Backpacking in Grand Teton
After a year of planning, my buddies and I finally went on our backpacking trip: Grand Teton National Park in WY. It felt like so long ago since we first booked the sites and applied for the permit. Who knew that trying to reserve campsites in the backcountry was such a rush! Once the website allowed us to book, most of the sites were already full. We messed up the booking originally too so we almost didn’t get the sites/permits. The National Park Service only allots a few permits at a time; so if you get one, consider yourself lucky and two, they always have more campsites than permits (which is a good thing).
Lesson: Log on to the NPS site 5–10min before reservations open and list out the sites and the order/night that you want it so that you can do book it seamlessly.
It was a good thing that when I started buying camping supplies, I opted for lighter gear in anticipation for backpacking. This meant that I already had most of the gear that I would bring on the trip. I just had to make a few minor adjustments/buy some new things. But I would say 20% of the pack that I brought were newly bought from months-weeks prior to trip day (refer to my prior post for my gear list). The only big new items that I purchased was a new tent (Tarptent Double Rainbow DW — 2.5lbs), trekking poles, and a bear canister. I would say most of the money I spent was on food/MRE.
But if you don’t have the appropriate supplies, I would start purchasing a couple months in advance (especially if you have a new tent). Some tents have a learning curve in their pitch and you want to test it out to see its comfort and make sure everything is working out.
Enough about preparation or this is going to be a boring post. I want to talk about the trip!
Our itinerary: Flew to Jackson Hole, WY and stayed in a hotel for two nights to get acquainted with the climate/altitude, get supplies, and just walk around downtown Jackson. We then camped at Colter Bay for two nights to get acclimated to staying in tents. Then we drove to Death Canyon Trailhead and dropped the car off (the end), and taxi-ed to Jenny Lake Trailhead where we started our journey. We went through Cascade Canyon, stayed at South Fork, then made our way to the Alaska Basin (Jedediah Wilderness) and stayed near Sunset Lake, then finally stayed at Death Canyon Shelf. On day 4, we hiked back to Death Canyon trailhead over 10 miles. I wrote a little each day:
“Day 1: Woke up at 5am at colter bay as if we were waking up at the crack of dawn to hike Mount Everest. We woke up to meet our taxi driver at death canyon trailhead (the end of our trip) to shuttle us to our start: Jenny lake. We started at Jenny lake visitors center and took a 10 min boat ride across the lake to the trailhead. Starting out felt pretty good — the weight of our packs leaned against our hips lowering the strain on our shoulders. After a short while we got to inspiration point but it started getting difficult. That packs were pretty heavy: 25–30lbs probably. Using the hiking poles made it a lot easier. There were a lot of hiker traffic at the start and probably thru the first 5–6 miles. After that maybe 1–2 people. We were stopping every few hundred yards to lean our packs on rocks and give our backs some relief. The first campsite we wanted at cascade south fork was already claimed by a grumpy man. We ended up finding another spot around 3pm. It’s so hot under the sun.
It is beautiful but my back hurts a lot. All I want now is a chair, couch, or bed. I feel drained. Maybe 3 nights is 1 night too much?? To be determined. Let’s see how I feel the next few days…. I don’t know how other backpackers do this for several months. I would be mentally and physically drained. There are so many mosquitos and biting flies. I’m itchy. I feel like I brought too much stuff. We did 6.5 miles today.
But the sit pad is use full but I wish I brought a chair. Maybe bring less food. I would choose another sandal. Something like and slip on. — keen?
My thoughts are sporadic but it’s very interesting camping in the mountains. Very different from being at a campsite. It’s quiet while being immersed in nature. I’ve always dreamed of doing stuff like this. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be! I’m comparing this trip to Instagram accounts who travel and camp and backpack. My thoughts on my tarptent after using it the last two nights: it’s small interior without a lot of headroom. I feel like one side is wider than the other. I like the idea that I can open the rain fly and use stargazing view. But the outer fly is also very uneven and there is nothing to hold it in the center. I want more head room, ventilation, and 2p still. (Or 1p so the pad doesn’t slide around). I don’t care much about DW.
Thinking about a quilt as well. The sleeping pad is good but I feel confined in my BA mummy sleeping bag. Next time bring more bug spray and sun screen. Bug spray apply liberally (not deet bc that’s bad for material.)”
Day 2: “Woke up around 830am. Back and right shoulder is hurting because I slid off the pad and onto the bathtub floor (the name for the bottom of the tent). We’re taking our time since the distance between the stop points are several miles. We placed our bear cannisters downwind about 200 yards from our camp- they weren’t bothered overnight. We wrapped up our gear and went to eat coffee and breakfast. Discovered that breakfast is better than lunch on backpacking trip.
Most of the hike after that was a lot of elevation gain. We learned from the day before and took many breaks. There were so many switchbacks on the ridge of hurricane pass. Mosquitos were not scarce as well. I would say this trip would be 40% better if they weren’t around. But going up the ridge to the top was BEAUTIFUL. This is the view I want from a national park journey. On the top my beloved sitpad flew off the ridge and landed on the ledge below it. Paul being the trooper he is took off the tip of the hiking pole and stabbed the pad and pulled it up — all while I was holding his belt. What a scene!
We finally got to Alaska basin- definitely all wilderness! There were a few tents set up so we took a bit to find our spot but we ended up commandeering a small rock top with trees. But the mosquito problem is huge! This wilderness has too many mosquitoes. This trip would be almost perfect if there were none.”
Day 3: “We woke up on our rocky campsite around 7–8am. Didn’t sleep too well. Tossing and turning and scratching my bug bites. The mosquitos woke up with us too. We wrapped up. Like clockwork, I went on my regular poop- it’s pretty easy and natural. We ate breakfast. The bear canisters again were left undisturbed. Todays hike was pretty awesome. The first 3–4 miles were flat but had some uphill elevation and the normal switchbacks. But I really really enjoyed todays hike. It was much easier leaving Alaska basin. We said our farewell to jedidiah wilderness and entered hills of lavender fields that went on for 2–3 miles. Every so often we would run into the occasional hiker and groups. The breeze on the death canyon shelf was amazing. We ended up finding the best campsite on the shelf overlooking the valley. Nice tree cover and way less mosquitos than the other night. Still had mosquitos tho. We met guys who we thought were shooting guns but they cautioned us that they were whips. We tried them and I whipped my arm and neck. It was fun tho. What a nice location to end our last night in Teton!”
Day 4: “It was pretty refreshing to wake up and know that that was the last day of our trek. But I woke up also not feeling refreshed…at 5am.
This was by far the best camp site we had over the last 3 nights. I had the morning alone waiting for the sun to rise over mt Teton. Eventually everyone woke up and we had our last breakfast overlooking the Death Valley.
We starting our last leg but little did we know that it was going to be a little more than 10 miles. The hike to the trailhead was brutal! The first few miles were ok- some downhill coming down the mountain shelf.
The middle was flat with endless fields of wildflowers with a narrow path we were trying to navigate. Those middle miles were tolerating due to the Disney singing but I got distracted and sprained my left ankle on a rock. Paul, fortunately and expectantly, had ace wrap and Andrew prescribed advil x3. Thats what got me to the end. But it wasnt without more rocky downhill and a horrible stretch of steep switchbacks that required intermittent breaks in the little shade the trees provided as the hot sun was beating down on us. Once we were at the top of phelps lake it was all down hill. We were counting down the last tenths of a mile. And once we got to the trailhead of death canyon it was over. Plopped to the ground and waited for Paul and Andrew to get the car to take us to an oh so needed shower.”
Forgive the typos but I was typing this on my phone after being tired every night.
Dk
