Where has the week gone!?

If we're in National parks we just don't get an internet connection - pah! We spent a few more days back in Grand Teton last week. Enough time to do a big 14 mile hike up into the mountains. The last 1500ft and 2 miles of it being in thick snow (we were still wearing shorts and vest t-shirts mind!) Saw some enormous bull moose on the way back.

Also hiked out into the backcountry and spent a night under the stars. Shared our campsite with a family of pesky marmots who keep trying to steal our peanuts from our Pad Thai meal. Things were going great till the hike back to the trailhead and the RV the next morning - turned a corner and there was a black bear on the trail in front of us - ahhhh! OK so it was pretty scary stuff but the fact is I'm writing this now and that's all that matters. We did all we were supposed to do - talk calmly and loudly, clap, sing and back away slowly. Bears aren't supposed to like noise - this one just kept walking toward us! He was pretty interested in the trees and roots by the trail and lost interest soon enough giving us the chance to beat a hasty retreat (although we still had to get past him to finish the hike!) Gave it time and it all worked out - did see him again as we passed him about 15 yards from the track but he wasnt bothered with us - phew!

Did another days' climbing in Jackson and then moved about 100 miles east to Lander - BIG rock climbing area and we stayed in the Sinks Canyon state park where there's some particularly good climbs - it's getting hot now though. Today we were climbing in 90 degrees + which saps the energy right out of you but great all the same. Sinks canyon is so named coz the river running through the canyon dissapears down a 'sink hole' then reappears 1/4 mile downstream. Mystery is that it takes over 2 hours to get the 1/4 mile, more water comes up the rise that goes down the sink and it comes out several degrees warmer - weird! With all todays technology you'd have thought they could work this out but it's only recently they could confirm it was even the same water (using dyes) They think there's lots of subterraean passages but they really don't know!