GTNP Backpacking, September 6-7, 2011

September 6-7th, is a great time to backpack.  The Labor Day crowds have left for home by this point, and beauty abounds.  A friend and I, went to Grand Teton National Park and did a 2 night, 2 day trip.  Our first night, we camped at String Lake camping area 13.
 
We started hiking in the dark around 10 pm on Monday night.  From our headlamps, we saw some other animals eyes in the dark which was a little scary considering the recent book I've been reading; 'Mark of The Grizzley, True Stories of Recent Bear Attacks & The Hard Lessons Learned', by Scott McMillion. 

The next morning, we broke camp and started hiking up Paintbrush Canyon.  It was a beautiful morning; clear with little wind.  We backpacked up the canyon and took a brief break to catch our breath as we climbed over 4000 feet.  We stopped for lunch at Holly Lake.  It was chilly, and the cloud cover began to roll in and it became darker with rain clouds moving quickly over the ridge of the divide.

The rain began to fall and it cooled off quicly.  I thought we might be in for a rough next several hours considering our backcountry permit for the night required us to continue into the North Fork of Cascade Canyon. 

As the rain fell, we huddled for a few minutes next to a large dead tree that provided shelter from the wind and rain.  After about 15 minutes, the rain tapered and we decided to press on and head up to Paintbrush Divide while hoping for continued good weather.  As we hiked up the trail, the weather changed for the better.  However, we passed many people coming down from Paintbrush Divide.  All of them said that the weather on the divide was pretty cold, snowing, and very windy.  I guess it should not suprise anyone that's how it is at 10,700 feet in the Teton Range in September. 

There were a couple of men coming down the trail that were fully loaded with heavy backpacks, trekking poles, and all the gear.  As we passed one another of course the typical backcountry exchange occurred.  "How's it going?" I asked.  "Good, but we turned around at the divide", one of the two men responded.  "Oh yeah, how come?" I inquired.  "The pass is so exposed and dangerous to cross, you have to be crazy!  Hell, we are on vacation from Michigan & it's just not worth it pushing it too far" was his response.  We exchanged our best wishes and continued on our way.

I thought to myself the pass can't be that bad otherwise we would have been warned by the Rangers when we picked up the Backcountry Camping Permits.  No warning, therefore it can't be that bad so we pressed on.  A short time later we encountered several other parties all of which came over from Cascade Canyon passing over the Divide.  All of them said there were a few steps that required some concentration, but it was easily accomplished.

As we continued hiking up toward the divide we saw some ski tracks in the snowfield below.  I'm always amazed how passion for skiing will make someone work so hard to get a few turns in during the summer months....whoever you are that put down these tracks, you have my respect!

We continued hiking up the trail and over the Paintbrush Divide (which was not nearly as exposed or scary as our friends from Michigan said).  From the top of the divide at 10,700 feet, you have a fantastic view of the surrounding mountain range in the area.  Also, a beautiful view of the Tetons. 

We didn't stay long on the divide because it was very windy & it started to snow.  The clouds rolling in over The Grand created for some very cool views & photos.

As we passed over the Divide, we started to decend down into the North Fork of Cascade Canyon.  You can see the trail is very obvious at this point, but has tons of rocks and has great views of Solitude Lake along with a birds eye view of the entire canyon.

After hiking down the canyon, past Solitude Lake, and a huge Mule Buck we found one of about 5 designated camps in the North Fork of Cascade Canyon.  We set up camp, made dinner, and then enjoyed the view from The Room At The Top of The World.  The sun set, and the moon rose above The Grand.  The end of a great day!

 The next morning, we took our time getting up and heading out.  We descended Cascade Canyon and headed back to the truck at the String Lake Trailhead.  As we were hiking out, we passed our two friends from Michigan.  They were hiking up Cascade Canyon.  As we passed each other, I recognized the two men & said hello again.  We stopped and visited about our trips.  Evidently, the night before they descended all the way to Jenny Lake Lodge.  They asked how The Divide passage was for us, and we said it was a lot like they said, but we were able to navigate it safely (again, it really wasn't that bad).  We parted ways, & I could not help but chuckle & be grateful for growing up in the West.

I had a great trip and enjoyed being outside.  It gave me time to clear my head, remember old friends, make some new friends, and simply enjoy being outside again.