Our Five Day Trip In the Beautiful Grand Tetons by. Stephen Foster

In the parking lot of one of Jackson Lakes many ports, we were excitingly packing our bags in hopes of getting out onto the lake before the waves started up.  Once all of our packing was done we set off for our adventure on Jackson Lake, knowing that ahead we would have many cool experiences waiting for us upon that lake.

            When Jon and I departed from the shore I noticed the intense beauty that the Grand Tetons had on Jackson Lake. They were reflecting on the surface of the calm, calm water.  The calm water stayed that way for only about an hour before we started our journey into the center of the lake.  Once we were out in the middle of the lake I started to be able to feel the breeze slowly getting bigger and bigger.  Never the less, Jon and I stayed balanced in the boat and we made it to our first campsite without getting a drop of water on us or our gear.  The next couple of days were really good sailing conditions and I could slowly start feeling my self-getting stronger. By the third day I was feeling it.  On one of the last days of the expedition we woke up and there were some unusually strong winds.  We knew that it was going to be a long day.  It turned out to be a particular challenge to Jon and me.  It was hard paddling almost all the time trying to get across the rough patches of the ocean like lake, though I have to admit that it was a very good upper body workout.

            Throughout our voyage we stopped at many different campsites like, Hermitage Point, Elk Island, and South Port.  Each of the campsites had its ups and downs, but they all were very nice campsites.  When we were done paddling we started our two or three hours of school, which was really nice to do out in the back country! After school we had a chance to play in and around the water.  What I liked to do was hangout with my friends Aaron and Evan.  We would do random things like going out and relaxing in our canoe or building rock towers and talking.  We just had a lot of fun with whatever we did.  One day Evan had an idea.  The Idea was that we would use our free time and build a dock so that in the morning it would make like a lot easier when it came to loading and getting into the boat.  Building the dock not only helped us out in the morning but it gave us something to do as well.  After this trip I think that we became the closest friends at SOAR.

            I loved everything on this expedition.  Canoeing and hanging out with friends was nice.  One of my favorite things was waking up in the morning.  It was nice to wake up in the morning with just the cold crisp air, the smell of water, and the beautiful sunrise on The Grand Tetons.  It was overall a pleasant way to start your day.  The only thing that I didn’t like was that some nights the temperature would get down to below thirty degrees and all of the condensation in our bivy sacks would freeze making it very cold and unpleasant to put away in the morning.  I believe that since we had to put away these freezing items every morning it helped teach the group and I discipline and that even when you are cold and sick you still need to push yourself and do your job.

            My experience at Jackson Lake and the Grand Tetons was an interesting one and I would do it again in a second.  It helped me learn some of my strengths and weaknesses and taught me that you can’t say that you can’t do something because if you say you can’t do something you won’t be able to do it.  I am also looking forward to our group’s next expedition in the mountains of Colorado.  It will be an expedition that will really test my skills and endurance.  I am hoping to have another awesome time and learn a lot from it.