Day 2 or 3 ...Depending on how you look at it.

Good morrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrning Grand Tetons!  Not only did morning come seemingly early, it also came with a heavy dose of H20.  As we got ready to engage another wonderful day in JH, we wondered what role the rain would play in our activities.  While some of the students wondered what we could do inside, Jeff and I reminded them they have rain gear for just this kind of day.  A little rain or a lot of sun....nothing can stop us from having fun!

Luckily enough, just as quickly as the rain rolls in, it rolls out and by the 7:30 walk over to breakfast, you could definitely dance in between them.

The day started with a general gear-up, a trip to the departure point in the park, and a talk about where we're headed and what we may encounter...we were off!

It was another trek that incorporated good sport hiking, excellent learning opportunities, some journaling, and really good moments that will always be followed with "you had to be there."

One of the things I really enjoyed today was that our guide Kelley put the some of the teaching in the hands of the students. They broke into groups and taught each other about glaciers and how they helped form the mountains we were seeing.

We also spent time learning about how sometimes nature seems to do "bad" things that are really just part of the whole circle of the system.  Forest fires, pine beetle infestation, heart rot, bear-scarred trees were all things we learned about and experienced in different ways...they are all good things (to some degree).  Crazy!  We hiked from a Logpole Forest (which had burned in 1983) and learned how to tell how old trees are and how trees can actually thrive in a post-fire environment.  From there we trekked into a Climax forest which was very mature and hadn't burned in a long, long time.

Taggart Lake was our Lunch stop

Where did you eat Lunch today?

Here we are hiking through an area burned in 1983

Here we are getting ready to play camouflage in a Climax Forest

This poor Aspen is on its way out with Heart Rot

Kelley also taught us how to tell the difference between Pines, Furs, and Spruces.  Ask them about Packaged Pine, Spiny Square Spruce, and Friendly Fur.  We also learned about the Aspens and how they all share one root system.  That's another "Crazy!".

As we rounded out the hike we talked about a quote by Aristotle: "Nature does nothing uselessly".  Everyone shared and related what they had taken in during the hike and got some goldfish rewards for "gem-like" remarks.  So cool.

As we packed into the car, the storm we were quickly walking away from hit with some power.

But, by the time we got to Dairy Queen...:-).....it had let up enough to enjoy a Blizzard.

After some down time and dinner, we got hit again!  This time marble sized hail hit the house and we were happy that the evening activity was indoors.

At 7, we sat down and learned about tracking and different ways animals leave their mark.  The students were able draw on items from the hike and did very well.  Stance, stride, and straddle are now added to the patterns to look for as we hike the rest of the week.

What a great day!  We finished up with a round of Hi-Lo and I can adamantly say, this group of students is amazing!  This trip so far has been awesome and they have all been a part of making it that way. We are as excited about having them on this experience as they are (I am sure) of the experience itself.

I promised myself I wouldn't stay up late tonight, so pardon the prose express.  Hopefully Photobucket will be a little more cooperative tomorrow morning.  It's funny, tomorrow's alarm clock is not something I am dreading.

Here is the link to Day 2 Photo Album.