The Grandest Tetons

We’ve spent ten days overlooking the Grand Tetons, parked on a hillside in the National Forest twenty miles outside of Jackson, Wyoming.  It’s a dry camping site – and free. 

The view is amazing, gazing across to the craggy peaks rising straight up from the Snake River. 

The Grand Tetons tower over the broad, flat valley.

We had our first guest, our brother-in-law, Jerome, from Alaska who is experienced in backcountry survival.  On a 10-mile hike into Cascade Canyon we pumped him for information on how to prepare for our first overnight backpacking experience.  He willingly complied and slept outside in a tent after we shared a delicious meal inside the van.

Jerome and me in Moose, Wyoming.

The next day, we thought we’d take a relaxing hike on the top of Rendezvous Mountain. You take the tram to 10,500 feet elevation then, we thought, you can pad around on the top and get some spectacular views.  

A view from Rendezvous Mountain, a spot that becomes Jackson Hole ski resort once the snow starts to fly.

The truth was that we walked down for two hours through rubble-strewn hillsides and alpine glens and  then had to turn around and hustle back up over 2,000 feet.

You can't escape thinking about the avalanches and glaciers that went into creating these wondrous heights.

Not acclimated to the altitude, I huffed and puffed and we barely made it back for the last tram down.

We had our camping permit for the backpacking expedition the next day, so despite collapsing on the bed when we returned from Rendezvous, we set out in the next morning to the upper canyon.