lake. The kids enjoyed wading in the water and tossing rocks. The kids finished their Junior Ranger packets and received their badges then we grabbed dinner and headed back to Afton. We saw this incredible double, full rainbow on the drive back to Jackson (the little picture doesn't do it justice.)

Jim got a picture of this same rainbow but from the saddle between the Middle and the Grand. They spent the day hiking up Garnet Canyon from the meadows where they had camped the night before to the Lower Saddle.

Bear Lake

Jim, his dad, brother in law, and nephew left first thing in the morning to head to Grand Teton National Park to begin the three day climb of the Grand Teton (the tallest mountain in the range). The rest of us (5 adults, 11 kids) were also headed to the area but were going to tour the nearby National Parks while they climbed. We loaded up a little later to make our way to Afton, WY via Logan Canyon and a stop at Bear Lake for lunch. The lake is a beautiful Caribbean blue and very shallow along the shore so the kids had a great time playing in the sand and water. Here Maren is explaining some profound point to her two cousins her same age and Jonas is playing with two of the boys his age.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then had Bear Lake raspberry shakes on our way out of town. We wanted to also buy some fresh raspberries but all the stands were closed by then.

Mower Family Reunion

Every year around the end of July/first of August, Jim's mom, her 11 siblings and their families gather for a family reunion in Layton. Four of Jim's siblings and their families along with his parents decided to travel out for it this year. Since we're the only one's in his family now in the immediate area we hosted all of them, which meant 21 people living in our house (9 adults, 11 kids (9,8,7,6,4 yr x3,1 yr x4, & a newborn). The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and having a nightly sleepover in the downstairs family room. We had a great time visiting, playing games, and going on various adventures. We traveled as a family to the reunion to enjoy a picnic and visiting with the extended family. Our brother in law Joel designed some fun shirts for our family to wear to the reunion. The family name is Mower (rhymes with Power). He made a shirt that plays on the fact that many pronounce in Mower as in lawnmower so our shirts had a lawnmower genealogy chart on them.

(Jonas with 2 of the 4 other one year old cousins, Maren running with her two cousins all born the same year.)

Silver Lake

While our family was in town visiting a few of the girls decided to head up the canyon for a hike around Silver Lake. We enjoyed seeing many wildflowers and some ducks and fish.