As much as I love the summers, fall in Vail is hands-down the most beautiful time of the year in the mountains and for photography, it really doesn’t get much better as it brings about the clash of the seasons.
We were pretty bummed to have not finished the entire trail, but after hearing that it rained and snowed throughout the entire day and into the night, we were pretty relieved and we knew we made the right decision.
The pitter-patter of rain against my tent in Cascade Canyon was not a welcome sound the next morning. It was still early, so I just kept lying there – no desire to get out of my tent until I could at hear someone else moving.
Knowing our third day on the Teton Crest Trail was set to be our longest and knowing there was an 80% chance of afternoon storms, we got moving towards Mt Meek Pass and Alaska Basin fairly quickly.
After the Teton Crest Trail crosses Fox Creek Pass and reenters Grand Teton National Park, the trail then traverses the Death Canyon Shelf for nearly four miles.
I had gone into this trip with the highest of high expectations, but felt pretty ‘blah’ that first morning. It had been nice, but not ‘best trail in the country’ nice.
The late-August weather was absolutely perfect – Warm in the sun, cool (almost cold) in the shade, a slight breeze, and barely a cloud in the sky.
Featured in major articles from National Geographic, to Backpacker, to Outside, arguments have been made that hiking the Teton Crest Trail is one of the best backpacking trails in the country, if not the world.
In those articles I had read, a lot of people talked about how they try to make backpacking Ice Lakes Basin an annual trip. I’ll now include myself on those annual trips…