"Beach day" at the lake

Glaciers carved most of the lakes in Grand Teton National Park thousands of years ago. As the glaciers moved, they gouged out the valley floor, leaving 1800 feet of smooth river rock sediment behind. It's not good for farming. When the glaciers melted they left behind depressions in the ground that filled with water from melting glacial ice. These became the lakes that we see today. I've been wanting to get off the ranch for a little sunbathing and solitude and finally chose a lake. I had heard that Leigh lake was an easy, fairly flat 3 mile round trip hike and had white sand beaches along the shore! Bingo... off I went. My view from the car on the 18 mile drive north... note bike path in the foreground.

I turned off at Jenny Lake, drove another 1.5 miles and parked in a very crowded lot. I grabbed my folding camp chair, towel, book, bear spray, towel, water bottle, etc and started walking. First I had to walk a mile or so along the eastern shore of String Lake. It was beautiful with clear turquoise water and tons of people on paddle boards, kayaks, tubes, etc. Hmm...

                    
                              Then the dirt path veered off and it got a little quieter.

Truly a beautiful place.... the man in his fishing kayak (below) certainly had a good vantage point.

After crossing a wooden bridge along the trail the crowd started to thin out... ahh.

 

I finally reached a fork in the trail for "portage" between String and Leigh lake, the place where people walk their water craft over land to go from one lake to the other. There was a sign for the String Lake Loop, 3.5 miles, turn left... more on that later. I stayed straight/right, reached Leigh lake and continued along the eastern shore, looking for my beach. My gear was getting heavy since I planned to relax and not hike, so I opted for a private rocky beach instead. I saw the white sand beaches across the water. Oh well. I settled in and took the obligatory selfie, then got out my book and relaxed in solitude for 3 hours listening to the water.

The lake was clear and cool and absolutely pristine. I dipped in 2-3 times and it was very refreshing.

                                   
                                             Ahh... views were pretty amazing too!

                           
At 5pm, I packed up and started the 1.5 mile hike back to the car. This is Buffalo Island in Leigh Lake (below).

A view of the huge lake from a ridge. Leigh Lake is the third largest lake in the Tetons, and with a maximum depth of 250 feet, is one of the deepest. It was named by Ferdinand Hayden during his 1872 expedition for Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh, an itinerant trapper and early tour guide who helped guide the expedition through the area. Nearby Jenny Lake was named for his wife, a Shoshone Indian who assisted with camp logistics. In 1876 Jenny and their six children died of smallpox.

As I headed back, I passed the String Lake Loop sign again. Despite having all my heavy beach gear, I decided what the hell. I may never pass this way again, and I can probably do the 3.5 mile loop hike in 60-90 minutes and still get back to the ranch in time for the weekly seafood buffet at 7pm. Wow, what a push! I was practically jogging. I took the "detour", crossed a beautiful rocky creek and started around String Lake. So worth it!

The dirt trail started climbing quickly, with an elevation gain of about 300 feet to reach the height of 7,100 feet. Thin air...

 

 Then into a pine forest....

Trails are well marked in the park with plenty to choose from, any distance or degree of difficulty you can imagine...

High up on the first ridge, I looked down and saw String Lake below...

The higher I climbed, the better the views got of the valley and lake below.

I crossed this little bridge that was surrounded by tropical ferns and elephant eared plants... very odd for Wyoming.

Then I passed through a winter avalanche area where the trees had been snapped off about shoulder high or knocked over altogether...

Up to my right, the peaks of the Teton range started to appear...

The broken trees allowed a great view of String Lake below...

To my right, I had outstanding views of the "Cathedral Group," as the sun set. 12,325-foot Teewinot Mountain, 13,770-foot Grand Teton and 12,928-foot Mt. Owen appeared above me.  At 12,605 feet Mt. Moran is the fourth highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park. It's named for artist Thomas Moran whose landscape paintings were critical to the creation of Yellowstone National Park. 

On November 21, 1950, a C-47 cargo plane owned by the New Tribes Mission crashed into the peak during a thunderstorm, killing all 21 missionaries on board. Although a rescue party was able to locate the wreckage several days later, the precarious position of the crash made it impossible to recover the plane or its victims.

The path continued to climb, then finally descended!

 

At long last, I reached the southern end of the lake and looped back around towards civilization.

 

It was 6PM. Another 15 minutes and I was back at my car, but not before crossing another bridge and ridge...

My favorite shot of the day as l crossed one final creek, looked back towards the mountains and headed for my car... 5 1/2-6 miles total, including the Leigh lake portion. Not bad for an impromptu hike.

The drive home.... a typical Wyoming highway. Quite desolate! I made it back just as they rang the dinner bell and enjoyed a huge plate of steaming hot Alaskan crab legs, Halibut, Salmon and more. YUM!