Spring Break has been such a great opportunity to do all things that are outside and hikes/adventures that I have been dying to do since I got to the Tetons. For instance, you know that huge mound that lies east of the Teton Range, Blacktail Butte? I wanted to hike it in the fall, but was a little too nervous I would run into Grizzly #399. Haha.
But Kevin, one of our chefs, has hiked, well snow-shoed Blacktail before and so we decided to pick his brain on this adventure. He said that since it had snowed a few days ago, we would be braking our own trail and well, there is no designated trail marked, so we would also be making our own. Haha!
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| The Topographic Map - To Show Us Our 'Trail' |
He recommended walking along the butte on the western side where the climber's portion is and then finding the first drainage canyon and start going on up. The adventurous crew included: Luke, myself, Mary Beth, Eddie, and Leah. We grabbed our snowshoes, lunch, and packs, and headed to Blacktail.
Let me say that I am not at all conditioned to be hiking yet...totally huffed and puffed my way up to the top of the butte. Give me a cross-country ski or downhill any day! Hiking and snowshoeing up something is really hard! Not to mention, snowshoeing in your muck boots when the snow is way over your rim is challenging. I had to put on rain pants to prevent the snow that was kicked up from my snowshoes from going into my boots. It was such a scene! Good thing I had Leah and Mary Beth there to help! Totally felt like one of our students when they are having some trouble when we are all out in the field.
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Having Snow-Shoe/Boot Problems
Good Thing We Are All Field Instructors Who Deal with These Issues With Our Students |
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| Oh Look, A Moose on the Butte! |
The views and scenes we passed through and saw were pretty magical. When you were hiking up the butte in the conifer forests, you totally felt like you were in Narnia!! No joke! You just needed the lantern and the 'spare oom' and you were in legit Narnia.
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| We're in Narnia! |
It was a pretty steady-paced trek up the butte. Taking some rest stops to browse the snow, at least for Leah. Not to mention we saw a moose just hanging out under the trees. As we traveled back on our way out, the moose had only moved a few feet from where we originally saw her. Just hanging out escaping the sun and browsing...Leah-style!
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| Leah, Moose-Snow Browser! |
We left the trailhead around 10am and we got up to a nice view around 12:30pm. Lunch was totally worth it! There were some steep areas that we had to trek up on in the drainage canyon to get up.
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| Snow-Shoeing Up a Drainage Canyon |
Of course, you cannot get to the top of a beautiful view without getting a 'summit pose' picture to capture the moment.
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| More Panoramas of Narnia |
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| Summit-Posing, Of Course |
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| No Words. Just Excited. |
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| Top of the Blacktail Butte, 7410 ft. |
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| Another View From the Top of B. Butte! |
It was such a beautiful view from the 'summit' of Blacktail Butte. One of the top parts of the butte and I think we were at the highest part. It was really cool since we were able to see Moose, the highway, and Kelly Campus.
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| Momma Bear & Papa Bear! |
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| Cloudy, But Beautiful Views |
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| Jumping Pose - Part I |
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| Jumping Pose - Part II |
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| Group Photo at the Top of Blacktail Butte |
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| Adventuring Down a Steep Part... |
Then we had to make the decision on it we should back-track or just keep braking trail and find our way back to the parking lot on our own. So it was decided that we would keep adventuring on, and going down a steep slope was a little scary, but really fun since the snow was all powder. You were just flying through fresh 'pow'! Although, it did put some strain on my poor knees, totally worth it!
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| We Were Right There! |
Such a great idea to snowshoe Blacktail Butte this spring break and the company was pretty awesome! I definitely want to come back to the butte and hike it up and over when the snow melts! I am starting to grow a huge Teton Summer Bucket List....and well, Blacktail Butte - Part II is on it!
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Momma Bear & I at the Top of Blacktail Butte!
Xoxo |
More spring break adventures to come! Hope you're having some fun wherever you are!
TheChristyBel
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