As usual for a rest day, the team slept in as long as physically possible. After finally awaking to the outside world and adventuring out of our nice warm tents we all had some bagels for breakfast. The team had all decided to go on an adventure back to Jenny lake today and then to Jackson for most of the day. After the bear scares yesterday we made sure to all pack our bags away in the bear boxes and got in the van to head towards Jenny lake. We only had an hour or so to adventure as we had already been here yesterday during a rest stop. Many of the teams decided to get into the water as it felt amazing in the 80 something degree heat.
After the lake we all regrouped, Ved an Ehsan continuing on a scenic hike starting in Jenny lake, and the rest of us went off towards Jackson. Although we had been there yesterday as well many of the team didn’t fully get a chance to see all the shops they wanted to go to. Also as this was our third day camping in a row some of us were glad to get the chance to go to a cafe in order to charge our electronics. While completely doable without them, those with a bike computer were very happy to be able to charge those in order to have the route tomorrow easily accessible.
Ehsan and Ved reported back afterwards that their hike was very beautiful. It was 8 miles around Jenny lake and they even swam, saw some waterfalls, and a black bear! Tada was the only one who did not come with us in the van and decided to bike from our campground all the way to Jackson. Basically completing our route from yesterday backwards. While he noted that it was very beautiful and scenic, he also forgot to wear sunscreen on a day the UV got up to 11. Tada was able to meet up with some of the team in Jackson to hang out in the shade for a while. After everyone's shopping spree and delicious meals had come to an end we all reunited downtown to make our way back towards the campground. We made it back to the campground around 7:30 and decided that we would try and eat dinner as fast as possible so that we could go back to Jenny lake to swim hoping we could get there before sunset.
For some of us our dinner was out of the ordinary. A long-standing I4k tradition they do mostly every year is a pie eating contest. The van crew had been looking for pies for a long time and this morning they found them. Although the pies happened to be larger than we imagined. Everyone got a 2 lb pie of their flavor of choice. The type of pie proved to be a very important decision as some pies seemed to be much easier to get down than others. The participants were: Vedang, Parker, Nishk, Max, and Sam. It was interesting what strategies everyone had in this eating competition. Some went straight in with their hands while others chose forks. Some chose to go without water while others decided to chug water between bites. Only one strategy proved fruitful however as only 1 out of the 5 of us was able to complete the whole pie in 16 minutes. Sam, hesitant at first to even compete, took a commanding victory as the only finisher. After this we cooked hotdogs, s’mores, and other random things as fast as we could. We barely made it out of the campsite by 9. In a race against time we hurried as much as we could towards Jenny lake.
We soon were not in a rush however after songs that the whole team knew kept coming on the radio. This quickly turned the entire van into a team-wide karaoke session. This was maybe one of the best random moments of the trip so far. As the sun was setting over the tetons we were seeing the most gorgeous views while singing some of the most classic karaoke songs. (My favorite of these being Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls) By the time we got there we had little to no light, but this did not bother us whatsoever. The team quickly derobed into swimsuits and jumped into the cold water. After a fruitless effort of taking scenic photos in the dark, everyone decided to put away the cameras and just enjoy the moment. Whether just dipping toes in or going 200 feet out into the water everyone had a wonderful time which I am sure that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. Although we made it to the campsite well after our lights out time the team was not worried about getting less sleep than usual. Sometimes the sacrifice is well worth it.
