Day Twenty Eight, Grand Teton National Park, WY: Amphitheater Lake

On Friday, I woke up at 6.00am to start the hike up to Surprise Lake and Amphitheatre Lake in Grand Teton. Mike and I had decided to do the hike together, as it would take at least 5 hours. The hike starts at about 6,700 feet and continues up through about 13 switchbacks.

Again, I think it is better to include pictures than tell the story. The joy of the uninterrupted scenery is only amplified by the almost absolute lack of any other hikers on the trail. Because the Surprise Lake trail is one of the more strenuous day hikes in Grand Teton, it is far less popular than most of the other trails.

Directly before you reach Surprise Lake, the trail becomes a little bit less defined and kind of dead-ends in a small pool which is fueled by snow melt, (see that below).

After 5 miles and an elevation gain of 3,000 feet, the trail stops at Surprise Lake. Made of snow runoff from the mountains above, the result is a small, calm lake with crystal clear waters, surrounded by snow-covered mountains.

 Surprise Lake

 Amphitheater Lake

 Runoff from Amphitheater Lake, into Surprise Lake

After the hike, Mike and I grabbed some food and again camped out in the National Forest outside of Grand Teton.

See many more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/reidksmith