Backpacking in the Backcountry of the Tetons

So, the Chartruse Thrust Bison (our team name) successfully conquered, survived, and battled the backcountry in the Grand Teton National Park.  The graduate program cohort was split up into three different teams with at least two faculty to lead a 3-night and 4-day backpacking backcountry trip in literally our backyard! 

My team, Team 1, which we then later changed to the Chartruse Thrust Bison (a color, a geologic term, & an animal) traveled about 25-27 miles throughout the Grand Teton National Park.  For our adventure, the scope was to start on the southern side of Jenny Lake, up the Cascade Canyon Trail to the southern fork of Cascade Canyon, over Hurricane Pass into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness & the Caribou -Targhee National Forest, onto Teton Crest Trail into Alaska Basin, back into Grand Teton National Park, along the Death Canyon Shelf into the Death Canyon, passed Phelps Lake to the Valley Trail Trailhead.

We were super pumped to start this bonding, natural history, and fun expedition.  I really enjoyed that we were broken up into smaller groups, because well 24+ individuals on a trail is very loud and mega crowded. Haha.

Monday was Labor Day, so we were given a 4-day weekend to relax and prep for the next 4 days of rustic and backcountry living. 

Silly Faces & Pumped to Start Our Adventure!

Tuesday morning, we arrived in front of the dining lodge to gather, look over, divide, and pack up group gear, and then disperse into vans to get us to our appropriate starting locations.  It was a very interesting experience to share a lot of group gear in our packs.  Usually I am carrying my own tent, water purification, and cooking equipment with shared foods.  During this TSS adventure, we carried group tents (that slept about 3-4), shared stoves and fuels, and water purification drops.  It was a weird comfort to not bring my water filter into the backcountry...but I was reassured it would be fine, so in the cabin it stayed...(to be expressed later).

Rock talus overlooking, I believe, Teewinot Mountain.

So, Day 1's schedule was panned out to where we started at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center, take the shuttle boat over to the start of the Cascade Canyon Trailhead.  Very cool to start with one last modern excursion of taking a boat before we started our trek into the wilderness.  Tuesday's schedule then had us travel about 6.5 miles along the Cascade Canyon Trail to where we trekked south on the South Fork of Cascade Canyon where we would camp in the group site.

Day One Destination: South Fork of Cascade Canyon

Let me tell you, I've been in Wyoming and at these high elevations since what, August 4, and I was STILL getting used to this high altitude.  Not going to lie, there were times during this hike where I was struggling.  I mean, I do not at all think I am out of shape, and to be able to not breathe made me feel pretty low of myself and not active.  But I did notice and heard from others they were struggling just as bad.  But as we hiked and were sucking air during the 2,000 ft elevation increase, the breathing got better...and so did the views!

Admiring and Showing Off Our Views!

Along the way, Aaron and Greg, our faculty advisors gave us many backcountry lessons.  Everything from Trail Etiquette & Traveling in the Grand Tetons, Using Maps & Understanding the Colors and Symbols, Foot Care, Pooping in the Woods, Water Purification and the list went on.

During our Water Purification lesson, we were asked to pull it out of our packs so we could learn how to purify and it turns out that our ration did not make it into our packs.  Uh-oh!  We had maybe 2 days worth of drops for the group.  This really worried me, since I had taken my filter out of my pack and it made me really kick myself in the butt that I did not have it to help my group.  Rule #1, do not listen the instructor and always keep your filter with you! haha.  So an emergency call was made out to TSS and water purification would be brought out to us.

Thrusting Up the Steep Trails!

Breaks During the Trek Up Were APPRECIATED and Needed!
Photo Credit to Leah Ritz, Fellow Graduate Student.

Along the Way Up to South Fork Cascade Canyon Trail Group Site

I believe if we started around 11:00AM MDT, we arrived at the group site around 4:00pm MDT.  It was a good steady-paced hike where we acted like a team and made sure we all were comfortable at the pace, nobody was left behind, gaps were not made as we hiked, and we all communicated when we needed breaks or when we were struggling.  Great team support!

Our group site was awesome!

The group site was pretty awesome, roughly at 8,760 ft in elevation.  Our tent locations were tucked back into the conifers and our cooking site was on this little overlook that looked into the canyon.  It was such a beautiful view!  Surrounded by high mountains, rivers and waterfalls along some of the steeper rocks and a probable snow field of ancient-ancient glaciers on the tops.

Throughout the day, some wildlife observations included: mother cow moose with offspring, squirrels, and PIKA!

Can We PLEASE Talk About How Much Food We Brought?!?

Around 5:00pm, base camp was set up with tents pitched and cooking was about to begin.  Prior to the trip, we assigned roles for each hiker to help with a particular portion of each day.  This consisted of leaders, cooking, and base camp set up and preps.

Dinner consisted of awesome tasting bean burritos WITH SALSA and AVOCADOS! So delicious!  In the above photo, I'd like to point out how much food we brought.  Personally, it was a lot of food that I would take out on a 3-night, 4-day trip, but you know, the kitchen DEFINITELY treated and took care of us well with some well-thought out, luxurious meals to where we would not go hungry and ate like kings and queens in the backcountry!  Although there was a little too much rice, and not enough chocolate chips in our granola bars! Haha!  All in all, the food was awesome!

Later that night, a huge and SCARY thunder...I mean, lightning storm hit our campsite.  It was really terrifying, and I was definitely way out of my comfort zone.  We had just learned the Lost & Alone and Lightning Backcountry Lessons from Aaron and Greg when we had to resort to our tents to wait out a terrible rain storm that hit us in the canyon.  It was really scary, I mean I've been in plenty of rain and thunderstorms in the backcountry, but to be at a high elevation when the lightning is pretty close to you, is a whole 'nother experience!!!! And I almost peed my pants on how terrified I was!

Let me also tell you about when you pitch a tent, make sure the fly is incredibly tight...or else, it will not do it's job...aka keep the inside of your tent dry!  So when we resorted to our tents for shelter, our fly was not as tight as it could have been and because of that, it was literally raining and condensation was dripping inside!  It was definitely a bonding experience for my three tent-mates and I, but we definitely had an experience I would not want to experience it with anyone else!

Heading to Hurricane Pass in a Beautiful Valley

The next morning, we dried up our gear, made breakfast, stretched and did some yoga and prepped to get back onto the trails and head to our next location. Wednesday's schedule was to head to our highest elevation at 10,400 ft to Hurricane Pass and then descend into Alaska Basin to camp.

Such beautiful views!

Traveling about 7-miles, we headed out around 9:45 am MDT.  The views were so continuously and endlessly beautiful.  It was really hard to not stop every few feet to stop and gaze or take a photo!

Summit-posing, of course!

A highlight that I definitely enjoyed was seeing a glacier!  Schoolroom Glacier, right before Hurricane Pass, was such an awesome sight!  Seeing outwash plains, a glacial lake, the moraine, and the firn was soooooo cool!  It was an awesome experience to be so close to a glacier!  The only disappointing part was we were not allowed to touch...or lick it!  Womp womp!

Chartruse Thrust Bison at Schoolroom Glacier

I Can't Stop Showing You All My Views!

Can We Just Touch The Glacier?!

You Can See Blue Firn In The Cracks!!

Day Two Destination: Alaska Basin in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness

Of course, when we arrived at the highest elevation of the trip, we just had to celebrate!  Not just with a group photo, but some in-action jumping shots!

So excited we made it to 10,400 ft!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, fellow graduate student

Chartruse Thrust Bison
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, fellow graduate student

Making Our Way Down into Alaska Basin
Photo Credit to Leah Ritz, fellow graduate student

Summit Posing at Hurricane Pass!  Duh!

Looking Into Alaska Basin
Photo Credit to Leah Ritz, fellow graduate student

Almost At Our Destination!

Right over the Hurricane Pass, we descended into Alaska Basin where Charlie taught his backcountry lesson on Alpine Fauna.  He did a phenomenal job and definitely set the bar high for all of us in our backcountry lessons during the week!  This was also where our Aquamira, water purification, supplies were delivered to us by TSS staff!  Thanks Leslie!!

Our campsite was really cool.  We were tucked in between huge boulder outcrops and clusters of White-Bark Pine trees.  Since we were in the national forest and wilderness part, we were not given bear boxes, so a bear hang was necessary in a tree for our food.  Our cooking area was on top of a nice even-surfaced boulder outrcrop, which was a great area for bare feet!  Also for two more awesome backcountry lessons taught by Jessica on Leave No Trace and Jordan on Astronomy.  Jessica made us perform skits and act out the guidelines about Leave No Trace in the backcountry (so fun) and Jordan taught us about the stars and being able to see the Milky Way and some shooting stars was unbelievable!

Cooking was on top of a huge boulder outcrop!
Awesome even surface, perfect for bare feet!
Photo Credit to Leah Ritz, fellow graduate student.

Continuing the Never-Ending Views!
Possibly I think this is the South Teton...but I am still learning all of them
So don't judge me if I am wrong!

The next day, we started our day with a backcountry lesson on the Clark's Nutcracker by Leah.  I learned that the Clark's Nutcracker plays a keynote factor in the White-bark pine's survival.  They eat the seeds and also cache them in clusters.  In many cases, like a squirrel, they forget where they cache them at times, which allows the trees to sprout and grow, hence the numerous clusters of these trees all over the place in Alaska Basin!

Thursday was going to be the toughest day for us...it was the longest day hiking wise and steepest and biggest altitude declination of the entire hike.  Do not worry, I took plenty of Aleve candies to try and relieve and prevent lots of knee pain.  But a las, when we finally got to our site, I definitely was hurting!

Awesome Geology!

During this 10-mile excursion, I volunteered to help co-lead this long trek!  I know...longest and worst day for my knees, I took this challenge on not just for my leadership skills for the group, but for my own personal challenge! We left our Alaska Basin camp site and traveled along the Teton Crest Trail, up Sheep Steps to where we arrived at the Mt. Meek Pass.

Different Sedimentation Layers!

At Mt. Meek, we reached to some rock talus' where I was finally able to teach my backcountry lesson on the cute and adorable, PIKA!  It was really cool and convenient that Aaron helped pick out my teaching location.  Since Pika are found above 7,500 ft in elevation in the rock talus and boulder fields in the alpine region. 

I took the group in between the boulders to teach my lesson; with a visual aid of a stuffed animal pika I brought along with me on the trip, photos, and to hear the pika alert each other we were in their territory, I discussed the physical and habitat characteristics of the pika species.  Also, I allowed my group to explore and find the pika in its natural habitat.  I keyed them in on listening carefully for their calls, being on the look out for them as they scurried in between the crevices, and then to search for their haypiles they make within the cracks.  We finally found one and I was able to show them what they looked like and to conclude that there is evidence of pika living in the rock talus we were visiting.  Not to mention, being able to see one poke it's head out of the haypile crevice was the icing on the cake, and not to mention, made my heart explode...just a little!

Approaching the Death Canyon Shelf!

After my lesson, we hiked onto the Death Canyon Shelf.  This was a beautiful site!  Being on the shelf, we were able to see out final destination down in the canyon and the opening to Phelps Lake!

Overlooking the Shelf and Down into the Death Canyon.

Hazel & I overlooking the Death Canyon Valley!

Hazel taught her awesome Raptor lesson out on the shelf, which was great to have lots of open sky to see the hawks! Learned the differences in buteos, accipiters, falcons, ospreys, owls, and other raptors was really cool.  She explained the differences well and was able to clearly help us identify them when we're in the field!

About to Descend Down the Shelf!

Descending 1,700+ ft in elevation down the Death Canyon Shelf was pretty challenging for me.  About half way down, I definitely could start feeling some pressure and pain in my knees.  I am so thankful I brought some pain medication and my trekking poles.  But I am more thankful for my fellow Chartruse Thurst Bison for keeping a great steady pace, checking in on me and my pain levels, breaks, and the support and positive pushing to keep going.  Xoxo

Conquering the Descent Down the Shelf...
It may not appear to be the case, but I was in a lot of knee pain!

When we finally got to our site, we were given some free time to relax and fulfill our needs: which meant I was able to soak my knees in some nice refreshing, COLD, water.  It was really the perfect remedy to relieve some of the pain.  Then Greg, one of our faculty members, told us about a small waterfall next to site, where of course, the girls had to go to and enjoy some cleaning and showering!  Thank you to Hazel and Em-J for bringing some refreshing peppermint soap to clean some unmentionable areas and to finally get a refreshing and clean feeling!  Much needed and pretty fun time relaxing in the water!

Our Shower!  A very cold, but refreshing wash was well-needed
and appreciated right before we made it back to civilization!

After showering, gaining strength, and eating dinner, we all hung out on this huge boulder in our camp site to sit, reflect, and have some team meetings and discussions.  Learning about the stages of Group Development and reflecting on our reasons we are all here was a great bonding experience.  A Thank You circle was also expressed, and I cannot thank the group for a great backpacking experience!  Another highlight of the trip was to see a cow moose trek through campus, and from evidence left in the morning, she may have slept in our campsite with us!

Reflecting and Resting my Knees!
Photo Credit to Charlie Reinertsen, fellow graduate student.

View from within the Death Canyon Shelf.

Our Homes for the 3-night and 4-day adventure!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, fellow graduate student.

Friday was the day...where we were going to head back to Kelly Campus and see the rest of the Graduate Class.  We were all pretty excited but disappointed that the week went by so quickly!

Chartruse Thrust Bison...Barley Making It Out Alive!  Haha.
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, fellow graduate student.

Magnetite found along the trail!
Hence the eyes of Magnetite pupils surrounded by quartz in the gneiss!

Overlooking Phelps Lake.
Looks familiar from my hike here with the WFR crew!

After the Insects and Mountain Men backcountry lessons by Tom and Em-J, we began our 5-mile hike to the Death Canyon Trailhead near Phelps Lake.  It was a struggle at times, especially up from Phelps Lake.  But we pulled it together as a team back up and to the TSS van.  It was a great sight to see when we saw that white van!

Around 2pm, we finished out backcountry trip and headed to Dornan's to meet up with the rest of the groups over some ICE COLD WATER and pizza!  Seeing the rest of the graduate students was a great feeling, although there were times when you had to remember who everyone else was since you got to know only a third of the group on a more personal level while in the backcountry.  The trip was an overall satisfying experience not just for me personally but to get to know some of my peers and enjoy the Grand Teton National Park.  Very thankful and appreciative for the trip...and hard to grasp this was for a class and not a vacation!

Survived and Conquered,
TheChristyBel

Survived!
Photo Credit to Hazel Stark, fellow graduate student.