This three day backpack trip took the hikers across the entire Teton Range. The 24 mile route locals refer to as "The Up and Over," takes backpackers from the Western side of the range and out the Eastern slope of the range ending with a boat ride to shuttle our smelly group across Jenny Lake. The three day itinerary allows us to soak up as much Teton scenery as possible. Scenery that the hundreds of thousands of tourists that visit the park every year never get to see unless they venture deep into the back country.
On day 1, we hiked about 8 miles into the Alaska Basin where we hastily set up camp due to a freak snowstorm. The day started out warm and sunny but we were all aware of the ominous looking afternoon forecast. First came the wind, then came heavy rain accompanied by drastic plummeting temperatures. As we gained elevation the heavy rain transitioned into big wet snowflakes. It was freakish, beautiful and comical at the same time. Comical because it's late July which is the peak of summer and supposed to be for the warmest time of year! The group moral was surprisingly high since we were all pretty excited to be experiencing all 4 seasons within a few hours. Once we made it into the basin the weather broke long enough for everyone to set up camp, eat a hot meal and get into their warm sleeping bags. It rained, snowed, hailed, sleeted, accompanied by thunder and lighting all night long. We woke up to about 5 inches of snow on the ground which melted out quickly. I don't think most of us slept too well the first night. But like the famed mountaineer, Yvon Chouinard once said, "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong."
On day 2, the group had the option to explore the huge basin, bag a peak, fly fish or dry out all of our wet gear in the sun--which is exactly what we ended up doing. Staying two nights in the same camp spot allowed people to use "off day" however they wanted. Some folks fly fished, some hiked around the basin, some did both. There are no camp fires permitted in the basin but the 7 of us gathered together to watch the sunset that evening as it dramatically changed the color of the surrounding mountains to an gorgeous orange alpenglow--which is better than a campfire anyway.
Day 3 was our big day. At 8am we were all packed up and ready hit the trail running with an aim of catching the 6pm boat shuttle. Actually, it was more like a leisurely, happy, hiking pace. Weather was absolutely perfect. We had a crisp cool morning for the big up hill push to Hurricane Pass where lunch, laughs, hugs, tears and a little photo shoot took place. From Hurricane Pass we entered into the Grand Teton National Park where we descended into Cascade Canyon. We took our time on the 15 mile hike out. No need to rush or wear ourselves out anymore than we already would be. Our group pace was leisurely, steady and ideal for covering such big mileage. We stopped for photo ops, lunch, breaks, a brief nap, water filtering and especially to stick our achy sore feet in the cold refreshing river. We made it to the boat dock at exactly 5:59. We boarded the boat exhausted, satisfied, stinky, sore and ready for the most amazing pizza and brews on the planet. Well done team. Well done. I'm proud to say the Yonder Across the Tetons Backpack Trip was a success and I'm looking forward to hosting another backpacking trip in the summer of 2016.
Photo Credit: Cindy Hayford & Chris Weiss
Photo Credt: Chris Weiss
Photo Credit: Morgan Bridge
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