I did a quick sketch and we filtered some water for the return trip. Much to our dismay, the wind was howling and it was too chilly to hang out for hours. We hiked the seven miles to the lake at a slow pace, stopping along the way to take photos and eat snacks. Maybe we could do the 20-mile loop another year as part of a multi-day backpack–with sleeping in between the hiking segments.Īs planned, we slept late next morning and didn’t hit the trail until 9:30 a.m. My hope was to sleep in, hike at a leisurely pace to Holly Lake and then sketch and relax. Over the previous week we had hiked numerous trails, climbed Middle Teton, bouldered on huge rocks left behind on an old glacial moraine, and paddled canoes on Jackson Lake. I was hoping for a more relaxing plan for our final day. No way was I going to do 20 miles. Anyway, it had been already been an action-packed vacation. She had done it earlier in the summer and said it was breathtaking.Ģ0 miles? The longest hike I had ever done in one day was around 13 miles. I was so tired at the end of it I could barely walk. When we mentioned our hiking plans for the next day, she explained that instead of stopping at the lake, we could could keep going and complete a 20-mile loop. We had stuck around to chat with her after her inspiring evening amphitheater talk at Colter Bay Campground during our vacation in Grand Teton National Park in August. Arrived Sleeping Bear RV Park, Lander, Wyoming 2.You guys should continue on after Holly Lake and do the Paintbrush/Cascade Canyon Loop, suggested Ranger Josie.Our First Campfire Since the Everglades!.Wind River Hike - Fiddler's Lake to Upper Silas Lake.Watching Old Faithful from the Historic Old Faithf.Knocking About Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons.Hike Around Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons.Backpacking - Paintbrush Canyon and Leigh Lake.Backpack to Shoshone Lake and Geyser Basin.Fishing the Madison River in Yellowstone.The French Family passed again, and we invited them in to sit a spell and enjoy the view from the beach. We soon found ourselves at our campsite looking back up into Paintbrush Canyon. We'd stop for a photo op and they would pass us. We kept running into them as we hiked around Leigh Lake. As we approached the trailhead to Leigh Lake, we met one family from France - mom, dad and 30-something daughter. It wasn't long before we started running into day hikers. The trip back down the canyon was definitely easier than going up. We were out early the next day, so we never learned how they fared. They were so beat that all they did was set up their tent and go to bed. Kudos for the 9 year old for backpacking all that way in the snow! Demerits to the numbskull parents for putting her in that position. Just after diner, a family (mom, dad and 9 year old daughter) came down the trail having hiked up Cascade Canyon, crossed over the Upper Paintbrush Divide (which is completely snow covered) and down Paintbrush Canyon (which was also snow covered). The snow was just too deep, wet and slushy. Shortly after happy hour, the two twenty-something hiker dudes came by and admitted that they never made it to Holly Lake. We parted company and watched the two hiker dudes struggle up the snowy cliffside, as the mountaineers scampered down the trail ahead of us.īack at camp, our kitchen area was right next to the creek along the trail. The two twenty-something hiker dudes were going to try anyway. The mountaineers confirmed our suspicions that the snow wasn't at all pleasant to hike through. The other guy skied down in just hiking boots! (We were taking bets with two hikers dudes to see if he would make it down without breaking anything.) The one woman in the group simply walked through the snow following the switchbacks on the trail. One guy found some snow-free boulders to climb down. We met a few mountain climbers after they made their way down the snowy slope. We stopped for a snack before heading back to camp.
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