Grand Teton Nation Park is in northwestern Wyoming, a good 14ish hour drive from LA.
Its park is 310,000 acres that includes the major peaks of the 40 mile long Teton Range just outside of Jackson Hole. I had never explored the state of Wyoming, so when Eamon suggested we ventured in that direction for a nice birthday road trip- I jumped at the opportunity. The road trip included climbing in Maple Canyon, a popular climbing destination two hours south of Salt Lake City. After spending a few days enjoying the weird array of conglomerate rocks we headed to the Uinta mountain range, for some readers, you may recognize that as one of your favorite beers but alas! ‘Tis a beautiful mountain range in Northeastern Utah full of white peaks, alpine lakes, and stunning trails to frolic on. We didn’t spend enough time in any one spot but we did spend a couple of days in Ogden, Utah, home of Amersports or more specifically my Salomon and Suunto families home base. Ogden was our last stop before making the trek into Wyoming and let me tell you, driving into Jackson Hole I had to wipe my face from drooling over the surroundings. We originally planned on spending three days adventuring around the Tetons but weather wasn’t on our side on our last day so we decided to head out after our second days adventure to beat the rainstorm heading our way.
Our first day we spent attempting the Praintbrush loop. I say attempting because a good 70% of the trail was still under snow. An 18 mile route that sans snow would only take a mere few hours but because of the white carpet delays it took us double our expected activity time. To be honest, I’m not too upset about the length, the views were so beautiful and I was pretty fatigued after our full week of running already.
Check it out for yourself.
After our Paintbrush loop endeavor we figured it was a good time to check out the food scene in Jackson Hole and was able to score some incredible vegan pizza without having to endure most of the crowded tourist spots.
Our day two adventure was saved for Middle Teton. Because of the heat wave, the snow was quite mushy which at times could be quite frightening but for the most part it made for an easy ascent and descent from the peak without having to worry about icy sections.
This video is the first video I put together after getting my gopro, please go easy on me.
What can I say??
The Tetons blew my mind. Literally and figuratively, I definitely hadn’t been quite that high in a while that I barely could breath and the views were out of this world. I look forward to the day that I can return. We had planned on running a 50k on our final day but with a huge rainstorm coming in Saturday night and supposedly all of Sunday we decided to head to the Sierra early and spend my 32nd birthday there. It was a pretty solid plan until crossing into Idaho and the van wrapping around a deer that decided to jump onto the highway. The next week was spent in Idaho Falls while the van was being repaired and Eamon worked from the hotel room- not an experience I want a redo on.
Have you been to Grand Teton Nation Park?
If so, any tips or tricks for my next visit?
(obviously climbing the grand would be top priority)
Fun Fact: Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The naming of the mountains is attributed to early 19th century French speaking tappers- les trois tétons (the three teats) was later anglicized and shortened to Tetons.
Some photos of our road trip for you to peruse…
Till next time :)