She looked over my plans and lined me up with the premier campsites, spaced over the days I had to hike. Most Cresters cheat, taking the tram from Teton Village, cutting off a 2,000 foot climb.Ĭall me many things, and people have, but I’ve never been one to do anything the easy way. Maps and guidebooks pick three different trailheads that all, after a day’s pack, converge on Moose Divide. Just where does the Teton Crest Trail begin? Well, there is no real agreement on it. She smelled good, too, which was a heavenly contrast to the hitchhiker I had picked up in Dubois and had just dropped off on the highway. I hate to admit it but the staff was more than pleasant and patient. I had to set aside my pride and belly up to the bar, the bar being the counter that is the backcountry desk of the Senator Thomas Visitor Center at Moose. It drops over a divide through the plunging canyons, spilling out at their feet. Twenty five dollars at the gate.īut the Teton Crest Trail runs the high line behind the mighty peaks. I want to camp where I want to camp when I want to camp. It’s one of the top ten alpine hikes anywhere, Switzerland, New Zealand and Patagonia included. The Teton Crest Trail draws trekkers from all over the world. Useful comments will continue to be posted. I have moved away from Cheyenne and am no longer maintaining this site. After cutting off that hellacious segment, however, we enjoyed a much more peaceful hike as we finished the last couple miles along Jenny Lake’s northwest shore.The information in this piece may be out of date. While it was probably only about a mile where the trail got painfully busy, it felt like an eternity. Needless to say, we opted to take a fork to the left and return directly to String Lake without visiting the overcrowded hotspots. ![]() Many visitors take the 12-minute boat shuttle across Jenny Lake to make the easy, two-mile round-trip walk to the falls and overlook. The two landmarks – a viewpoint overlooking Jenny Lake and a 100-foot cascade – are two of the most popular spots in the Tetons. That last short portion of trail along Cascade Creek is home to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls. ![]() ![]() I was not at all comfortable with the throngs on people on that last section of trail, and we hastened our already quick pace just to get away from everyone. ![]() So much so, that for the first time in four months of hiking, we were forced to put on our masks. Unexpectedly, after a really beautiful, tranquil hike, the approach to Jenny Lake became appalling crowded. While we chose to continue up Paintbrush Canyon, a quick detour past the lakeshore wouldn’t have added any extra mileage to the route (as noted on trail map). Around 5.5 miles from the trailhead, the trail split with an optional detour leading to the shore of Holly Lake. The forest quickly thinned as the trail climbed more steeply through the canyon, gaining 3,200 vertical feet over the next 4.5 miles. Hiking this direction allowed us to ascend the steeper section of trail first, and to enjoy continuous views of Grand Teton and the Cathedral Group as we descended through Cascade Canyon on the return.įor the first 3.5 miles, the trail climbed gently through the forests along the shore of String Lake to Paintbrush Canyon, offering a quick glimpse of Leigh Lake. The trail can be hiked in either direction, and we ultimately opted to hike counterclockwise. Parking is fairly limited, so we’d recommend getting there early to secure a spot. The trail to Paintbrush Divide begins at the String Lake Trailhead, just north of Jenny Lake.
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