Home ·· News Room ·· Prints ·· Licensing ·· Gallery ·· About Us ·· Contact Us ·· Articles ·· Services Fall Road Trip, September 26 to October 11, 2007 Updated November 6, 2007 Page 1 of 5 Next page
	Click here to download the whole Fall Road Trip report in Acrobat PDF   Fall Road Trip September 26 to October 11, 2007 © 2007 Aaron Linsdau Monday, October 1, 2007 Wyoming Here I sit, in front of the famous Morton's Barn along Mormon Row, looking at the Tetons in the background as countless others have before me. A storm is approaching from the west, pouring clouds over the Grand Teton, a granite massif rising above Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Today is my second rest day after a three day backpack along the Teton Crest trail, 39 miles of high Rocky Mountain splendor. I decided to roll up to Jackson as part of a multi-sport adventure and to get away from it all for a few. The contract work I'd been doing had been waning for the last few months, so I figured it was time to sample the open country before returning to the grind. This was all decided on the Sunday, September 23, only 2 days before I took off for 2 weeks. The original plan was to fly up to Jackson, spend a few days backpacking and return to San Diego. From there, I would make the second leg of the journey, a few hundred mile bike ride around the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound outside of Seattle. After adding up the cost of the last minute flights, transporting a mountain bike through the outrageous air transport system and renting cars, the trip cost rapidly surpassed $2,000. Not wishing to break the bank on flights and cars alone, I decided to do it the old fashioned way and drive the whole trip. It's only 16 hours from Temecula to Jackson. Geared up for a multi-day backpack, a road trip, a photography assault and a hundred mile road ride, I left Temecula at 8am on Tuesday. The original plan was to leave at 4am, but the last minute nature of the trip conspired against me. That, or the waiting to the very last minute to matte and frame two prints for my aunt and grandfather, might have had something to do with my late start. Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Utah Driving with traffic at 85 miles per hour is not the most fuel efficient way to go, but it does keep you from being run over. It was a straight shot from Temecula up the I-15 to Idaho Falls and then a two hour night crossing of Teton Pass into Jackson. Fortunately, I have very understanding family who don't complain when I show up at midnight, two days after I announce I'd like to visit for a week. That tendency must make me the annoying family member, the one who pops in unannounced. Wednesday, September 26, 2007 Wyoming Today was gear up day. Off to the grocery store to buy my food stock. I finally found some bars that seem to be half way decent to live off of. At least, I thought so. The high protein powerful bars really end up making you hungrier as your body just needs a carb load. Apparently, anything over 6 grams of protein per hour actually causes trouble. An hour over at Teton Mountaineering was well spent to get a feel for the local mountain conditions, what to expect and to purchase some bear spray. It seems a little crazy that a tiny can of pepper spray is able to repel a rampaging 300 pound bear. Maybe, after the bear laughs because you've sprayed yourself in the face because you fired it into the wind, you might throw the bottle and hit the laughing bear in the eye, making it run off. Then again, maybe not. Aunt Nancy treated me to a supper at Bubba's, a great barbeque place located just west of Jackson town center. It was a great meal of hearty ribs and gravy, especially since I was to be living off bars and dehydrated food for three days. Thursday, September 27, 2007 Up and going early is the key to a good backpacking day. Today is going to be a long one because I have to set up my return transportation prior to beginning the hike. The original plan was to catch the shuttle service from String Lake back to the Granite Canyon trail head. This arrangement allows backpackers to hop in their waiting ride and leave right after finishing the backpack. That idea wasn't speaking to me, so I came up with a second plan. Since I'd brought my mountain bike to ride the San Juan Islands, it occurred to me that I had the means to make a fully self-supported trip. I went through the park entrance at 6:30am and had my bike locked up at the String Lake parking area shortly thereafter. I made sure to lock both wheels and the seat to the wood rail bike racks. This helped ensure that my entire bike was present when I came to it on Saturday. Immediately, I hopped back in the truck and headed out of the main park entrance and on to the Moose-Wilson road. At this time of the morning during off-season, there is no ranger at the entrance in the morning, so you can get in and out quickly. By the time I had filled my Platypus bladders, loaded my backpack, and stowed things in the truck, it was 8am by the time I hit the trail. It was a good thing I picked up my backcountry permit yesterday at the fancy new Moose visitors center. I didn't want to be backpacking into the night with the large fauna here. The first couple of miles up into Granite Canyon are an absolute pleasure compared to the straight up starts found at Mineral King in Sequoia National Park. All the while, I enjoyed the blazing yellow aspens, the haunting melody of elk bugling in the otherwise silent forest and the crispness of the air. The sound of elk is unearthly and might frighten one if the source wasn't known. This ethereal serenade was a strangely comforting companion compared to the synthetic rubbing sounds of my silicon impregnated nylon backpack. A magpie was my trusty companion for a while, likely looking for a handout or a wilderness buddy. After the magpie gave up and I had left the cacophony of unseen elk, the sounds of a cool morning in the Rockies enveloped me. A slight rustling of aspen leaves, chirping of birds unfamiliar to me and the far off sound of running water were my companions. With visions of grizzly bear attacks dancing in my head, a quick check of the bear spray was done every 5 minutes. The Rockies have a greater assortment of dangerous critters than the Sierras, so my usual sense of hearing was heightened to the point of paranoia. Hearing a rustling in the brush just ahead of me, I practiced the non-politically correct famous maneuver referred to as a Chinese fire drill in trying to get at my meager weapon. Ready, I rounded the corner and expected to be turned to brunch. What I saw made my heart skip a beat. There, right before me, was, well, a trail maintenance crew. Confident that those nice people weren't there to make a meal out of me, I discretely holstered my defense. Fortunately, the trail crew hardly took note of me or my hand behind my back hiding my bear spray. My ego was now fully in check and I excused myself past the courteous group and moved on. So much for the thoughts of death just an hour into my trip. The rest of the hike up Granite Canyon was beautiful and uneventful. Reaching Marion Lake in the early afternoon, I ran across a couple doing the same trip as I, just in "several more nights", as they referred to it. They were traveling with luxury items like folding chairs and comfy pillows. Though nice for the moments they are used, carrying the extra weight for their short-lived use has negated the niceness for me, as I've adopted the ultra-light philosophy. Though, I do think about sitting on something more comfortable than a cold rock or a sap covered log. I headed on to Death Shelf, the rocky (maybe limestone?) shelf that marks the terminus of Death Canyon. Death Canyon is suggested as a side trip, described in the Hiking the Tetons book, and it was easy to see why. With the canyon backlit by the mid-afternoon sun, only silhouettes of canyon shapes were visible. The sun beams obliterated the detail, leaving only the suggestion of shapes and details made up by one's mind. The chasm was a gently sloping bowl at the bottom of Death Shelf, leading to dramatic cliffs a mile away on either side. Death Canyon reminded me of the general topography of Kings Canyon National Park in California. The sides of Death Canyon have the same ice scoured sides, a remnant of glacial movement that ground the landscape into a reminiscent alpine slide for giants. With the early fall sun still hovering over the canyon, I headed over Kit Fox Pass, onto the widest and flattest section of Death Shelf. The trail was pleasantly smooth and rolling, unlike harsh steep grinds of other sections of the Teton Crest. At 4pm, I reached the group camp area of Death Shelf and I began looking for an area to bed down. With the convenience of time, I was able to find a tight wind-shielded area to set up the tarp shelter in a cluster of trees. The group of trees shielded me from the cool breezes on three sides. Placing the food and backpack in the handy bear box for the moment, I wandered around and explored the area a bit. Normally, I would be crawling into camp at 8pm on a regular backpack, but with only 13 miles covered today, I had the chance to sit around and watch the landscape change as the late afternoon sun skirted across the dramatic cliffs towering over me. Next page
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