Fire and Rain



After the Storm
Photo from my employee housing inside GTNP



Finally, it rained.  

Not a soaking rain - but enough to quiet and drench everything.  I stepped completely into it - unloaded the kayak off my jeep top, put on rain gear and biked down the Teton bike trail out to Jenny Lake and hiked.  Yup, still held tight to my bear spray with reports of a grizzly half way into the trail.  Hearty mountain folk (ie the people I work with) just grin and shake their heads. 

As the rain fell reports quickly surfaced of a climber who slipped on "The Grand", largest mountain in Grand Teton National Park with an elevation of 13,770 feet, (have I mentioned yet what it's like to acclimate from sea level)?  Jenny Lake Rangers, established in 1929 as an elite group of climbing and Search and Rescue rangers along with EMS Park Service short hauled the climber, a 28 year-old male from New York, by precise helicopter maneuvers, to an area where he could be transported.

The Sign Outside the Jenny Lake Ranger Station

After a hot shower, the rescue, and the sweet rain I stepped outside into this orange glow and took this picture - opportunities for photos like these only last a few minutes.  They are humbling and beautiful. 

I thought in that moment - the mountain is on fire.