It's hard to pull myself away from horseback riding at the Triangle X Ranch in Moose, WY. However, Jackson has a plethora of other outdoors activities to offer: fishing, float trips, running, biking and hiking in two of the nations premiere national parks. D, the Captain and 2 other guests at the ranch CF and BF decided that this year we would tackle a hike in Grand Teton National Park.
The Park includes the Teton Range, the youngest set of mountains in the Rocky Mountain Range. It is named for the "Grand Teton", the tallest peak of the range at 13,775 ft. The French traders who passed through the range selling their fur dubbed the Grand and the two other surrounding peaks "les trois tetons" aka "the three breasts". This has led to countless awkward interactions amongst parents and their inquisitive children who would like to know what "tetons" means.
After perusing a book of hikes in the region, we settled on one that would take us to Amphitheater Lake. The trail starts at at 6700ft and winds up 4.9 miles to our destination, an alpine lake at 9,700 ft. Much of the elevation gain is along a group of switchbacks.
Sunday morning, we filled up on a typical "ranch" breakfast of eggs and bacon. At the end of the meal, the Captain made himself a sandwich of french toast, bacon and an egg and stashed it away for lunch. Once our bellys were full it was time to drive over to the park. We made one pit stop at Dornan's for another cup of coffee and were soon inside the park.
We passed Bradley and Taggert Lakes and pulled into the parking lot at Lupine Meadows. By 10am we were on our way! The trail ascends fairly quickly, but the switchbacks are cut widely into the mountainside for a pleasant walk. You don't feel like you are climbing as quickly as you actually are. We were afforded great views of the lakes below and the whole plain that swoops over towards Jackson.
Just near the top we were rewarded with a close up view of Disappointment Peak, Grand Teton and Owen Peak. A little further down the path was the first lake, Surprise Lake. The water was crystal clear albeit freezing from the snowmelt and high altitude. Several people were enjoying the scenery although it didn't feel crowded at all. D and I perched on a rock jutting into the water and took in the view. There's nothing like being outside on a perfectly clear day!
We lingered at the lake for a few mintues, taking in the sight and then put on our packs again and continued the 0.2 miles to Amphitheater lake. We made it! The approach to this circular lake is flat about half of the way around. The remainder of the banks quickly slope upwards to steep rock faces. A natural Amphitheater with peaks of the Tetons still towering over us even at this height up the mountainside. We ate lunch, then relaxed. D and I walked a bit around and found a butterfly flapping in the water. D rescued it with a stick and dryied out its wings in the mid-day sun. Slowly the little insect began flapping again and was ready to take flight when we were ready to trek back down the mountainside.
The way down was just a lovely as the trek upwards. The morning haze had cleared and we were able to see further across the plains. We noted that there were four separate fires up and down the opposite range.
About half way down the slopes D spotted a delicious snack: huckleberries! This cousin of the blueberry (and state flower of idaho!) is a darker purple than it's more famous brethren but just as tasty. Yum! We had a taste of a few to carry us the rest of the way to the car. We arrived back to the lot at about 5pm, tired but content. It was a great day spent with wonderful company in one of the best places on earth.
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