Adventures in Jackson, Wyoming

Nestled among the Teton Mountains, roughly 1 mile above sea level is the town of Jackson.  Legendary for it's ski slopes and tourist attractions, the small town of Jackson is surrounded in beauty.  It's also surrounded in a National Park and full of prime hiking territory.  After our 15 mile hike last week we decided that we had conquered the elements.  And so, despite storm warnings, we set out on a hike around Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls.  Our producer Keith, his mom Carol and his wife and our choreographer, Cindy came with us.  It was their first time to Jackson and we were eager to show off its wonders.  About one and a half miles into our hike it started to rain.  It was a hot day so no one was too concerned.  After a few minutes though, some golf-ball sized chunks of hail started to fall.  It was neat to watch, even comical.  Then the hail got thicker.  We hurried to find shelter from the painful downpour but we were in a relatively open part of the trail.  With our backpacks over our heads we huddled beneath some skinny trees and prayed.  As anyone who has seen a hail storm knows, they don't last very long, but they can be quite painful.  It was the longest 10 minutes of my life.  When it finally ended we decided we had had enough of hiking and headed back to the car.  A thick blanket of hail covered everything so that it looked like a fresh snowfall.  The path turned into a river and the entire forest steamed.  After the shock of the storm subsided we all had a great hike.  We compared hail bruises and survival tactics and got a great story out of it.  All together a very satisfying adventure.  Still we don't plan to go hiking anytime soon.  

Other Wyoming adventures await us, but that's for another post...