On the way to the trailhead I saw several antelope as they ran down the road towards me. Turns out another vehicle startled them and they were trying to get away. Then I scared them. Poor things. They don't need that along with bears, wolves and hunters.
I wasn't sure if I had done these hikes before but as I hiked along the trails I remembered them well. The first thing I remembered was the busy trailhead even early in the day (5am) as climbers use the trailhead to access Garnet Canyon and climb the Tetons. I left a little later than normal (6am) but is was still a busy trail for so early in the morning. I met a few climbers on my way up as the leap frogged me a couple of times going up the hill. We got to talking and I asked them about the climbers that I had seen carrying the large mats up the sides of mountains. They said that these guys are actually bouldering. The mats are for if they fall. The guys I met were kind of old school and seemed to look down on this activity a bit. They were drinking from a stream on the side of the mountain without filtering or treating the water. I asked the about that as well. The one guy had grown up in the park as he dad is a ranger. He said that he had been drinking for that stream for many years. I didn't say to him but it only takes one animal to die in the water or one hiker to poop in the wrong place to break that streak of healthy from that stream.
The trail leaves from Lupine Meadows trailhead and is 10 miles long and gains about 3000 ft in elevation It is a very, very pretty trail with views of low lakes (Bradley and Taggert) on the way up and then Surprise and Amphitheater Lake at the end of the trail. Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes have lovely reflections of the towering cliffs covered in snow that surround them.
No comments:
Post a Comment