Bull Frog Toes - Adventures and Stories: The Teton Crest Trail - Wyoming - Part 6 - Day 2

Click here for prior post.

NOTE: Click any picture to enlarge.

We took our time getting up in the morning. Not much of a hurry. Our hike today was not really going to be that far or particularly tough. Our target for the night was Death Canyon Shelf. The name alone does sound ominous, like a place to die, but it is a wonderful spot with the first good views of the backside of the Tetons. I was hoping the sunset would be as spectacular as I had seen in pictures - I was not disappointed. Hard to believe but the shelf was once a shoreline for a long ago ancient sea. Apparently there are a lot of fossils there, simple bi-valves or something, if you take the time to dig through the shale and rock. We were not going to be at the prime location for that - but it was a humbling thought of what time and history have done to the place. We are just a short gasp of life compared to the millions of years that passed before us.

Again not a lot of miles today - 6.5 (connect red dots). Still a tough hike due to elevation.

Night 1 Camp at bottom - Night 2 at top on Death Canyon Shelf

Breaking camp - refreshed and ready to go - leaving Eden.

The two hikers ahead of Sugar and Flyrod just blew by us - locals I guess - they were the skinny dippers.

One of the few times I was at the front of the pack

A steep climb up from Granite Canyon

Granite Canyon - the trail through the bottom of the canyon will take you back to Teton Village

From whence we came. Our camp was way down in the trees.

Marion Lake

The hike up to Marion Lake was actually pretty tough. There was a steep pitch up from the Granite Canyon trail and we were not quite warmed up for this after our quiet night. There was a steep zig-zag path to what seemed like a man-made damn holding back the lake - it was not obviously but it was a tough climb scaling up the side of the damn. It seems that all the mountain lakes in the Tetons are like cups formed from the scree that falls from a guardian mountain above. The water was a fantastic azure blue without so much as a hint of algae; unlike our greenish VA ponds. Half way to the top an eager young couple blasted past us with packs on heading for the lake. By the time we got to the lake, the two had stripped of all their cloths and were swimming in the lake. Yes, we took a boyish look at the young lady. She looked very nice; what were we supposed to do?