“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – Unknown
6 People / 4 Days / 27.89 Miles
Day 1: A Rough Start
The day started slow, as most of our hiking/outdoor trips do. We got up decently early, and packed up everything at the hotel. We had stayed in Jackson Hole, WY for the night, at The Painted Buffalo Inn. Cory dropped all of us off at Teton Village (the trail head) to hang out while he drove to Jenny Lake (end of hike) to drop off the truck.
Cory then took a set of two buses to join us at Teton Village. In the meanwhile, all of the rest of us ate breakfast at a restaurant and stayed in the courtyard at Teton Village. Rhys (7 y/o) and Keenan (4 y/o) played on the playground and made a little fortress in the trees. There were also water fountains that sprayed from the ground to run and play in. It was kind of cold, so they only put their hands and head in. Ellie (15 y/o) and Taylor (18 y/o) walked around Teton Village for a little while, looking at stores, while I watched the boys play. We slept off and on to rest up for the hike.
When Cory finally joined us, we ate shortbread biscuits, Nutella/peanut butter, and jelly – our favorite lunch. Then we headed for the Tram! The views were gorgeous. It was a 12-minute ride and the young boys liked when we passed the towers and it made us sway. However, the swaying made Ellie feel a little queasy.
The views at the top of Rendezvous Mountain were great. We walked around for a while and took pictures. The elevation was around 10,000 ft. Cory and I were a little shaky, but it didn’t seem to bother any of the kids at all.
After we found our trail, we said a family prayer (the way we start all our backpacking trips), went over large animal etiquette with the kids, and started on our way. The good thing was that the first 2-3 miles were mostly downhill. However, it was pretty steep so it was slow-going. We ate snacks along the way and Taylor started to tell one of his famous stories. I honestly don’t know how we could survive our backpacking trips without Taylor and Ellie to keep the moods light with their great stories.
We ran into a thundershower and put on our rain gear just in time. It actually wasn’t too bad hiking in the rain and it helped it cool things off quite a bit. It also only lasted for a short time frame, which was good.
We stopped at a great little area and ate Greens & Reds for dinner. Rhys and Cory didn’t really like it this time, but everyone else did. Keenan and I shared a meal since the portion sizes were so big. It was plenty for the two of us when we added a little snack to eat with it. We cleaned everything up and started out for Marion Lake, our first planning campsite. After just a short bit, we ran into a woman rushing in the opposite direction and frantically trying to make it to the Tram. However the last shuttle had already left. She was trying to at least make it up to notify someone. She said she ran ahead of her friends who were moving much more slowly than her, and she seemed to be very worried about her friends. There was panicked feeling to her, so we told her we’d check on her friends when we came across them. After about 500m we ran into her friends (an older guy and a mid-forties female). They seemed to be doing just fine, but they were tired and hiking slowly. They had enough food, water and clothing, but didn’t have a light source. Being the kind and generous person that he is, Cory gave them one of his extra headlamps. The sun would be setting soon, and they most likely would not make it up the steep climb in time. They were very appreciative. We kept hiking on, but the hills were very hard for me. I had a very hard time breathing, due to the altitude. We were not in the best of moods, and then Ellie ended up cutting her thumb while she was whittling (not too badly, though). Finally we came across a campsite as the sun was getting ready to set. It wasn’t all the way to Marion Lake (which had been our goal), but it looked like a good place to set up. There were a few other tents further off as well.
As we were setting up camp, Cory called us out to look at two moose walking by – a bull and a cow. They were so gorgeous! It was everyone’s first time seeing a moose in the wild except me (I had seen a bull 3 days before, when we were rafting the Payette). We watched for a while, and then returned to set up camp before it got too dark to see. Within five minutes, a (cow) moose walked right by the trail at the head of our campsite! She was so close!!
With all the excitement of the moose that close to us, we ended up having to set up camp in the dark. I really hate doing that, but seeing the moose was a good exchange. We ended up seeing a deer twice while finishing hanging the bear bag and getting the bear canisters set out. It was finally time to crawl in to our FOUR-person tent (SO much more room compared to the two person tent we backpacked in last year)! The older kids were right outside our tent in their bivy sacks.
Day Mileage: 4.5 miles / Trip Mileage 4.5 miles
Day 2:
There was a HUGE windstorm last night. It was so loud! No rain came, but you could see lightening most of the night, and the wind shook the tent a tremendous amount. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, only about 4 hours. Taylor woke up early, and started getting us ready for the day. Although I woke up around 6:30am, and got up at 7:00am, we didn’t get on the trail until about 10:00am. We all had chosen different flavors of oatmeal and/or cream of wheat for breakfast, and each enjoyed them greatly.
Tensions had been high in the morning, and Rhys was having a hard time listening. I wasn’t feeling the greatest while we were at camp, and I ended up taking some ibuprofen for a headache, an antihistamine for my nausea, and acetazolamide for my shakiness and difficulty breathing.
Hiking up hill was so incredibly hard for me. I couldn’t even believe that going to altitude would make me feel this way, but this was one of the highest elevations I had been at in a long time. At one point, I had to drop my pack and hike without it. We hiked up the terrain, and then Cory went back to get my pack and carry it to us. When he got back, we redistributed weight in the packs, and I gave a bear canister to Cory and some snack bags to Taylor. After what seemed like forever, we finally reached Marion Lake, and we enjoyed our siesta there.
Ellie whittled and made a small bow and arrow set. Rhys and Keenan played around, as only little boys can do. Cory looked at maps and read the Grand Teton’s kids book (full of pictures of animals we would see on the trail). Taylor and I rested.
For dinner, we made bean burritos, and Rhys had a Mountain House scrambled eggs and bacon meal (he is allergic to beans). The burritos are never as delicious as before I dehydrate them, and I made way too many of them. However, they did fill us up, and met our needs well. The scrambled eggs and bacon was actually pretty good. It is a different/strange texture and they have you make it with extra water and then drain it off. Other than that, they were pretty good, much better than I predicted. We ran into several groups at Marion Lake.
When we were finally on the trail again, we moved a little faster and the inclines were less steep. We saw several prairie dogs during a quick rest when we got to the top of Fox Creek Pass. Rhys named the prairie dogs Fluffy and Patrick.
When we stopped to filter water, the little boys saw and followed a mouse of some sort (later to find out it was an elephant mouse). They kept trying to feed it leaves and I’m sure they scared the bageebies out of it by stocking the “caves” it was running into.
We finally made it to Death Canyon Shelf. We found a good little space behind a rock to camp out. There were a couple of other tents by us too.
Ellie was feeling a little nervous about sleeping in a bivy sack, so she joined us in the tent. It started to lightening and rain, so Taylor was going to try and join us in the tent also. But, when we tried it, it just didn’t seem like it was going to work. It stopped raining, so he went back out to the bivy, but positioned his head inside our fly area in case it rained again.
It was nice setting up camp in the light, and Cory found a good place on a rock to store our food. We settled into bed about 9:30pm.
Day Mileage: 5.54 miles / Trip Mileage 10.04 miles
Day 3:
Last night was strange. The sleeping arrangements worked fine. You could see lightening for a good portion of the night. It seemed like it was pouring rain, but apparently it was just the tent making noise. We got up around 7:00am (Cory got up a little earlier). We tore down camp and ate breakfast. Having everyone choose their own breakfasts really worked well for our trip.
It looked like it was going to be a really hot day, so I dug my bandana out of my pack (Ellie and Taylor did too) to wet and wear on my neck. We all also were getting a lot of sun on us, so it helped to protect against sunburn. Quite a few of us were also plagued by numerous mosquito bites.
We finally got on the trail around 10:00am. The hiking went faster in the morning than it had been for the previous few days. I think it takes a while for us to get the routine down. Our goal was set at 10 miles for the day. Ambitious considering our track record so far this trip, but we were hopeful.
After a couple of miles we stopped to filter water at a great stream. Rhys and Keenan loved dipping their heads in the stream to make mohawks. We ran into a few groups that we had seen previously. It seems like we might be traveling the same sort of distances each day as a few other groups, and were bound to keep running into them.
Passing over Mt. Meek Pass was uneventful, as it wasn’t even signed. It was a relatively easy pass. We stopped just shy of the Alaska Basin at a babbling brook. We stayed long enough to take off our shoes and play in the brook. Keenan saw a “lizard” in the water that captured his attention for a while. Turns out it was just a collection of rocks.
We hiked on a while longer to Sunset Lake. There was a Boy Scout troop staying there as well. They were loud and throwing large boulders down toward the lake. We used it as a great learning lesson for the kids on outdoor etiquette and behavior.
We rested at Sunset Lake for a bit, and then we made dinner. We had Lasagna and Rhys has Spaghetti (the lasagna was made with beans). Ellie and Taylor didn’t like the lasagna this time, but Cory, Keenan and I did. The kids also ate shortbread biscuits as an appetizer. We drank lemonade for our drinks.
We then loaded everything up to set out for Hurricane Pass. There was a cool little bridge we passed over. The climb was long, but we made it through.
At the start of the day I had started having everyone do a mile celebration dance, which involved pointing our fingers around (like the Hokey Pokey) and making funny noises while turning in a circle. We all did our dance after we completed every mile.
The top of Hurricane Pass was windy and cold. We were all glad we put on pant legs and fleeces at the top, because the drop into South Fork of Cascade Canyon was extremely cold. We were happy to see the beginning of the camping section because the sun was starting to set. However, as we kept walking, every campsite was used! Who would have thought we were in the middle of backpacking the Grand Tetons. It felt more like we were trying to find a campsite on the beach over Labor Day weekend. We finally found an empty campsite with a bonus of it having a bear box. The sun was already down, and we had just enough time to choose a spot for the tent before it went completely dark. Set-up went fast, and we were finally in bed by 10:15pm.
Day Mileage: 10.95 miles / Trip Mileage 20.99 miles
Day 4:
The night was fairly uneventful. It was a little cold. Taylor and Cory didn’t sleep very well. I slept better, although I wouldn’t call it “good”. I think the altitude was affecting us all. We woke up slowly in the morning. Cory got up first and just walked around for a while. The rest of us got up slowly, playing and giggling in the tent.
Once we were all dressed, we walked down to the creek to filter water and for Taylor and Ellie to wash our dishes from dinner the night before. Everyone got a chance to do all of the water filter jobs. Rhys and Cory worked on filling the Nalgenes.
Keenan worked with Ellie to fill his own water bottle (all the way to the top). Then he got to drink some of his hard work.
Before the trip, Taylor had found a fold-up/light-weight pail/bucket for us. Of course, Cory succumbed to the cool outdoor toy. So, we had brought that along on our trip. Cory, Taylor, Ellie, and Rhys worked together to fill it up. It was cute to see them all working together.
Walking back to the campsite, we saw a plane pulling a glider and releasing it into the sky. It was very cool, and Cory expressed how he would like to do that someday. Back at camp, we ate breakfast and enjoyed some hot beverage. The little boys and myself had hot cocoa, Ellie had hot chai tea, and Taylor and Cory had hot cider. When we worked together to break down camp. Cory had me take a picture of a little tree in case we ever came back to this campsite in the future. Then we could see how much the tree had grown. I had Rhys pose next to the tree for effect. We took some family photos, and sometime around 12:45pm we set off on the trail.
I was still not feeling well, and no one seemed to be sleeping well at night. We decided to take a family vote on how to proceed. Instead of continuing the trip as planned, we decided to take the turn off at Canyon Creek Trail, and skip the last (largest) pass. It meant that we would end the trip today, instead of in another day from now.
As we hiked toward Canyon Creek Trail, we ran into two groups from Kentucky (unrelated) who said they were so impressed with all of us and that they were cheering us on while we were hiking up Hurricane Pass last night. They said they were impressed with how far we had made it.
Along the trail were a bunch of waterfalls in the South Fork of Canyon Creek River. They were all so pretty! As we neared Canyon Creek Trail, we kept running into more and more groups of people, and it was especially busy as we neared Jenny Lake. You know you are close to civilization when people are hiking in flip-flops and only carry a water bottle. When we had 2.5 miles left, a guy told us we were almost there, and would be there in about 15 minutes. Ha! That was the longest 15 minutes of my life. It took us more like 1.5 hours.
The last mile was rough. It was large stone steps that hurt with each step. Jenny Lake was gorgeous, and there was a great view from Inspiration Point. However, it was really crowded.
We finally made it down to the boat. One of the boat workers offered to take our “ending photo”.
The boat ride across Jenny Lake was beautiful, and it felt so good to sit on cushioned seats. When we got to the other side of the lake, there was a group that cheered for us for making it to the end, because they remembered us previously from the trail.
The Jenny Lake campground was full, so we drove to Colter Bay and ate chips and salsa and cheese for dinner on the back of the truck. It was so delicious! Then we paid to take showers at the campground. It was so good to be off the trail, and seemed like a lot longer than 4 days this time. However, we ended the trip in better moods than we started (for a variety of reasons it was a stressful start to the trip), and we enjoyed some great family time together. Well worth it!
Day Mileage: 6.9 miles / Trip Mileage 27.89 miles
General Reflections:
Having the topographic map showing only 100ft between the contour lines (instead of 40ft) makes it hard to gauge the real changes in elevation. There were a lot more ups and downs that we originally thought. I think I pictured several large passes, but that the trail in between would be somewhat flat. I was wrong.
It was a very pretty hike. However, it was a lot more crowded than we imagined. We saw several large and many small groups everyday that we hiked. Very different than other trips we’ve been on where you maybe see 1-2 other people total.
The mosquitoes were plentiful, but not unbearable. However, the biting flies were probably worse. We saw a lot of prairie dogs and elephant mice, and a few deer. The best was seeing the moose on the first night! Despite all the signs instructing you to be “bear aware” and that you are in bear habitat, not only did we not see a bear, but we never even saw any signs of gear (bedding, tree scratches, scat, etc…). Very strange! Although I’m glad we never had a bear encounter/attack, I think a few of us would have liked to have at least a bear sighting (from a healthy distance).
Overall, it was a good trip. I am glad we cut it short. It’s nice to be able to say we’ve backpacked the Grand Tetons, but I think I will stick to less well-known trails in the future, and perhaps ones closer to sea level.
