Day Thirty Three, Grand Teton National Park, WY: “A 2,000lb Bull Will Ruin Your Car”

I’m back to real-time writing. And again, I find myself sitting next to a campfire on the wonderful Shadow Mountain in the Teton National Forest. My site on Shadow Mountain overlooks the Tetons to the west, across a beautiful plain of multicolored  wildflowers. The site is, being in a forest, generally secluded. Once the sun set behind the Tetons, what few mosquitoes there were disappeared. Furthermore, there is enough of a cell signal for me to briefly connect to the internet and send in this post. In short, this site is a dream.

Unsurprisingly, at least to myself, it took me about two days under a roof in Jackson before I yearned to return to a tent. This is not meant as a sleight against my host or his habitations; rather, a tip of the hat to the freedom, solitude, and space that comes with a secluded camp. The reward of reaching the end of any hike is substantial, often in the form of a beautiful lake ringed by soaring, snow covered mountains. After a four day return to semi-urban life, I found that I missed those experiences. And I was glad to get back on the road to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. (For those of you who may not be familiar with the geography of the area, Grand Teton is about 20 miles directly to the north of Jackson. Yellowstone sits atop of Grand Teton.)

I did go on a short hike today, of perhaps 2.5 miles total, from the new visitors center at the Lawrence S. Rockefeller Preserve – a recent gift to the National Park from its namesake – to Phelp’s Lake. To call the center a visitors center seems a little inappropriate; it is a small building of wide spaces and reminds me more of an old-style sanitarium for nature lovers than a visitor center. Visitor centers are typically very crowded and meant for masses of travelers; the LSR is too new to appear on any map and is infrequently visited.

As usual, I met some great people. Hardly a day has gone by in the weeks since I’ve left Denver – and therefore wondered through the parks and towns on my own – that I have failed to meet someone with whom I exchanged numbers or email addresses. This has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip; meeting people from regions of the country other than my own, gaining their perception on issues and events, and hearing their stories, and it provides an ever-changing context within which I enjoy my own timeline. In this case, I met a CPA from New York City and a couple from Boston on the trail. (I hope to have pictures of this hike, including some Moose I ran into on the road out of the center, up tomorrow.)

Simply because this is far and away the most enjoyable campsite I have encountered, I plan on spending the next night here. Because the road down the mountain is long, that will mean spending the next day here as well. I also plan on waking up early to get some shots of the sun rising across from the Tetons. I’m looking forward to it. (This post’s title comes off a roadway sign alerting motorists of the wildlife crossing that is, essentially, every mile of road in the park.)

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

Day Twenty Seven, Grand Teton National Park, WY: Open Space

On Thursday morning, I woke up early in the Shoshone National Forest, having camped out the same site outside Lander that I spent the previous night in.

I spent the day continuing the drive to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. On paper, the trip was only about two hours long. But because I pulled over so often to take pictures and hit a major construction project, it took me about four. I enjoyed the drive in any case; I said before, unlike Kansas, Wyoming has some awesome geological formations that make for a tremendous driving environment. It was very tough to choose which pictures to include.

After I arrived at Grand Teton National Park, I took a nice walk along the outside of Colter Bay, which includes one of the several Marinas along  Jackson Lake.

I spent the night in Bridger-Teton National Forest. Unlike most forests, this one does not have many dispersed camp sites, so I was forced to stay in a more developed campground. However, it was at this camp that I met Mike, a dietician from Minnesota a couple years older than me. Mike had just got back from a week-long backcountry trip through Yellowstone.

I had planned to do the Surprise Lake/Amphitheatre Lake Hike the next day, and I asked Mike if he’d like to come along – it’s always more fun hiking with someone else, especially on longer hikes. Mike was up for it.

Check out some more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/reidksmith

Day Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight, Grand Teton National Park, WY: Check In

I don’t have the time to write a complete post right now, but I thought I would just give a brief synopsis of the last few days for now, and fill in the details with pictures tomorrow…

Thursday, Day Twenty Seven:
I drove out to Grand Teton National Park. It’s a great drive and I have a ton of pictures from it that I still have to look through. After arriving at the park, I went on a short hike around Colter Bay. I camped out again in a National Forest. However, this forest has no dispersed campsites, and instead has gaggle of about 7 sites right next to each other, campground-style. I met a guy named Mike, a few years older than me, who had just gotten back from a week-long backcountry trip in Yellowstone.

Friday, Day Twenty Eight:
It’s now been four weeks since I began this trip. Mike and I start the Surprise Lake/Amphitheater Lake Hike in Grand Teton around 8.00am. The hike is a 10 mile hike that gains 3,000 feet in elevation and ends at Surprise Lake; another 0.3 miles brings you to Amphitheater Lake. After this hike, it was back to the same National Forest campsite. I have about 300 pictures from the hike and the one below is a good representation of what the rest look like.

The mosquitoes at that site were unreal. Even with mosquito coils burning and a terribly smoky fire, the air was filled with swarms and swarms of buzzing bites. This was the fourth night in a row that I have dealt with uninhabitable mosquitoes and I decide that there is absolutely no way I am dealing with it again tomorrow.

 Surprise Lake, ~9,900 feet

Saturday, Day Twenty Nine:
Today Mike and I went down to Jackson, a city of 9,000 just south of the park. We had lunch at Mountain High Pizza Pie before Mike drove back home to Minnesota. It was great to meet someone of a similar mind and have someone to talk to after having spent the last week alone. I then started looking for a place to spend the night. I went to a Sports Authority and asked around; I found that the Pacific Creek Trail that I was on is one of the worst mosquito sites around. But I was given a few other good sites to try tonight.

I have some requests in to CouchSurf with some people around Jackson, and hopefully some will come through tonight or tomorrow. I’ve slept outside now for eight nights in a row, and tonight will make nine. So I would really enjoy sleeping indoors – a place where I don’t have to pitch the tent, keep the food in bear safe containers, be constantly mobbed by bugs, etc.

I’m going to try to do a proper post tomorrow, with many more pictures and details from the hike.

Thanks again to everyone for following along and making comments, either through the site or by getting a hold of me. It’s a great feeling to know that people back home are interested in what I do, and humbling to know that they enjoy what I write.