TR: Summer in Grand Teton National Park, 2023

[al_in_al]

I spent nearly 6 months living and working in Grand Teton National Park last summer (late-April through mid-October 2023). I thought I would do a trip report, with each post focusing on a different trail (instead of a day-by-day account). Since I did some hikes multiple times, it will help with my goal of looking at my pictures to see how the scenery changed throughout the year. I'm not sure how many trails I'll do - it's pretty time consuming, but I'm hoping it will be a fun winter project.

ETA: I hiked 880 miles over the summer. I hiked pretty much every trail mile on the park map that was reachable as a day hike. And I completed all the numbered hikes on the Hike734 map, except for Avalanche Divide (because the boat shuttle stopped running before I realized I wanted to do it!).

[al_in_al]

First up, Taggart Lake.

I was doing a local hike the other day, the one I do when I want a quick, solid 4 miles, but don't want to think too hard about the logistics. The one where I can't help snapping a few pictures of the same scenery every time. And as I was hiking I suddenly thought "I wish I was hiking to Taggart Lake". Because that was my quick not-too-hard but not-too-easy go-to over the summer. I hiked to Taggart Lake 8 times, and occasionally threw in a trip to Bradley Lake.

The spot near the trail split to each lake where I took a photo nearly every time, but none of them actually capture how beautiful it is.



My first trip to the lake was May 7th. It was disappointing because it snowed, and I couldn't see the mountains around the lake (which was still frozen over). It was also fun and magical because I was hiking in the snow!



May 26th was a little better for scenery. There are great views near the road, as you can tell by the power lines that get in the way of your photos.





Ah, you can see the lake!


June 14th



July 3rd





July 30th







September 17 (clear) and October 6 (clouds) I woke up early to watch sunrise at Taggart Lake. The timing works out pretty well - I think my goal was to start the hike about 40 minutes before sunrise, which meant I only had to hike a short distance with my headlamp. And "the spot" looks nice with a pre-sunrise glow.



Then you have a short amount of time at the lake to pick a spot (or just keep walking through the whole sunrise like I did the first time).













On Oct 6 I also headed a short distance up Avalanche Canyon, and had a nice bear encounter.


October 11 - there's some fall color visible, but I managed to miss what should be some really nice aspen color on the trail in.



And finally, some shots of Bradley Lake (for some reason, I never got into Bradley as much).

[Selkie]

Scrumptious!
Looking forward to more goodness. On my 3 (so far) visits to Yellowstone, I visited Grand Teton NP but didn't do much.
(I surprised myself by liking Yellowstone, and if I lived closer, I would visit more often.)

[al_in_al]

Teton Park Road to Jenny Lake

The inner park road is closed over the winter, and groomed for cross country skiing. I happened to arrive after it melted out but before it reopened to cars (May 1 each year), which is prime time to bike (or walk, or rollerskate) the road.



I have to say, I wasn't really impressed by the road walk. The views are distant enough that you don't really gain anything at this slower speed. In contrast to walking the GTTSR before it is open to cars, which is awesome.

From the Cottonwood Creek parking area (the closest you can park to the gates on the south end of the road) to Jenny Lake and back, I logged 11.5 miles. It was peaceful in the morning, but QUITE busy on the way back (it was a weekend), and parking was backed up over a mile from the gate.



It was nice to get to see Jenny Lake without any people. No snow had been cleared in the developed area, and I saw lots of people get to the parking lot and not go any further. I knew approximately where the paths were, so I easily (well, as easily as you can in deepish snow with hiking boots) made it to the lake.



I tried to hike towards Hidden Falls, but didn't get far (too much snow - snowshoes might have helped, but route finding would have been necessary - there weren't obvious tracks).





Avalanche-waterfall.


And a fox enjoying the lack of people, too.

[al_in_al]

Scrumptious!
Looking forward to more goodness. On my 3 (so far) visits to Yellowstone, I visited Grand Teton NP but didn't do much.
(I surprised myself by liking Yellowstone, and if I lived closer, I would visit more often.)

Glacier will forever be my favorite, but I do love Yellowstone. Worked there in 2021, and waited until the end of August to start visiting the Tetons, then started going once a week for the hiking. The one drawback of the Tetons is that it's so small, so I found myself repeating a lot of hikes and views, but I never got tired of them. And hiking up the canyons is addicting.

[al_in_al]

Blacktail Butte

I hiked this trail twice, once on June 13 (overcast), and again on July 1 (clearer). Both times, I wasn't expecting much, and both times I was pleasantly surprised. I found out after my first hike when I stopped by the Craig Thomas Discovery Center that the trail is recommended for its flower displays, and I certainly agree.











One interesting "feature" of GTNP is that there is an airport inside the park. I've been occasionally annoyed by airplane noises while hiking, however, it wasn't as bad as I feared over the summer.



The trail, as shown on park maps, doesn't actually go to the top of the butte. But there is an obvious trail that leads there, which I recommend taking - go beyond the "peak" to a nice view to the southwest (part of the airport runway is on the left). If you take the main trail and side trail, the total distance is around 8 miles RT.







Looking up Death Canyon.

[FuzzySideDown]

Great photos!

[zozeppelin]

Jealous! Thanks so much for sharing your summer. I was there doing the Teton Crest in early August - the nonstop rain week. It had been a decade since I had been there and wow is it expensive.

If I recall correctly, you did the same in Glacier the year prior? That is really cool plan you have. Where to this year?

[Selkie]

al_in_al,
Thanks for these great photos. I gather the flowers were from the July hikes?
The fox photo has special charm - "I am fox, and that field mouse was delicious."

Bear too, as tibber says: looks like a bit of surprise for both!

[tibber]

oh my, how fabulous .

The photos were exceptional, so many different moods. The angle was great altho made me a little nervous...the photo was really something!

[al_in_al]

Jealous! Thanks so much for sharing your summer. I was there doing the Teton Crest in early August - the nonstop rain week. It had been a decade since I had been there and wow is it expensive.

If I recall correctly, you did the same in Glacier the year prior? That is really cool plan you have. Where to this year?

Back to Glacier this summer. Bummer about the rain during your trip - that must have been the same time my family was visiting - they had about half a day of nice views before the rain moved in.

al_in_al,
Thanks for these great photos. I gather the flowers were from the July hikes?

Both June and July for Blacktail Butte. In June the flowers were peak earlier in the trail. In July they were better at the "airport view". Last pic in the post is from July, past peak for the arrowleaf balsamroot bloom there.

The angle was great altho made me a little nervous...the photo was really something!

My camera does have a 30x zoom (and I used it all for the bear!). I had been closer and saw bushes moving. Confirmed it was a bear, and decided my hike was over (the trail had petered out by then, and I wasn't sure about continuing anyway). I was heading away from the bear, making plenty of noise because of the lack of trail, and when I turned around to check on it, he was up on the rock, posing quite nicely.

[davidwayne]

Thank you for the great reports and photos! What a way to spend 6 months!!

[al_in_al]

Paintbrush Divide Loop

When asked, I have claimed this as my favorite hike in the Tetons. It's a spectacular 20-mile true loop hike. I've only ever done it counter-clockwise - heading up Paintbrush Canyon, crossing the divide, and going down Cascade Canyon - there is a steep section near the top on the Paintbrush side that I'd rather go up than down, though the Grand Teton National Park Foundation recently improved this area and it's not as bad as it used to be (no scrambling any more).

I did this hike twice last year, once on August 9 and again on October 10. I was really tickled I got to do it a second time - when the government threatened to shut down, I made some choices - instead of doing this hike at the end of September, I used my weekend to hike Mt. Hunt Divide (a new hike), and return to Yellowstone one last time. Then, when the government (thus, the parks) remained open, weather intervened. But the stars aligned on my final weekend, and I had a gorgeous day for the hike.

August had some really nice flower displays, and while the trees had all lost their leaves in October, there was still some nice fall color to be found.

One of my favorite views in the park - crossing the String Lake Outlet, just steps from the parking area. Funny how it's totally clear in the morning here, but by the time I got to the divide, Grand was covered in clouds.




Took a "sunrise" picture in the same spot both times.


October had a nice sunrise.


Fall color near the boulder field.


Usually there are lake views down the canyon.


When I'm doing the full loop, I like to skip going to Holly Lake (so as not to waste time there) and walk along the "backside" of the canyon.





There's still a nice overlook to see Holly Lake, which is where I stop for first lunch.





Lingering snowfield in August. The divide is the saddle in the background. I had microspikes, but didn't use them.


There was new snow in October. It wasn't as treacherous as it might look, but I did use my microspikes (I already had them out because there was actually an icy section way down on the trail, before Holly Lake).


The divide!








High spot past the divide - time for second lunch.


First glimpse of Micah Lake, across the canyon.


Disappointment in August, turning down the Cascade Canyon side should be a fantastic view of Grand, if not for the clouds.


Much better show in October.




Now, what I don't understand is the name Paintbrush Canyon. I had been told, or assumed, that it was named for having great flower displays. And while there were always some flowers there, I never saw enough to justify the name.

Fantastic flowers coming down the North Fork of Cascade Canyon in August.









More of Grand.


This crazy pika - terrible picture, but look at the size of those greens!


Cascade Canyon, named for all the cascades.


Fireweed in August.


And fall color in October.



















Moose sighting in October.


Fall in Cascade Canyon.

[tibber]

Nice:

Fantastic flowers coming down the North Fork of Cascade Canyon in August

(fab photo too)
plus a pika and a couple moose.

[al_in_al]

From my favorite hike to my least - this one is named Dumb hike in my hiking log.

September 28.

This was part of my attempt to hike all the dotted lines on the park map that I could reach in a day. According to GTNP's website, this is considered part of the Hermitage Point trail. I started at the Hermitage Point trailhead at Colter Bay village, but hiked up the east side of Swan Lake until the connection to the Willow Flats trail. I ended up logging 8.6 miles, which was more than I intended for an after work hike.

It was very clear that no one hikes this trail. No one.

Right after the junction leading away from the well traveled trails, you cross Third Creek, with no clear indication of where the crossing is. I found some logs, I think, but it was pretty treacherous (in terms of risking dunking myself, not death).



Then, park signs pointed me to Swan Lake Overlook. A viewpoint I had never heard of before, or since. It's nice, but with the questionable water crossing, not really worth it imo.





I continued east. This is a picture of some of the "best" trail through the meadows. It disappeared at times, and I had to consult my GPS frequently lest I get off-route.


Some nice fall color in the distance.




On the way back, I took the Swan Lake trail, which had been closed most of the summer due to nesting swans. Which I immediately saw as I approached the lake!


At least I was treated to a nice sunset glow on the way home.