Days 17 and 18: Grand Teton National Park, WY

Yesterday morning I slept in until 8:15, grabbed a chai latte in Jackson, and then headed north into the park again. I stopped off at the visitor's center to get some advice about day hikes, and the ranger on duty recommended the Taggart Lake Trail, which was a 6 mile roundtrip hike, fairly flat, around Taggart and Bradley lakes, below the white-capped peaks of Grand Teton (13,770ft), Middle Teton (12,804ft), and South Teton (12,514ft).

I headed out on this trail with all kinds of gear. I had just spoken with Dad on the phone, and he was saying he hoped that I was hiking with gear in case I got caught in a storm and stranded up on mountains. So I head a jacked, a fleece, extra socks, a knife, water, and all kinds of stuff, in addition to my camera, tripod, and telephoto lense. It was a fairly heavy pack, in comparison to what I had been hiking with (a fanny pack). When I was near Taggart Lake turn-off I decided I wanted to get a bit higher up so I could get a better angle on the peaks, so I headed north on the trail, past Bradley Lake and towards the Glen Canyon trail. This trail was much steeper than the lake trail, and I was zigzagging back and forth up the mountain. By 2PM I decided I couldn't go any further, I was exhausted, coughing a lung up, and starving (I hadn't had lunch).

I turned around about .3 miles from the canyon :(, missing the great views of Middle and South Teton peaks, and headed down a different trail, thinking it would be quicker to get to the road and then walk over to the parking lot my car was in. I saw a coyote in the Lupine Meadows Trailhead parkinglot, and tried to jog over to get closer to him, but my legs wouldn't listen to my brain.

I got to the road at about 3:30, and was so exhausted, I considered hitching a ride the few miles back to my parking lot. I walked another mile and a half before a construction worker saw me dragging my feet and offered a ride, which I very happily accepted. It was a 12+ mile hike in the end. Very tiring.

I headed up to the Signal Mountain campground for the night, and drove up Signal Mountain road to the peak to watch the sunset, which was gorgeous! I met a few marathon travelers up there, and we all went and got hot chocolate and appetizers at the Signal Mountain Lodge before tucking in for the night.

This morning it was snowing a bit when I got up, and I headed over to Oxbow Bend to try and spot some wildlife. I saw a bald eagle while I was setting up my camera (so didn't get a picture :() and then another eagle - not bald - before I headed out to Jackson. It was too cold and too snowy to sit around waiting for moose to show up, and so foggy/cloudy I couldn't see anything anyway.

More photos at http://gallery.me.com/caseys_travels/100097