[rocknclimb]

My 1st trip to the Teton Range was a couple years ago after returning from a climb of Fremont in the Winds w/ my dad. Sadly we only had a 1/2 day to explore before heading back to WA. However, I fell in love w/ the range immediately and knew my return wouldn't be long. My dad & I typically do one big backpacking / climbing trip every year, and I could not have been happier when he asked about doing the Teton Crest for 2020. Not sure he was thrilled about me adding the thought of climbing the Grand as well. Luckily we were able to secure our permits back in February and was just hoping for good weather.........As months pressed on COVID became a real concern though. Dad had already lost a Vegas, Havasu Falls, & Oregon Coast vacation from the virus. My work threatened a 10 day unpaid leave for leaving WA. However, we pushed on w/ our plans despite the risk & headed out on Saturday the 15th. The first stop was Quarry Brewery in Butte MT for a couple local drinks. After quenching our thirst we made our way to the neat Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park for the evening. Reports of GTNP campgrounds filling up early in 2020 were well publicized, so we got an early start to Gros Ventre on Sunday. Thankfully we had no issue getting a site around 11:30.

Mountains & meadows

Grand detail

Entering the Teton Range

Spent the day in Teton Village & Jackson being tourists for the most part. Stopped at The Mangy Moose & Cowboy Bar for some welcomed local beers. Monday was all prep for the crest, but the sun was out & I found the time for some photos as we drove between String Lake & Granite Canyon. Saw our 1st Moose of the trip en route. Oh, more local beers from Snake River & The Roadhouse

Sunset

Teton Range

The Grand

Cathedral group

Moran

Moran reflection

Tetons

Big Teton, Teewinot, & Owen

Owen

Mt Moran

String Lake

Moose near Granite Canyon TH

We headed for the String Lk TH Tuesday morning hoping for a lucky Uber or Lyft to take us to Granite Canyon.... No chance. Typically one of us would have hitched a ride, but the park was asking people to avoid such activities due to COVID. Paid $$$ for a taxi service, and it worked out just fine. Our permit made for leisurely days hoping to beat any afternoon storms. The 1st camp was at Lower Granite Canyon about 6 miles from the taxi. Met a group of hikers that had a broken water filter and offered us canned wine for filtered water.....Deal! Views began to open a bit on Wednesday as we got into the upper canyon. Had lunch at Marion Lake before heading into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.

Upper Granite Canyon

Break time

Bear rock

Nice trail

Sheep

Marion

Leaving Marion Lake

Marion Lake

Green & blue

Pristine trail among the flowers

The heart of the Tetons came to view at this moment & I nearly stood paralyzed. The view of the high alpine meadows with mountains above was imposing.

Cool looking peak

scenery

Crossing Jedediah Wilderness

Contrast above Marion

Lupine, Paintbrush, and more

Dad in the meadows

Cool rocks

meadows & mountains

Alpine meadows

Jedediah Wilderness

Such cool country

The view only got better as we neared our camp on Death Canyon Shelf. If you do the Crest I highly recommend this camp. Spent the afternoon & evening roaming along the shelf soaking in all the views.

spectacular

Sheep

Beginning of the shelf

Fading light

Detail

Death Canyon

Grand Teton

camp on the shelf

"W..T. .F..". Exact quote as I exited the tent hoping for Sunrise Thursday morning, but seeing a sky full of smoke instead.

ominous sunrise

Death Canyon Shelf in the smoke

Trail and smoke

Flowers

Would take us a day to learn that California had blew up with fires. Thursday was our longest mileage day as we would cross Alaska Basin, head over Hurricane Pass, and work our way back up North Cascade Canyon. The smoke was thick, but surprisingly it didn't seem to bother us much.

Easy miles

Alaska Basin & Buck Mtm

Alaska Basin

Sunrise Lake

Dad in Alaska Basin

Color amongst the grey

What a cool place to ride a horse!

Horses & the Grand

Wilderness

Had lunch in South Cascade Canyon looking up at the Grand and other peaks hoping the view would clear in the coming days for my summit attempt.

Tetons

South Teton & School Room Glacier

Grand, Middle, & South

School Room Glacier

Deer leg

Smokey Tetons

Waterfalls

South Cascade Canyon

Heading down the canyon we came across a moose in South Cascade Canyon right on trail. Took a bit of motivation to get him to move a bit so we could be on our way. Just a few minutes later we saw a fox on the trail eating his prized marmot. Pretty cool stuff!

Moose

Bull Moose

On the way to dinner

Fox and its kill

Found camp a couple miles short of Lake Solitude a bit before sunset. Sky was still hazy, but I wasn't complaining.

Grand Teton

Own, Grand, & Middle Teton

Hornets nest discovered after throwing our food rope over and getting stung in the face

Continued on Friday to Lake Solitude and over Paintbrush Divide. Smoke continued to hinder the views a bit, but we had avoided any adverse weather to this point including rain or storms. Paintbrush Divide is the hight point of the trip nearing 11,000'. We managed to avoid any kind of significant snow up here.

Upper Cascade Canyon

Alone at Lake Solitude

Lake Solitude

Solitude reflections

Leaving Lake Solitude

Looking down at Solitude

Trail in the choss

Paintbrush Divide

Smoke at the divide

Dad staring at the Grand

Martian landscape

High point of the Crest

Smokey views from the Divide

Choss & smoke

Grizzly Bear Lake

Paintbrush Divide

Dad below Paintbrush Divide

Holly Lake

After a quick lunch at Holly Lake we headed for our camp in Lower Paintbrush Canyon. Saturday morning we finished the final 4 miles down to the car and headed back to Gros Ventre for a campsite. Margaritas and Mexican food was had in celebration at Merry Piglets that evening. We moved our camp to Jenny Lake on Sunday allowing me easier access into the Tetons the following week. Since my dad was heading to AZ early the next day we again celebrated back in Jackson a successful hike of the crest at the Silver Dollar Restaurant. From here my focus would lie solely on The Grand Teton. Unfortunately the weather forecast for my summit day was the worst the mountain had seen in 30 days..."40% chance of rain with overnight & afternoon T-storms"....Meh, just kept hoping for the best. After dropping my dad off at the airport I headed back up Cascade Canyon Monday w/ the rock shoes & gear. We managed a quick 5 pitch climb along with some bouldering before the rain began to fall around 3:00. Ran into a cinnamon bear hanging with the folks at Hidden Falls that seemed a little too comfortable around that many people. A ranger soon chased him out the area while scolding everyone to put their food away. After some rest at Jenny Lake Camp I had a nice dinner and drink at Dornan's. Headed up the Lupine Meadows TH at 8:00 on Tuesday hoping to beat the predicted heavy storm that threatened our climb. The trail worked its way 7 miles with about 4,800' of gain up Garnett Canyon through the Meadows, Petzolt Caves, Glacial moraine camp, and then to the lower saddle w/ some fixed lines for help.

Reached the saddle at 3:00 happy to be under sunny skies, but could see the approaching storm from the Idaho side. **Should finish TR tonight?**

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Looks great, other than the smoke. Wow, a marmot is quite a meal for a fox. Moose everywhere it looks like. I've done bits and pieces of that on several visits to the Park but haven't done the whole traverse. Beautiful country.

[mtn.climber]

I sure enjoyed the first week that we spent on the Crest. Memories that will last a lifetime. Too bad I didn't get to join for the Grand climb. You need to continue your story...

[kitya]

Are you sure it is a marmot? It doesn't look like the marmots I know!

[rocknclimb]

[kitya]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Huh, that's interesting. It doesn't really look like a badger to me. What is that thing?

[Michael Lewis]

Eagerly looking forward to the rest of the report!

[Kascadia]

Based on the teeth, I'd call that a rodent/marmot.

[coldrain108]

Great trip, Tetons are amazing. Looks like a marmot. I watched a young eagle kill and shred a marmot in Dose Meadows a couple of years ago. Both fascinating and horrifying at the same time.