For several years, Sean and I have talked about wanting to hike Tablerock together. We both hiked it as youth (he for scouts, and I for girls camp). I remembered it being awesome and have always wanted to go back as an adult. We decided this would be the year, and we made it happen at the end of the summer. Jackson asked if he could join us. It's a pretty difficult hike-- the way we were going is 14 miles round trip and 4,000 feet elevation gain. We thought he could do it, but gave him the stats and let him decide. I was really happy when he decided to come! We left the other kids with Sean's parents in Idaho Falls for the day, and the three of us set off. As we were nearing the parking lot, we spotted a couple of fox-- I considered it a good omen!
Ready to go! Charlie came along for the hike, too!
The trail was really beautiful right from the beginning. I loved walking through these big meadows with the tall wildflowers. We saw a moose from a distance fairly early on in the hike.
I was worried there wouldn't be many wildflowers that late into the season, but those fears were completely unfounded, because there were SO many wildflowers and they were gorgeous!
Jackson and I were excited to see our favorite-- Rosy Indian paintbrush! We learned about this particular version of Indian paintbrush on our trip to Glacier National Park a few years ago.
One of the first glimpses we got of Tablerock in the distance.
The wildflowers were pretty amazing everywhere, but in this section of the trail, they were unreal.
Found a little pocket of snow!
Tablerock was finally starting to look closer!
This last stretch was a killer. It's pretty steep, and at one point, you cross a big section of shale boulders.
When we finally made it up that last climb to the top of Tablerock, we gasped when the amazing view of the Tetons appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They are hidden from view until you summit. It truly was awe inspiring and SO beautiful.
I was so proud of this kid! He did awesome and was so fun to have with us!
We found ourselves a nice rock ledge mostly shielded from the wind, and ate lunch with a pretty amazing view.
Jackson made friends with a squirrel at the summit.
The view was so amazing, it was hard to leave. I had started descending and then hurried and ran back up for one more look!
Charlie also did amazing on the hike. He seemed so happy to be with us. He did roll in horse poop on the way down. Thankfully, we were able to wash him off in the stream!
Awesome experience and I am so glad we made this hike happen this year!
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