Hike #5: Delta Lake

 I heard about this hike from my physical therapist. (Side note: I'd been seeing a physical therapist since the end of February for my shoulder.) We had never done this one before, so we got the tips from him and read about the trail on my hiking app before we set out on Saturday, July 29.

We learned that it is a very popular trailhead and you have to get there early to find a place to park. This is a shared trailhead for Delta Lake, Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes, and the Grand. We left home at 5 a.m. and still had to park down the road a ways and hike in to the trailhead. The hike is supposed to be 7.4 miles, but when all was said and done, we clocked in at about 10 miles.

The first few miles of this hike are pretty easy and overlook Bradley and Taggart Lakes once you get up high enough. It was most enjoyable. The last mile of the hike is very steep and over an enormous boulder field. That slowed us down a little bit, but everyone managed all right and we made it to one of the most picturesque places I've ever been in my life.

We ate lunch at our own little corner of the lake that sits below the Grand Teton. Several people had brought their swimming suits and we're jumping in, but Winnie and I stuck our arms into the ice cold water and knew that that was enough for us.

One of the amazing/baffling things about this hike wasn't the number of people we saw on the trail (not too surprising for the Saturday in Grand Teton National Park), but the various levels of preparation that we saw in the groups. As we were headed down, we saw several groups headed up that had maybe one water bottle between them and they were all wearing jeans and sandals and not your typical hiking clothes. We weren't sure where they thought they were headed, how long they thought it would take to get there, or how hard they thought it would be. 

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I would totally do this hike again sometime.

Trailhead selfie. Seth, Andrea, Winnie, Rebekah, Grandpa Scott.

Seth with Bradley and Taggart Lakes in the background.

Rebekah and Winnie headed up the steep boulder field. We kind of veered off the trail a little bit on our way in, but we still made it to the lake.

Enjoying our little corner of the lakeside.

Rebekah taking a break at the lake.

Winnie's and Andrea's reactions to the cold water.

Grandpa took this picture of us with the lake and The Grand in the background.

Hiking back out from the lake.

Grover reunion and hike #4: Coffee Pot Rapids Trail

 In summer 2022, we heard there would be an extended Grover family reunion in Island Park sometime during the third week of July 2023. Before we got the exact dates of the reunion, our ward notified us of their Young Women camp that would be during a few days of the Grover reunion window. Where are girls missed part of their Young Women camp due to a Scott family reunion last year, we hoped to not have them miss any of their camp this year. Between camp and Rebekah's job, everybody from our family did attend the Grover reunion at some point, but we weren't all there at the same time for very long. Regardless, we had a fun few days in Island Park with some of Seth's cousins.

We (Seth, Winnie and I)headed up to Island Park on Friday, July 21. The first day we spent setting up our trailer and chilling. Our family picked up the pizzas that had been ordered at Pond's Lodge and brought them to Grandma Hendricks' cabin for dinner time. Not everyone had arrived yet and some people were still setting up, so we basically ate food and went back to Rachel's.

On Saturday, July 22, the three of us did a little hike near Grandma's cabin. Then we brought lunch to Grandma's cabin and enjoyed it with the people there. Later we gathered all of our floating things and took them to Wade Lake so that we could enjoy them with the cousins. Seth and Winnie stayed for dinner, a Dutch oven extravaganza made by Uncle Doug at Grandma's cabin. I drove to Idaho Falls to pick up Ana and Miriam after they finished at camp. Rebekah, meanwhile, finished work and drove up and met Seth and Winnie in time for dinner.

On Sunday, July 23, Seth, Rebekah and Winnie went to church in Island Park while Ana, Miriam and I went to the Orvin Ward meeting in our building and then drove up for the rest of the reunion. Our family had a little bit of time together Sunday. We didn't go out or do anything because the girls were still exhausted from their camp and spending so much time on Palisades Lake. We hosted dinner at Rachel's cabin where we cooked the food that Rachel had sent with us since she was sick. We ate on the balcony, but when it started to rain we moved inside. We played some Jackbox games together, Rebekah headed back to Idaho Falls for her job on Monday, and the rest of our family spent one more night in the trailer before coming home on Monday.

Our trailer set up in front of Rachel's cabin in Island park. The Dennis Grover family had plans to stay at Rachel's, and at the last minute Rachel's family all got sick and couldn't come up for the reunion. We still slept in our trailer, but we did do some things inside their cabin. The other Grovers stayed in and around Grandma Hendricks' cabin.

Winnie hanging over the stairs in Rachel's cabin.

Winnie and Andrea playing a game Rachel's Friday.

Seth and Winnie on the Coffee Pot Rapids Trail. We went 4.3 miles on this easy trail Saturday morning.

Swimming at Wade Lake with Seth's cousins and their families on Saturday.

Winnie and Rebecca during lunch outside Grandma Hendricks' cabin Saturday evenimg.

A whole mess of Grover's playing Jackbox games at Rachel's on Sunday.

Hike #3: Devil's Staircase

 A few of us (Grandma Scott and Andrea) wanted to do this hike again since it had been a couple years. On Monday, July 17 (a day after Grandma's 72nd birthday), we set out on this 9-mile hike with the most gorgeous wildflowers I've ever seen.

Trailhead selfie with Grandpa Scott, Winnie, Grandma Scott and Andrea.

Winnie headed up the trail surrounded by wildflowers.

Andrea, Winnie and Grandma on the trail.

Beautiful scenery.

Winnie crossing the creek at the top that leads into the little lake. She took her shoes off for a little while and waded.

Splashing in the creek back at the trailhead parking lot.

Rebekah's scholarship

 The Jazz House Big Band has been very good to Rebekah. She has been a sub for years, and she has made good connections with other area musicians. Rebekah had heard about a scholarship being offered to an area high school student who plans to study music in college. The scholarship is in memory of Douglas Wareing, a man who was involved with the Jazz House Big Band for many years. 

Rebekah won the $500 scholarship, and she got to play with the Jazz House Big Band at the River Concert Series on Tuesday, July 11. Seth was out of town for work, but Winnie, Grandma and Grandpa Scott and I all got to watch her performance.

Rebekah performs "Charade" with the Jazz House Big Band.

Rebkah solos while Casey Emerson watches in the background. Emerson is the band director at Hillcrest High School and one of the High Desert Marching Band directors that worked with Rebekah when she was drum major. After her performance, Emerson said some very nice things about Rebekah and her abilities.

Rebekah performs other songs with the band during this free concert at the Idaho Falls greenbelt.

Winnie and Andrea dance during the concert. When he would have danced for every song If Andrea had had the stamina.

Winnie wearing Andrea's hat at the concert.

Toad

I never thought I would own a cat. I never thought I was a cat person. Looks like I was wrong on both accounts.

Seth and I discussed the possibility of getting an outdoor cat, but we wanted to wait until the weather was warm enough that it could get adjusted to living at our house before the snow hit. A family in our ward discovered that their cat was pregnant, and so we arranged to pick out one of their kittens. The cats were born in May, and on Saturday, July 8, we were told that we could come pick out our kitten.

There were two to choose from: a boy and a girl. We decided on the boy and named him Toad. At first he lived in our shop full-time, then we would periodically let him outside for longer and longer bits of time so that he could get used to our yard. Then we bought and installed a pet door in the shop, and now he comes and goes as he pleases.

We weren't sure how Peach would feel about having a cat in our yard, so we slowly introduced them to each other. We would put Peach in her kennel in the shop and let Toad walk around and inspect the dog. For the first few attempts, Toad would hiss at Peach every time he got close to her. Finally we felt safe enough to open the kennel door and let them come face-to-face. Toad was still apprehensive at first, but Peach never showed any signs of aggression besides wanting to chase the cat if he started running. But now they are perfectly fine with each other, and we even see them snuggling with each other. In fact, Seth has been putting Peach in the shop to sleep so the two animals have each other for company.

 

Seth snuggling Toad at Freeman Park. We picked up the cat right before I was supposed to meet with some childhood friends for a get together, so we brought the cat along with us. He was a little stressed out, so we ended up taking him home and letting him hang out in the shop by himself.

Toad snuggling in Winnie's lap in the shop while Winnie reads her book.

Toad playing with Andrea's glasses/hair. The collar was short-lived because we found out that they can be dangerous for outdoor cats if they get caught on something.

Peach gnawing on a bone in her kennel while Toad decides whether she is friend or foe.

Our two pets basking on the back porch.

Hike #2: Monument

 This is a must-do hike every summer, according to Winnie. I'd have to agree. We set off on the 6.5-mile hike on Friday, July 7. That's a little earlier in the season than we usually do this one, and we had had a very wet spring, so there was much more water than we were used to on this hike. It's been a long time since we've hiked it and there's still been a snow melt waterfall over the rocks before your final ascent to the monument.

Trailhead selfie. Grandma and Grandpa Scott were able to accompany Winnie and me on this hike.

Winnie's silly hiking face.

The previously mentioned snow melt waterfall. This is the first time when he's ever seen water at this point of the hike.

Grandpa, Winnie and Grandma at the monument.

Checking out ice in the mouth of the cave.

Even more ice in the cave. We usually don't see this here.

Winnie outside the cave.

Grandpa laying out our wet things on The monuments while we eat lunch. Our socks and shoes got pretty well soaked as we climbed up into the cave. Usually it's easy to step on rocks across the creek without getting your feet wet, but there was more water this time.

Fourth of July

The holiday started out early with Seth and Rebekah heading to the parade route so our seats could stay saved. The rest of us joined him in time for the start of the parade. This is the first year in many where we didn't have anybody marching in the parade, so we were merely patrons and not participants. Uncle T and his family, Aunt Jessica, and Grandma and Grandpa Scott joined us for the parade.

Seth at our spot along South Boulevard.

Andrea, Winnie, Ana and Miriam headed to our spot.

Ana showing something on her phone to Rebekah. Poor Rebekah never warmed up while we were there. She stayed under the blankets and in her hoodie the entire time.

Winnie and Miriam in their festive clothes.

Miriam and Ana playing with Andrea's hair.

After the parade we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house for their traditional backyard picnic. We ate and enjoyed each other's company for a while, but then our family had committed to go to Rexburg and spend the evening at Anne and Jim's. Their entire streets does a fireworks show where they all pull money and buy a bunch of big fireworks for everyone to enjoy. The younger kids all get sparklers, and the older kids all get Roman candles at the end. We were too tired to stay completely until the end, so our older girls never got their Roman candle.

Andrea helping Easton with a bubble glove at Grandma Scott's house.

Rebekah taking a nap at Grandma's house.

Winnie with her sparklers in Rexburg.

Hike #1: Menan Butte

Rather than just going to the rim and back like we have in the past, we decided to go up and all the way around before descending back to the car. Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott, Winnie and I did the 3.4-mile hike on Monday, July 3. The hike was longer than Winnie had been anticipating, so she got a little restless along the way. She and I listened to an episode of one of her podcasts to help her pass the time.

Andrea and Grandma Scott look up at Winnie who had climbed up the rocks a little ways.

Andrea and Winnie on the trail.

Winnie on an outcropping.