I didn’t even know I needed a plan C or D. I left my job a few days early to check off one of my bucket list hikes. The Grand Teton Loop. I first heard about this hike over a decade ago and had never made the time to complete it despite it being in my backyard (figuratively). The trip started off great! I packed all my stuff (without forgetting a thing!). It was a beautiful drive through Yellowstone! I made it to the campsite nearest the permit office with plenty of time to organize my car! I woke up early to be the first in line at the permit office! Then the permit office opened at 8:00 am with me first in line… and this is where the story goes a bit sideways. Despite checking reports of the trail, I somehow missed that the Teton Crest part of the trail was still under a lot of snow and ice and virtually impassable without mountaineering equipment. I did have crampons but I am not set up for solo mountaineering. We have had record snowfall this year and I didn’t take that into consideration. Second, I didn’t fully understand the walk-up permits and first-come, first-serve. You can book campsites two nights in advance anticipating that it is a 3 day trek so even though I was first in line arriving at 4:30 am, the sites I wanted were already booked. I didn’t actually have a plan B so I asked what I should do. My original plan was Jenny Lake to Phelps Lake, then Phelps Lake to South Fork Cascade, and South Fork Cascade back to Jenny Lake.
The new plan was a day hike up Cascade Canyon from Jenny Lake until the trail split into North and South Fork because there were no camping permits available the day of. This would have been my hike out on my original plan. Then I bought a permit for Death Canyon for the second night. I had planned on starting at Lupine Meadow trailhead to cut a little distance off because Death Canyon was further than Phelps Lake. This would have been similar to my previous Day One plan until the second to last fork where I would go to Death Canyon past both Phelps Lake and the Alaska Basin cut-off. Day one went according to the new plan, but day two and three did not, but I will get to that later.
If you are looking to get off the beaten path and enjoy some wilderness in solitude, this is NOT the trail for you. There was a steady flow of traffic around the side of Jenny Lake and up to Inspiration Point. The traffic started to thin some, but I would still call it traffic throughout the hike to where Cascade Canyon splits into North and South Fork. If you are looking for an amazing overview of a lake at Inspiration Point followed by lush forest with wilted wildflowers that still added a brilliant pop of color and Hidden Falls and mountain tops touring above you with endless waterfalls, this is the trail for you! The hike itself was beautiful and not very challenging which is why it was probably so crowded.
Because I didn’t have a camp place reserved for night one of the hike, I ended up driving about 40 minutes to Pacific Creek Campground which is on Forest Service and is my definition of first-come, first-serve. I made it to the campground around 5 pm after my morning shenanigans at the permit office and a fairly quick day hike. It was a bit stormy when I arrived so I waited it out in my car until the rain lightened and then made dinner, set up my tent, and did some reading before falling asleep. My drive over to Lupine Trailhead the next morning was beautiful with an extremely calm Jenny Lake and morning fog.
I saw how busy the Jenny Lake Trailhead was when I left the day before with cars parked alongside the road for at least a mile and I knew I wanted to get on the trail before it got hot, so I started early-ish and arrived at the trailhead just before 7am and started my hike from Lupine Meadow Trailhead at around 7:30 am. It started off relaxing with no real elevation change and I quickly passed Bradley and Taggart Lake with relatively little traffic compared to the day before. I caught Bradley at just the right time with the lake still calm and reflective. As I rounded Taggart Lake Loop Trail where I was supposed to turn off onto Valley Trail, I encountered a sign “Warning, For resource protection and visitor safety AREA BEYOND THIS SIGN IS CLOSED TO ALL TRAVEL”. I happened to pass a couple right before encountering this sign. I assumed that my map or my gps must be off so I continued down Taggart Loop Trail. I double checked my GPS and I was supposed to take that trail. I started to second guess whether I misread the sign so I turned around and hiked back up to it and passed the same couple again. I explained that I thought I was supposed to turn on that closed trail. They had not noticed the closed sign. I took a picture of it the second time and it really did say it was closed. So I started to hike back out on the Taggart Loop Trail again and caught up with the couple a third time. I jokingly said, “you guys seem like a really nice couple and I just wanted to get to know you guys more.” They laughed. I explained that I was trying to get to Death Canyon and they offered me a ride from the Taggart Loop Trailhead to the Death Canyon Trailhead. I hiked the short distance out with them and took them up on the ride. I later found out the trail had been closed the day before at noon because a Goshawk had some fledglings that were starting to take flight and their mom was a bit protective and was dive bombing hikers. One gal had sustained a head wound in the process.
A 30-minute car ride later and I was back on the trail which started out with a gradual slope but then got steep as it approached the Phelps Lake overlook. Then the trail dropped down switchbacking towards Phelps Lake before switchbacking back up to Death Canyon. This trail closure may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise because it might be a bit hard for me to mention how out of shape I felt during these switchbacks. I camped just after the Group Camp site tucked away in some trees. This spot was recommended by another solo female trekker that I passed on her way out and I was so grateful for the recommendation! I am realizing that I am not sure what to do with myself when I don’t have internet, or a book, or a journal, or someone to converse with. I relaxed in the field by the tent looking up at the cliffs above after making dinner and setting up my tent and filtering water. Then eventually I crawled into my tent and went to bed.
I decided to get up around 7am and took my time packing up camp and making breakfast and was on the trail by 8am and back at the Death Canyon Trailhead by 11am. It seemed way easier on the way out with all the down hill but my shin splints did start to act up. I then walked for about 45 minutes along the road watching for a vehicle to pass heading the direction I wanted to go. Finally, a van came along so I turned around and stuck out my thumb like a regular old hitchhiker. I told him my dilemma with the trail being closed and that my vehicle was back at Lupine Meadow Trailhead and if he could just get me out to the main road, that I should be able to catch another ride from there. He said sure and I jumped in. After a little bit of chatter, he offered to drive me the whole 30 minutes to my car. I am so grateful for kindness from strangers!
I started my drive back through Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming. This dive was pretty uneventful until a large storm rolled in about Yellowstone Lake. The wind was fierce, the waves were large, clouds released a downpour along with some thunder and lightning and there were trees and branches falling. I pulled over to watch the storm and noticed a motorcycle pulled over with the guy working to put on more layers. I pulled up next to him and asked if he wanted to sit it out in a vehicle. He hopped in and the worst of the storm passed in about 10 minutes. I drove the rest of the way to Cody and only had three down trees to drive around between Yellowstone Lake and the park exit.
Grand Teton Loop remains on my bucket list but I did get to explore more of the Tetons and learned a whole lot about permits, checking the snow levels, and how kind complete strangers can be!
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