Teton Crest Trail, August 2019

Total Distance: 38.6 mi
Total Elevation Gain: 8,061 ft

Trip Details

Day 1: 8.3 miles to Marion Lake
Day 2: 9.4 miles to Sunset Lake
Day 3: 10.2 miles to North Fork Cascade
Day 4: 10.7 miles to Jenny Lake Water Taxi

The trail that inspired the blog! My first backpacking trip and the hike that changed my entire perspective. Funny enough, I had no idea this trail existed until about 2 months prior.

In May of 2019, I called a college friend, Hayden, who I hadn’t spoken to in awhile and asked if he wanted to go on a hiking trip with me. I had no plan – I didn’t have dates or even hikes picked out yet – but I had thought about Jackson Hole and now I just needed someone to go with me. To my surprise, after just a 30 minute phone call, Hayden agreed to go on a trip with me.

Once I had a travel partner, I started to seriously look at hikes. I thought we’d spend a couple days in Yellowstone and a couple days in the Grand Tetons – just day hikes, since that was all I was familiar with – until one day Hayden suggested the Teton Crest Trail.

Some quick googling told me that this was a 40 mile trail reaching elevations above 10,000 feet. Cue some minor panicking – “Does this guy really think I can backpack 40 miles? Maybe I should find a new hiking partner.” – but I suppose it also sparked some curiosity inside me. I’d never backpacked before. I didn’t have any gear. And the thought of backpacking really hadn’t even crossed my mind up until then.

So, with a little more encouragement, and many trips to REI, I agreed to it.

We arrived in Jackson on Friday, August 9th. I remember stepping off the plane at the airport and being awestruck at the surrounding mountains. I’m not sure if it’s normal to have a favorite airport, but I do – it’s Jackson Hole.

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The plan was to get up early Saturday morning to get permits and start the trail on Sunday. Mind you, Hayden and I had never hiked together before. I don’t know if our definitions of “early” were aligned, but luckily when I suggested waking up at 4am he didn’t instantly call off the whole trip right then.

I had read that camping permits were extremely competitive, so when we rolled up to the permit office at 5am that morning, I expected there to be a line already. To my surprise, there was only one other group there. We had either chosen an off-day, or I was just insane for suggesting we had to get up at 4am – turns out, it was the latter. Nevertheless, we set up our hammock and over time more people started showing up. By the time the office opened at 7am there was a long line behind us and I think we were both relieved that we had chosen the early wakeup.

Those thoughts were confirmed when we were first in line to talk to Ranger Ricky about our camping options. As soon as we said we were doing the Teton Crest Trail, she booked the Marion Lake campsite for us. “You’ll definitely want to stay there your first night”, she said. You got it, Ranger Ricky, we’ll take it. She also advised us to stay at the Sunset Lake and North Fork Cascades campsites.

Upon checking out, Ranger Ricky asked us who the trip leader was. A quick glance between Hayden and myself and I happily volunteered myself. Along the hike, we decided Trail Leader sounded better than Trip Leader, so from then on I became the official Trail Leader- and that’s how this blog got its name! It’s funny how the simple things stick with you and how one phone call 3 months earlier turned into us walking out of the permit office that morning with everything we needed to start our hike.

That said, we still had a whole day ahead of us – mind you, it wasn’t even 8am at this point. We found a small village within the park and had breakfast, bought the rest of the supplies that we needed for our trip and spent some time driving around the park. We stopped at Jenny Lake and then drove up to Jackson Lake to kayak and finally drove to the Teton Village for icecream and a tram ride.

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That night, Hayden seemed to pack in about 15 minutes while I fumbled around trying to decide how much to bring. When all was said and done, his pack was significantly heavier than mine because he had volunteered to carry nearly everything. “Let me take the hammock at least”, I said, as if that was going to lighten his load at all. Nevertheless, I did have all the PB&J’s in my bag, so who was really carrying the team here?

The next morning, we dropped off our rental car, caught an Uber to the trailhead and before I knew it, we were starting our trail. I should mention there’s a shuttle that allows you to bypass the first 5 miles of the trail, along with nearly 3,000 feet of elevation, but somehow I got talked out of going this route instead. So here we were, starting around 6,000 feet with 30-pound packs and 8 miles and 3,000 feet of elevation to hike.

The trail started off relatively easy, but started gaining elevation shortly thereafter. Again, only slight panicking at this point. I can do this, I’ve hiked 18 miles in one day, so 8 should be easy, right? Well, turns out my sea-level-dwelling self needed some time to adjust to the elevation. It was a slow first day – Hayden pretending not to notice that when I was stopping to take pictures every 10 yards it was really just so I could catch my breath – but we still made it to our campsite at Marion Lake by mid-afternoon. We set up camp, went for a cold swim in the lake, cooked dinner, and settled into our hammock for the sunset. Not a bad start to the trip.

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Day Two started with us heading towards Death Canyon Shelf. This day was slightly longer than the first, but had significantly less elevation so I was able to move a little faster. It was during this day that we caught our first glimpse of the Grand Tetons. There were hardly any clouds in the sky except for right in front of the Tetons, so we decided to find a spot to take a break and wait for the clouds to clear.

It was in this moment – sitting on a boulder, watching the marmots around us and waiting for the clouds to clear so that I could get a photograph – that I started to have the realization that hiking doesn’t need to be a marathon. It doesn’t need to be hard and it doesn’t need to be goal-oriented.

Prior to this hike, I’d done several long and hard Adirondack hikes that were always motivated by being able to check peaks off a list. I’d forgotten that taking breaks to reflect and enjoy the view is actually the most cleansing part about hiking.

We sat on that boulder for a long time, and I don’t think those clouds ever really broke, but this change in mindset was what I needed to slow down and make sure to take everything in.

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The second realization that I had that day was how quiet the trail was. We had hardly seen anyone those first two days and it was so peaceful. We continued onto Alaska Basin until we reached Sunset Lake and set up camp for the second night.

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Day Three was my favorite day. From Sunset Lake we pushed into South Fork Cascade and then North Fork Cascade where the views are absolutely stunning. There’s nothing like being surrounded by wildflowers and rivers and when you look up you experience the most unparalleled views of the Tetons. It’s beautiful.

It was at this point that I started realizing that each day this trail had brought something new and even more beautiful than the previous. Day One we we were just excited to be on the trail and got a taste of the wildflowers and alpine lakes. Day Two we were able to experience the vastness of the canyons and truly experience the abundance of brightly colored wildflowers. And finally, on Day Three we were awestruck by the presence of the Tetons.

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Our third night in North Fork Cascade was also our favorite campsite. We set up camp in the middle of a valley with wildflowers surrounding us, views of the Tetons and several boulders for to climb. After eating dinner that night, Hayden managed to coach me up a boulder and we watched as the sun setting on the Tetons.

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Forgetting that we were in a valley, Day Four we got up early, packed up camp and hiked to Lake Solitude for the sunrise. While we didn’t catch much of the sunrise, laying in the hammock on our last morning and watching a few deer by the lake as the sun started peaking above the Tetons was one of the most surreal moments I’ve had. A large part of me didn’t want the trip to end.

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Our final day was marked by a quick 1,000 feet of elevation gain up to Paintbrush Divide, the highest point on the trail at 10,695 feet. Then, a gradual 4,000 foot descent over 10 miles. Around the last 5 miles of the trail, we started noticing a lot more day hikers – after three days of isolation we were finally reentering civilization.

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And just like that, our trail was coming to an end. When we got to Jenny Lake, we found a small beach, took off our boots and dipped our feet in the water. I don’t think anything beats that feeling of accomplishment and complete contentment. We were so fortunate to have had four days of beautiful weather and not a single worry except where we were going to hang our hammock.

A quick water taxi ride across the lake, a hitchhiked ride back to Jackson and an Uber to our motel marked the official end of our trip.

This trail will forever be engraved in my memory as my first backpacking trip and the trail that changed me. It’s the trail that reignited my love of the mountains, gave me a whole new perspective on hiking and reminded me that I don’t want to forget moments like these.

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