We especially wanted to take the Rendezvous hike (7 miles up a 4,000 foot climb, with a ride down a ski gondola at the end) and the Lake Solitude hike (15 miles round trip to a gorgeous mountain lake), but snow completely blocked both trails halfway up. We've put off both hikes for a return visit to the Tetons.
In the meantime, a moderate 5-mile roundtrip to Taggert and Bradley Lakes seemed doable as an intro hike for me; we're at 7000+ feet altitude, and I wanted to be sure I acclimated before we tried something more strenuous. This is Taggert Lake--still under a thin sheet of ice at the end of May.
Ample snow was still present at the shady parts of the trail, and sometimes a slippery, crunchy mess to get through with only hiking boots.
A wintry aspen grove. The scarring on the trunks is from elk or bison rubbing their antlers/horns. The scars turn black as the aspen recover.
One of the many wonderful views of the Tetons by trail. Snow eventually turned us back before we made it to the actual banks of Bradley Lake, but we got within seeing distance of it on this beautiful hike.
Our second hike, more than a week later and after many days of rain, was a strenuous 8-mile in-and-out in Death Canyon. It passes Phelps Lake here.
Drifts of fog continued to obscure the tops of the Tetons.
A friendly marmot.
The trail gets a bit rugged; I'm puffing a lot right about now, and glad for a camera break.
The recent rains made this river flow more than Ken has ever seen it, and he's done this hike several times. Water gushed and roared everywhere. In the park, the Snake River was close to topping its banks all over the valley, and the dam at Jackson Lake had been opened to manage water levels.
Our hike stopped abruptly at this landslide, which happened only an hour before we got to this part of the trail. A half hour before, we had met a young woman who had literally outrun the slide to get to the down (homeward) side as the hill above her gave way from saturation. She described a deep rumbling sound while it was going down and raced to beat it. She was muddy and still pretty shaken up. There was absolutely no getting over this obstacle safely, and water was still draining from the cliffs above it, keeping the whole area unstable. We reported the slide to the ranger station when we got back an hour or so later--no one had told them about it yet.
A very busy squirrel paused to chitter at me--with her mouth still full!
Another inquisitive marmot.
Nearly back, we stopped for a picnic lunch with another view of Phelps Lake and the Wind River mountains for company.
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