Grand Teton National Park – Cascade Canyon, Teton Crest, Death Canyon Loop

We began early with a ferry boat across Jenny Lake. Other backpackers, day hikers and some rock climbers joined us for a trip across to the Hidden Falls trailhead.  From there, we began the long slow accent up Cascade Canyon, with Cascade Creek our constant companion.  The 8.3 mile climb took us from 6,800 feet above sea level to an elevation at camp of about 9,600 feet.  Being flatlanders, we were sucking air constantly, not being used to these types of elevations.

After six hours we dragged ourselves into a campsite near the Avalanche Divide trail junction.  Even though we were very tired, the ever adventurous MK convinced me to take the 3.2 mile trail up the divide so that we could view the Tetons from the west side, fully illuminated by the setting sun.  It was a beautiful site for sure.

The following morning’s trail took us up switchback after switchback toward Hurricane Pass.  The Pass has to be simply the best part of the Park.  The panorama of the mountains and distant scenery were just stunning.  Other backpackers had gathered at the pass to see the same sights.  The Tetons, Battleship Mountain and the Alaska Basin were all framed with a backdrop of blue skies and puffy cumulous clouds.

After our leisurely lunch at the top, we began the descent into the Alaska Basin-Mirror Lake area.  By 1:00 p.m., the skies began to cloud up with thunder heard in the distance.  This seems to be the normal pattern around here; nice skies in the morning, clouds build around 1:00 p.m., rain by 3 or 4:00 p.m. and then clear skies again by dinner time.  The rain first comes down as hail, only briefly, and then big fat drops.  Not a gully washer by any means, but enough to get things wet.  We had a nice camp spot with views of the lakes that dot this basin area.  We were tent bound for an hour before dinner as another series of passing clouds let loose their rain.

By design, the following day was a layover day.  We slept in until 8:00 a.m. or so and started breakfast, but scurried with our food back into the tent as an out-of-pattern early morning rainstorm began to pelt us (again, hail first, and then rain drops).  After the rain cleared, we day hiked it up to Meeks Pass for more views of the stupendous scenery.  Being that today’s hike was a day hike only, our packs were light making the climb pleasurable and non-taxing to the lungs.

Back at camp we took sponge baths and we felt like a million bucks!  And the mountain wildflowers, holy cow!  What beauty all around. We fell asleep to the thoughts and memories of fields and fields of yellow, white, red, pink, and purple flowers all giving off wonderful scents.

We woke up to clear blue skies which ended up staying with us the entire day.  There was no cloud build up and no rain in the afternoon.  The full moon last night illuminated the surrounding mountains in an eerie glow.  My camera couldn’t pick up the low light, so no pictures of this.

Immediately after leaving camp, we stopped at the nearby creek to filter some water.  We had a problem, the filter broke!  An internal part cracked in two, so no pressure could build up to pump the water.  So we had a dilemma.  We figured that the higher, upstream water would be clean of any giardia so we filled our Nalgenes directly from them.  We knew, though, that down below tree line where we would be spending the night, the risk of infected water would be greater.  We would have to boil water not only for our meals, but now would also have to do so for our drinking water.  The trouble is, we brought enough fuel just for what we figured we would need for meals, with just a little more as a buffer.  As we hiked, we talked as to how we would try to get by, perhaps by having only cold breakfasts (not hot oatmeal or coffee/tea).

Our climb from the Basin was steep.  But, MK and I weren’t all that fatigued.  We were getting used to the elevations, the climbing, and the overall effort we were putting in over the past three to four days.  The climb took us up over the passes, the first one Bucks Mountain Pass, was in a high meadow.  Once we reached it, we could see into the next drainage, as well as the next pass to our left, Static Peak Pass.  The climb up to Static was very dramatic. There were significant exposures; steep, long drop-offs, snow pack across the trail allowing for slippery going, and tremendous views.  Our cameras were working overtime once again! 

Once at Static, the views to the east were of the Jackson townsite, its airport, and some of the lodges and entry buildings of the National Park, all far down below.  The rest of the trail was all downhill, taxing part of our leg muscles and toes that had not yet been taxed with all of the previous uphill hiking we have done.  Switchback after switchback took us steeply down into the Death Canyon area.  It would have been real tough doing this part of the trip in reverse for it was steeper than the climb we had done earlier in the trip. 

After 9 plus miles, we made it to our campsite at the Phelps Lake lakeshore.  Near our site was a nice sandy beach, where we spent the remaining part of the day swimming, reading, and eating dinner until it was too dark to see.  It was a nice relaxing reward to end a long, tiring day

We got up early the next morning to get a good start on a 12 plus mile day.  We decided we would hike past our planned campsite at Bradley Lake and continue on to the car at Jenny Lake, and then to a National Park campground elsewhere in town.

A long climb out of Phelps took us to the Valley Trail.  From there, we hiked northward.  The first couple of hours were drudgery.  Deep forest, some open meadows, little in the way of views.  The views finally opened up at Taggart Lake.  It was quite scenic actually with the Tetons as a backdrop to the crystal blue lake water. 

Onward, our scheduled campsite at Bradley turned out to be our lunch site.  We cooled our feet in the chilly water while we boiled two quarts for the remaining five or so miles.  It was a warmer day (75° - 80°) so we knew we would need plenty of water.

We struggled into the Lupine Meadows trailhead through which two miles of our final hike traversed.  We were tired and very hot.  MK’s toes were a mess.  Karma or trail magic paid us a visit when a 20 year old young man in a beat up car asked us if we needed a ride on to Jenny Lake area where our car was parked.  With no hesitation we replied with a resounding “yes”.  We never got his name, but learned he was a self-proclaimed ski bum who worked odd jobs in and around the various National Parks throughout the Rockies.  He was between jobs presently and was living out of his car until he could make some money for first month’s rent.  We thanked him profusely for his kindness, since he saved our feet and tired bones from a further two mile walk in the hot sun!

We stopped at Moose for beer, ice, junk food and a “F*** You!” cooler and headed south to the Gros Venture Campground.  We saw a dark black wolf run across the road as we approached the campground.  After I described it, the lady at the registration desk confirmed it to be a wolf, saying that I was lucky in that they are frequently heard, but rarely seen.

We sponge bathed using the sinks in the camp restrooms and headed into Jackson for a fattening dinner.  Afterwards we had to slow down to let two bison cross the road before as we headed back to camp.  They were joining the rest of the herd which was grazing in the twilight on the west side of the road. 

While staring into the nice campfire at our test site, we reflected on the past week and the fun, mind cleansing, and vigorous trip we had just concluded.