Wondering Soul Yoga

You know that place in the world where you arrive and feel a weight lift from your shoulders? Where you feel like you can (finally) breathe easily? For me, that’s Jackson Hole! And my absolute favorite thing to do there is hike. Here are my favorite hikes in and around Jackson Hole:

1. Jenny Lake Loop Trail (7.1 mile loop) + Inspiration Point (1.8 miles)
2. Lake Solitude Trail (19 miles)
3. Phelps Lake Trail (5 miles)

About Jackson Hole

Nestled between millions of acres of forests, lakes, and streams, Jackson Hole gets its present-day name from David Jackson, a fur trapper who hunted in his ‘hole’ (a high-altitude mountain valley) in the early 1800s. Native American tribes long predated David Jackson’s arrival into what became ‘Jackson’s hole’, with the Crow, Gros Ventre, Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Bannock, Eastern Shoshone and Sheep Eaters tribes all making recorded journeys into Jackson Hole over many thousands of years.

Returning to my favorites

I’m a fan of returning to places I’ve travelled before. I don’t always feel driven to travel somewhere new!

I want you to think about a place over the course in your life you’ve returned to again and again. That place may change with you or may stay the same, serving as a reminder of who you used to be. Maybe it’s a family lake house or that one beach in the South Carolina or the cool respite of your grandparent’s basement where you watched the Swan Princess 23 times that one summer.

I’ve been to Jackson Hole six times, and it’s sheer beauty never gets old. There is nothing like this place and its stunning nature anywhere in the world. And I’ve been a lot of places! I’m many ways, because I’ve been back multiple times at key pivot points in my life, Jackson Hole has come to feel like a home away from home. I feel comfortable and at ease in Jackson but also reflective and full of potential. Like I’m always on the cusp of something new and exciting.

• 3 years old (1997): I remember nothing of my first trip to Jackson other than my aunt and uncle’s dog, a big Siberian Husky named Kodiak.
• 12 years old (2006): Gawky and angular, I convinced my parents to paraglide off the Tetons this trip.
• 23 years old (2017): I had just moved back to the States from Morocco and had not yet started my 200-hour yoga teacher training. I was struggling to figure out who I was and what I wanted.
• 24 years old (2018): I had just started dating Ernie, my now-fiancé.
• 28 years old (2022): I worked remotely from Jackson this trip, my first trip to visit my family out there on my own. While there I prepared the themes for my 2022 Morocco yoga retreat.
• 29 years old (2023) and months away from being married. This was Ernie’s first trip out to Jackson Hole.

In some ways I’m still that gawky, awkward just-got-glasses 12 year-old girl on her first trip to Jackson Hole, just older and more certain of who I am and what I want. And I want:

• Cold swims in glacier-fed lakes
• The peace that only comes after I practice yoga
• Long meditations followed by coffee and journaling
• Meaningful connection with friends and family
• Cuddles with my cats
• To curl up with a good book
• To cook a nourishing meal after a long day
• Creative, meaningful work with my yoga and marketing clients 

Nature restores my soul. What restores yours?

When I’m surrounded by nature I breathe deeply, unplug, and disconnect. But there’s something extra special about Jackson Hole. Maybe it’s the blue of the vast sky, the breathtaking height of the Tetons, or the precious, fleeting beauty of the summer wildflowers whose seeds waited for months beneath feet of snow to bloom for a few short, vibrant weeks.

My morning hikes in and around Jackson Hole are indispensable. I step into one of Jackson’s many pine forests or an Aspen grove, and I take a big, deep breath. I feel at peace amongst these pines, these towering feats of nature. Their scraggly bark is rough beneath my fingers and leaves a sticky pine residue. I turn my phone on airplane mode, as I know I won’t have consistent cell service in either Teton National Park or Yellowstone National Parks. Gone are the distractions, down is my screen time. I become more observant of the world around me.

There’s no where I need to be besides where I am right now. There’s no one to talk to besides the people I’m with right now. This feeling of presence reminds me of the exploring and hiking I did in Chefchaouen, Morocco in 2017 and the hike between Fira and Oia my mom and I did on the island of Santorini.

The best hikes in and around Jackson Hole

Jenny Lake Loop Trail (7.1 mile loop) + Inspiration Point (1.8 miles)

This is perhaps one of the most popular and populated hikes in Teton National Park, just north of the town of Jackson Hole. You can start at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center’s parking lot and hike the whole thing or take the ferry across to the Inspiration Point boat launch. The first regular boat crossing is at 8 am. I suggest you get an early start to beat the crowds.

Inspiration Falls is beautiful as is the steep (and slightly dizzying) climb up the stairs to Inspiration Point. Stop to soak in all the views and don’t feed the chipmunks, no matter how cute they may seem.

Lake Solitude Trail (19 miles)

This may be one of the most stunning hikes I have ever done. We caught Jackson Hole after an unusually cold, wet spring, so there were still thousands of snow-fed waterfalls lining the appropriately-named Cascade Canyon.

The hike to Lake Solitude will take you all day, so park at String Lake trailhead by 7:30 am. The Lake Solitude hike is in-and-out. Should you start to feel tired or if you encounter a bear on the trail, you can turn around. The path can still be still snow-covered through June, so bring crampons or hike to this lake in July or August once the snow on the path has all but melted.

Phelps Lake Trail (5 miles)

This path starts out gentle. You can meander along amongst the pines until you get to the Phelps Lake overlook, and turn around. That would make for a beautiful, simple hike. Or you could continue from the Phelps Lake overlook, down the switchbacks, and into the canyon. From here you can make your way to the shores of Phelps Lake.

Is anything more invigorating than a cold swing in a glacier-fed lake? I don’t think so! We brought our bathing suits and the cold dip in Phelps Lake was exactly what we needed after a hot, dusty hike. This dip is not for the faint of heart. The water was glacial snow melt and was about 50 ºF. We saw other hikers jumping off a high boulder into the water, but we were content to watch.

*Take a 4-wheel drive car down the road to the Phelps Lake trailhead and drive slowly. The road is bumpy and full of pot holes.

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