The Teton Crest Trail - Wyoming - Part 11 - Day 3 - Alaska Basin to Hurricane Pass

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I really enjoyed the Alaska Basin - seems like a well protected area from the winter winds and storms.  If we had more time I would have wanted to camp here.  There were perfect campsites all set up that were lying dormant.  Plenty of places to hole up with a book and your thoughts.  Again - perhaps some other time.

Up and out of the Alaska Basin

On to the next challenge - Hurricane Pass

Trail around Sunset Lake - 9,600 ft.

Lunch break lay ahead at Sunset Lake - just a short jaunt over the edge of the basin onto a windswept field.  There is a nice stand of trees to the left of the lake that gave us a little shelter from the sun.  It was a pretty warm day on this western slope of the Teton Range.  I can imagine the wind howling up here in the winter as storms slam into the side of the mountains.  Nothing to stop the wind from here to Idaho. 

Above the lake, I saw this wall of stone with the small gap at the top above the lake - I thought that this was Hurricane Pass.  It is not thankfully.  This looks very formidable.  It is appropriately  called "The Wall."  I think of Pink Floyd - "Mother did it need to be so high?"

The Wall - Tetons behind! 

The flower shop returned once again.  The moist fertile soil around the lake fed a huge field of wildflowers on the south shore.  We also encountered our second Park Ranger of the trip around here - the first was back on Death Canyon.  It has to be the best job in the world to have.  I bet there is not too much discontent when the boss says, "Ranger Pat, I want you to climb up over Hurricane Pass, dance in the flower meadows by Sunset Lake, and then climb down into the Alaska Basin."  He was a nice guy - checked our Wilderness Permit - and we went our separate ways.  I thought about how cool that job - not really a job - would be.

Off to Hurricane Pass - see it looks like we are heading to the gap in The Wall!  Shit!!!

Last look at Mt. Meek - Alaska Basin is the big canyon at the tree line.

Anyone who has ever seen the classic 1965 movie, The Sound of Music, knows of the iconic opening scene where Julie Andrews sings The Hills are Alive.  She is surrounded by flowers as she dances about the Austrian Alps.   I could not help but feel like she did during that scene when we started to push up toward Hurricane Pass.  The flower show became an even greater show.  Of course I could only hum the first verse of the song - good thing actually - a whistle pig might attack me.

The Hills are Alive!!!

So from one musical reference to another, or in this case another album by Pink Floyd, we were about to enter the Dark Side of the Moon.  The windswept plain of Hurricane Pass is so very raw.  Devoid of fertile life and moisture.  The backside of the Tetons here are also dry and raw looking - not the sexy supermodels found when viewed from the Jackson Hole valley.  Still impressive though.  They seemed so close that we could almost climb up to them from here.

Last pitch to Hurricane Pass

Hurricane Pass (10,372ft) - a fitting name - windy!!

Yours truly (really a bad hair day) - back of the Tetons - Grand, Middle, and South

Leaving the Moonscape.

Go here next - Teton Crest Trail -Part 12

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The Teton Crest Trail - Wyoming - Part 12 - Day 3 - Hurricane Pass to Cascade Canyon

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Hurricane Pass is a very raw place.  The wind blew hard from the west and it was a nice day.  It did not take much imagination to conjure thoughts of fierce storms with blinding snow sweeping in during the depths of winter.  There was hardly any vegetation on the windswept scree that littered the high pass.  The back side of the Tetons, while shorter in prominence from their eastern flank, were still impressive for their ability to survive the brutality of the elements.  I for one was ready to move off this pass and nestle myself into the protection of the beautiful Cascade Canyon.  The rest of the gang followed suit; we moved on.

Flyrod - Hurricane Pass - before plunging into Cascade Canyon

Cascade Canyon - long way down.

View toward Idaho - nothing to stop the wind.

There was still snow at this elevation and we were lucky to see one of the year round glaciers - Schoolroom Glacier - that was tucked into the backside of the Wall.  Experts say someday it will be gone - climate change, global warming, or whatever other label to put on the phenomenon.  It was melting into a pond that again looked somewhat man-made.  How did the walls of the pond get shaped into the perfect bowl to hold the water?  It also had a neatly cut drain at one end.  Nature can form some curious shapes.  It was nonetheless interesting to see.

The trail took a series of switchbacks below the glacier and into the lush green canyon.  Such a contrast to the exposed pass above.  The sound of roaring water was just starting to provide the soundtrack for our afternoon decent. 

Schoolroom Glacier

There is the TCT starting down the canyon - gives this picture some scale.

Switchbacks down into the canyon

Flyrod and Sugar heading down fast

Flowers and the green return.  The Wall in the background.

It was a pretty tough day, physically and mentally; there were some cracks forming in our little group.  We had crossed the Alaska Basin - down, then up.  Then we climbed up and over Hurricane Pass (10,372 ft).  Then we dropped down into the South Fork Cascade Canyon - 2,000+ ft vertical drop from the pass to our camp at around 8,200 feet.  So we were going to push as far as we could into the canyon to save some miles the next day.  On the menu for tomorrow would be the epic climb up and over Paintbrush Divide (10,720 ft) - a 1,685 ft vertical gain over just 2 miles - from Lake Solitude to the Divide - a 15% avg grade.  Tough climb - it weighed heavily on us.

The day had split our group up by late afternoon.  Whitey and I dawdled along down the canyon trail, with Sugar and Flyrod deciding the destination was greater than the journey; they were anxious to make camp and settle in.  They forged off ahead with instructions to go as far into the canyon as possible before we get out of the camping zone.  They left an arrow mark in the dirt on the trail to point us to the trail leading to our campsite.  What a perfect spot it was.  Under the Tetons with a roaring stream flowing down from the mountain above.

There was some talk that night of quitting and taking a short cut down Cascade Canyon to Jenny Lake; to cold beers and soft beds the next night.  Flyrod was tired and frustrated and wanted some relaxation time for himself.  Sugar was also tired and ready to shortcut out the next day with Flyrod.  Whitey and I were both tired as well.  Whitey had been suffering from a bad head cold since we got to WY.  It was hard for him to breath and keep up but he knew it would be a while before he would get a chance to get out again with the guys - with twins on the way he would be pretty busy at home.  He wanted to push on - and I was not going to quit just yet either - I was going to finish this.  We agree to table the conversation until morning - then decide.  

Fresh "Glacier" water for the night - awesome sound to sleep to

Another great camp!  South Fork Cascade Canyon

The creek cascading down the mountain provided a wondrous sound.

Sunset on Paint Brush Divide

Go here next - Teton Crest Trail -Part 13

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The Teton Crest Trail - Wyoming - Part 14 - Day 4 - Lake Solitude - Angels on Paintbrush Divide

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One of the early discussion points with the ranger when Whitey was getting us the Wilderness Permit, was the possibility of snow on Paintbrush Divide.  In mid to late July, it is not uncommon to still have a good snow pack at the divide that would require some special tools in your kit; namely an ice axe.

The idea of the ice axe was to self arrest your fall by jamming the axe into the snowpack/ice as you start to slide - to your death!!  It was steep and a long, long way down to the hard rocky bottom below.  So since there are not a lot of places to practice the self arrest with an ice axe in VA, a quick call to the Teton Ranger station in July told us we should be good this time - the pass is melting off and we will only have a few covered area to contend with.   I think Whitey was looking forward to researching and buying one to go with his pile of gear; maybe next time.

The hike up from Lake Solitude over Paintbrush Divide (10,720 ft) was going to be tough.  We would gain 1,685 feet vertical over about 2 miles - this calculated to roughly a 15% grade.   This would indeed be a tough push.  If you look at the next picture you can just make out the trail running up at a diagonal along the face of the Paintbrush Divide.

Dotted line shows the trail up from the lake.  Huge gains over very short distance.

 

Profile for the day - Camp 3 South Fork to Camp 4 Holly Lake.  - Garmin GPS

Hard to see - but the trail is just visible as a thin line running diagonally up the mountain.

Off we go - Sugar, Whitey - and me - always tagging behind.

Lake Solitude (9,035 ft)

The perfectly arced valley floor just screams - Glacier track!

Sugar pulling out a good lead.

Looking back at Tetons -almost in the center is the cascading stream by our Camp

Camp 3 - bottom of stream - long ways away now.

Plugging along up the hill.

Whitey enjoying the view

The vision below took on a frosted painting-like quality

Lake Solitude getting smaller

Mica Lake is just starting to show above Lake Solitude

Almost over

The scree purgatory - warm, sunny, and unyielding.  This was a switchback near the top

The money shot!!!  Jagman almost over the top - he hears Angels singing.

Sugar got into a nice rhythm and proceeded to crank his way to the top.  He knew where we were heading so he just motored on to Holly Lake.  I think he was doping with the special mixtures he carried for his "sugar."  Whitey and I struggled.  Whitey's cold/congestion was acting up badly and he was sucking wind.  I was sucking even more wind - I really had no excuse, it was just a hard push.

Spirituality is obviously a personal thing, and so is religion - what you believe or don't believe - what rocks your world and what doesn't.  Faith by its very definition is a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion; generally a belief without proof - Gods and Monsters.  Today, at close to 11,000 feet of elevation, where the air is thin and my spirit was weak, I found religion - for a time anyhow.

As Whitey and I looked up from the dusty rock scree trail on Paintbrush Divide - we saw two angels appear; outlined by the blue heavens above.  I forgot their names, but that is not important, and since there are no female angels in the bible (no Mom I have not been reading the bible - just good research), I am just going to suggest these two were left out on purpose to keep men folk in line - it would have been worse than biting an apple in Eden.

Angel 1 and Angel 2 that appeared before us on the trail were two absolutely gorgeous women from Jackson, WY -  toned tan legs, shorts, tight tank tops, sweaters tied around their waists, and wonderful flowing hair framing their endless perfect smiles; heavenly.  After being with a bunch of smelly guys for the past week it was beyond refreshing.

Here is where the story gets even better and we are challenged with the complexity of the English language.  After some great trail chat and admiration - us of them, not them of us - Angel 1 suggested that when we get back down to Jackson, that, and these are her exact words - "You should come to tie me up."

I know Whitey always carries plenty of supplies in his pack - he had plenty of rope in there for stringing up clothes or "tying" things up.  As my mind went off on this unfortunate tangent of bondage and what type of knot to use that would be easy to untie and not leave marks on wrists and ankles, Angel 1 clarified that they make excellent Chicken Pad Thai there.  Thai Me Up is a charming little micro-brewery and Thai restaurant in town where they work.  Enough said, my short-lived religious zeal expired.  We pushed over the divide and discussed going to Thai Me Up when we got back to town.

Schoolroom Glacier visible way in the distance

Schoolroom Glacier and the wall visible from Paintbrush divide

The day prior when we were heading over Hurricane Pass - I did not know it at the time - but I took a picture from Schoolroom Glacier toward the north and captured the view of where I was standing now on Paintbrush Divide.

Picture from day prior showing Paintbrush Divide - red dot location looking back

Go here next - Teton Crest Trail -Part 15

or back to beginning - Teton Crest Trail - Part 1