Western Wyoming and Grand Teton

"Summer Whims" is the theme lately.  Someone mentions wanting to do something or go somewhere, I check the calendar - empty.  Sure, let's do that.  This was how we ended up around Jackson, WY recently.  The pretext was to climb a mountain or 2 with our friend Jason.  Then it wasn't certain if he would be able to make it.  Then he did make it!  While we were waiting to find out if he was coming, we explored the area, learned more about boondocking in a popular spot, and managed to mostly avoid the crowded downtown.

We found our first boondock location along Granite Creek, a wonderful spot out of the main valley but not crazy far out of the way.  It seemed to have a lot of trails going different ways, which is true, but it didn't take long to discover that many are overgrown and mostly useful if you're on a horse.  No problem, John just took off cross-country for a hike, getting a nice shot of the valley:

We both separately noted this huge almost-cube-shaped rock in the middle of the plain.  A glacial erratic, maybe?  John got the closest look (and a photo of it):

We took a day to drive to Jackson for errands plus to scout closer boondock options.  While we were there, we decided to check out the trails around Jenny Lake.  Good choice, beautiful day, and great views.  Here's the ferry that takes people directly to Inspiration Point:

John is pointing at our "inspiration" while I'm about to start singing, "You're the meaning in my life..."

Continuing around the lake, we noticed this interesting fisherman in something of a packraft - but with a little motor?  Not really sure what this is.

Our best find that day was that the park service had opened up "The Pit" for boondocking, way easier than anything else as far as I can tell.  The ranger we talked to kind of apologized that "it has a view of Mount Moran", I guess meaning you can't see the Tetons from there.  Um, that sounds awesome!  Moran would get a lot more attention if it wasn't right next to the other 3 imposing pointy peaks.

Back to Granite Creek, I did a long loop run to connect the Little Granite Creek and Granite High Line trails (via dirt road).  Early in the loop I watched dark clouds pass over and heard a bunch of thunder, but the storm missed me.  John, on the other hand, got this picture of the same clouds coming right at him further up the valley:

He actually found a large cave for shelter (making sure there weren't any animals to share it with), didn't get wet, and had the neat experience of watching it hail from under cover.

Then he could resume his picture taking:

A distinctly different slope:

Pika poop and pieces of hail, funny combination!

View back down to the valley:

And the hills above:

Another interesting rock:

I believe this is called "The Open Door" on the map, and it's definitely name-worthy:

And finally, John took a really nice picture of Granite Falls:

I must not have brought a camera with me on my hike, or I would have taken a few pictures of the "trail?  what trail?"  The first part up Little Granite Creek was fine, but I never saw the intersection with the Granite High Line.  After some off-trail travel to try to figure out where it was, I returned to the now-overgrown path through the field and realized that I was actually on it already.  Somewhere back a bit there had been an intersection I missed.  OK, something named the "High Line Trail" should be higher up, for one thing, and maybe more obvious?

So I spent the rest of my adventure on a faint trail, pushing through grass, losing the trail at least once per half mile, reading the contours and deciding where to aim next, finding the trail in the process, repeat.  I was so glad I had brought orienteering pants along.  The best part was at the end when I said "screw it" and climbed up the ridge high above Granite Falls for the best view of the day.

Yeah, I can't recommend the Granite High Line trail, at least on the eastern end.

We next moved our travel trailer to The Pit, up a much better road and with an easier installation process.  And quicker access to the Tetons.

From there we set out on a "bushwhacking on purpose" adventure up Avalanche Canyon (I call it AVY CYN).  There's no trail marked on our map, but a "use trail" does exist.  We set out to find and follow it.

Still on the regular trail toward Taggart Lake, with great views of the mountains:

We found the small trail and started up the canyon, no problem so far.

Most of our wildlife sightings of the week came from this area.  #1 = a moose chewing on a bush and paying us no mind as we carefully passed by and took pictures.  Cool!

The trail splits and merges multiple times, with many divergences working out while others deposit you in the middle of a thicket or big pile of rocks.  We eventually found ourselves on a big talus slope, and everyone else we saw in the canyon also ended up there on the way up.  The multitudes of cairns all over the slope didn't help.

The bonus for rock-hopping was hearing and spotting a couple pikas.  Yay pikas!  I didn't get any photos of them, but Mr. Marmot obliged by posing:

Hmm, up the rocks or down to the creek?  The rocks looked like the clearer route compared to the bushes down low, so we continued climbing the side of the canyon:

This didn't pan out.  The talus was fine, the lines of vegetation we had to cross were "slow you down" annoyances but doable.  However, eventually we reached the limits of my comfort and decided to turn around.

At least the view of the other side of the valley was great from this vantage point:

No worries, it was good training.

On the way back, we discovered that there is a decent trail along the creek (at least most of the time), good to know.  We also discovered a small meadow with 3 moose hanging out.  Whoa!  Abort, abort.  We backed up around a large boulder and then saw a way to climb up the rock from the other side.  This seemed like a good place for a snack, with plenty of distance - plus plenty of height - away from the animals where we could still watch them.  If they didn't move eventually, we'd retreat further and go around.

Moose resting and grazing:

While we were sitting there, I kid you not, John tells me, "There's a bear".  This is the second time this summer that John has relayed this information to me, and I'm starting to get past the "you are surely joking" phase a lot more quickly.  I turned around and sure enough, a black bear was meandering along the trail we had just come down.  It was eating huckleberries from every bush, using its giant tongue and looking amazingly graceful.

So, this boulder no longer seems very high all of a sudden.  Bear spray ready.  Sitting quietly and watching.  The bear pays us no mind (we weren't in the way of its berries, after all).

The moose, however, were suddenly very concerned.  We couldn't believe we were watching 3 moose and 1 bear at the same time.  What are the odds?

We were both taking pictures, camera in one hand and bear spray in the other:

Not something we see every day:

There was a short standoff as the moose stood in solidarity while the bear approached their turf.  The bear stopped and stared, then did a bluff charge.  So cool to watch, especially since it wasn't bluff charging us!  The moose had a different opinion and decided it wasn't worth it, backing away.  The bear returned to its berry harvesting, jumped a log to move away from us, then ripped some bark off a tree.

John got a zoomed-in low-res photo of the bear on a log:

It walked along another log to cross the creek (John could relate), and finally wandered away.

What just happened???

Well, that was really something.  We climbed off the rock and went way around the moose.  No sense traumatizing them any further.

I feel like this is anticlimactic, but this flower cast an interesting shadow on the rock...

Back toward the trailhead, where John suggested this could be a "stock photo" (and then we started thinking of all kinds of other "stock photos" we could take; surely someone has thought of this already):

Jason made it!  He went through several challenges to join us, and we appreciate his tenacity and the long drive he did from Denver.  John and Jason spent the day discussing the Grand Teton climb, talking to the climbing ranger, debating a single day attempt vs. camping, and going through gear.

They decided to start really early and not carry overnight stuff.  That worked great, as they are both fit and fast enough to do it, especially minimizing weight on their backs.

John could tell more of a story, but he is currently on a rafting class trip, so I'll just show a few photos.

This might be the rock they tunneled under, because that sounded like such a cool idea.  Or maybe Jason has never seen a rock that large before...

John came back with photos of the amazing views they had in all directions.  Sounds awesome!  I'm still glad I opted not to join them!

This part I believe I could have handled:

I was watching their track on the InReach and excited to see them reach the top.  Well done, y'all!

Ridges and lakes to the north, so beautiful:

It's not the narrowest mountaintop I've seen, but not far off:

Now that's a stunning summit photo!

And more beautiful scenery.  Thank you John and Jason!

While they were climbing (actually, descending), I went for a run, because that's what I do.  And also, there's this race across Tennessee this summer...

I found some lovely tent-camping boondock spots along the way, with a view of John and Jason (and a mountain biker who just happened to ride by):

One last day in the Tetons, an AVY CYN redux.  Maybe we could make it higher up the valley this time?  We were all game to try, even the guys who had done a massive climb the day before:

We were still on the main trail when we had our first wildlife sighting - a multi-colored fox that ran toward us and then veered off into the trees, staying within sight for many seconds.  Super cool.

This time we did a much better job of staying on the trail, mostly near the creek:

We did venture onto the talus pile again when we heard an unmistakable "squeak!" and were rewarded with a super close-up view of this ADORABLE pika!  So cute!  And he hung around for a photo session.  I can't stop looking at it!

Finally tearing myself away (well, the pika probably finally left and the party was over), we continued up the valley.  Another hiker pointed out a couple moose lazing around in the shade near the talus field, so we went back to take a look.  Hello moose!  This valley sure is full of animals who don't seem to mind getting stared at.  But no bears today, that's fine with me.

Travel was much easier when following the "trail".  We made it to the large rocky slope below the falls and climbed a long way up alongside it.

Mountain Man:

This time we made it to the first lake, yay!

Someday we'll come back, start way earlier, take way more food (and maybe a small rope just in case) and attempt to climb up to the next lake and the pass by The Wall to the back side of Grand Teton.  Always good to have more goals (well, like I need any more of those!)

Instead we clambered over to the waterfall, monkeying around in the rocks on the way:

What a lovely place to sit and have lunch!

Thank you John and Jason for a super fun week around Jackson and the Tetons!

Wind Caves loop near Logan

Apparently I'm on a trend of running FKT's near where I've previously done a 100-mile race - like Flagstaff and Tahoe (just not the recent Bay Area runs, so I guess I need to find a 100-miler around there someday).  So it shouldn't surprise me that we ended up in Logan UT (site of the Polar Bear 100) for the day.

It was hotter than the last time we were here, topping out near 100 degrees in the afternoon.  We set an early alarm to try to avoid that.  My FKT loop was not too long, and I hoped to finish it up before the heat set in.  The Wind Caves Loop looked interesting - up Logan Canyon, up the side of the hill and over the saddle, down to Green Canyon and then back to the start:
https://fastestknowntime.com/route/wind-caves-loop-ut

Starting at the First Dam Park (and I super love that name, someone must have had fun deciding what to call it) not long after daybreak:

John makes me laugh...

Here we are:

Start/finish is the tunnel under the road, cool!

The trail was easy to follow and well-signed, a nice change from a few days ago:

Running up the road toward sunrise, with plenty of wind (like the name of the caves implies):

The Logan River is very nice, a pleasant brook to run next to:

OK, so there might be a lot of poison ivy in here?  If that's what this is... I couldn't find any reason to believe otherwise, so I chose to accept that identification and tried hard to avoid it.  I can do the "vegetation evasion boogie", having plenty of practice with the poison oak around the Bay Area.

One of the picturesque dams as I headed up canyon:

It was a pretty morning:

My legs were feeling good, enjoying the moderate uphill grade, and I actually felt like I was getting into a groove.  Nice!  Maybe the GVRAT virtual race (or mileage challenge, depending on how you approach it) of the summer is helping.

Nearing the 3rd dam, I came upon this rather-confusing map.  Justin (the current male FKT holder) had mentioned a trail closure when he ran it a couple weeks ago.  I tried to decipher just how much additional elevation would be involved in the detour, and decided to try forging ahead with the standard route to see if the trail was still passable like it was for Justin.  Plus, what does "detoured" mean anyway?  Is that the same as "closed" or more of a suggestion?

OK, so this part is "closed", and I decided to look for a way around instead:

Happily, there is a simple (and only slightly longer) way around that doesn't involve hiking up the side of the mountain.  I ran out to the road and jogged up the shoulder, which is plenty wide.  A glimpse of the dam along the way:

If I'd known that the dirt road to the left was a pass-through I would have taken that one for an even better detour option.  Soon I was back on track, finding this trail to get back onto the route:

After crossing a couple small bridges, the campground layout was slightly confusing but I got lucky in spotting the trail sign to aim for.  And then there was this surprise - another trail closure?  Maybe I should have done more research...

I took a chance and continued along the trail, hoping that since Justin had come this way, it was passable.

Another pretty view along the river, enjoying the shade for much of the way up the trail:

Hey, there's a view of Wind Caves from here!  It's the giant rock partway up the mountain in the center of the photo:

Maybe this is why the "trail closure" sign was posted?  Seems passable enough to me:

Soon enough I was at the Guinava-Malibu Campground, yay for a trail that wasn't actually closed.  I turned left at the road and crossed the bridge, taking a moment for a LLAP selfie:

It's not totally clear how to get out of the campground, but I figured since I hadn't noted any turns I should just keep going downstream.  Yep, that eventually worked.  Crossing highway 89, I located the trailhead on the other side:

Time to climb "for real", rising up above the river and starting to get some more views:

Another excellent view of the Wind Cave rocks.  It would be nice if this FKT route actually went up there, but it would be quite a significant detour and I understand why it's not included.  Someday we'll come back and hike this so we can see it more closely (looks neat from a distance):

I didn't want to miss the turn onto the side trail, but it turned out to be pretty obvious:

Next up = climb, climb, climb.  And watch the views along the way:

On a grassy section of trail, I looked up to see the head of a small canine bounce away and disappear - possible fox?  Bonus!

Toward the top, the trail goes through several steep drainages, with nice tree shade in each one.  My legs were like, "hey, do you remember that thing you did 3 days ago?", hmm, they seem a bit tired.  Well, at least today was a lot less of a big effort.

Soon I was at the saddle and done with the main climbing.  No signs at the top, but at least it was a fairly obvious 4-way intersection.  The trail down the other side is on the right side of the little clearing through the aspens:

It dropped immediately to verify that I was going the right way.  And what a change of scenery!  No more wide open field.  Now I was in the deep dark forest.  Excellent.

With an occasional view of Green Canyon:

And later, a look back toward Logan:

It was a fun trail to run down, just being careful of the occasional rocks and roots.  My legs were like, "uh, still tired here".  Fine, I hear you, I won't bomb down the hill today.

I found the dirt road at the bottom, then the mountain bike trail that paralleled it.  Per the FKT instructions, I got on the trail as soon as I could, and enjoyed the little curves and swoops and criss-crossing of the road.

Quicker than expected, I was back out in the open and nearing the mouth of the canyon:

One last leg!  1.5 miles on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail:

Happily I wasn't in a huge hurry, because this trail did some ups and downs before it finally dropped to where I had started at the First Dam Park.  (What did the fish say when it hit a wall?)

Every FKT (or every workout for that matter) should end with a victory run through a tunnel, woo hoo!

Well, now it's warm.  Glad there's a cold pond right over there.  I rinsed my legs (and used Zanfel during my shower) - we'll see if that was enough to avoid any negative poison ivy effects.

Minion Man - and Minion Car!

Thank you John for putting up with all my FKT-related planning, running, requests, and detours!  You rock  :)