The Grand Teton National Park and Bridger – Teton National Forest
Wyoming… Wyoming. Wyoming. Wyoming. Wyoming. Wyoming. Say it 5 times fast. The word almost loses it’s meaning. When I was a kid, I liked to practice this verbal exercise to keep myself entertained. I usually said other words, but Wyoming was interesting to say in particular because well, I had no idea what was actually in Wyoming.
To “Young Luke”, Wyoming was a magical flatland with some mountains and maybe like 200 people living there. It wasn’t until some years later that I realized that it was actually home to millions of acres of incredible, untouched wilderness areas, filled with towering mountains, glaciers, and an abundance of wildlife.
Naturally, Wyoming became one of my top hiking and backpacking destinations. Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger – Teton National Forest looked like “Mecca” for backpackers and I felt the need to make a religious pilgrimage.
My desire to backpack Wyoming was a major driving factor in deciding to travel across the country for months at a time. It’s not cheap or easy to fly into Wyoming. Rental cars are expensive. Points of Interest are very far away from each other, leaving you little time to see each place. You can’t take a quick vacation to Wyoming. There’s no such thing. Once you’re there, you’re there.
When I entered Wyoming from the South, I knew I would hike in the Bridger – Teton Wilderness first. I decided to backpack the Cirque of the Towers Trail, a 18 mile round trip, 2700 ft vertical climb to four different beautiful mountain lakes.
Cirque of the Towers Trail – Bridger Teton National Park
Pictured below is a screenshot of the track of the trail on my hiking app, AllTrails, and below that are images from the points of interest I highlighted along the trail.
The Cirque of the Towers trail clearly, was incredibly beautiful, and I should have spent more time in the Bridger – Teton Wilderness.
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park felt like an entirely different world from the Bridger – Teton Wilderness. Crowded and the campgrounds were full. It’s a National Park in the middle of the summer, after all. I had to expect those things. I decided to hike a few different trails in Grand Teton, including the Solitude Lake trail, which was a 16 mile, 2200 ft vertical climb, out and back hike.
If there’s one tip I can give about visiting Grand Teton National Park in the summer, its hike early in the morning or late in the afternoon. I enjoyed hiking late in the afternoon especially. I hiked Jenny Lake, Bradley Lake, String Lake, and Leigh Lake late in the afternoon, and saw probably two dozen people in total. In comparison, I hiked the Solitude lake trail in the middle of the day and saw more people on this trail than all the other trails combined.
Regardless, Grand Teton National Park was incredibly beautiful, and I look forward to climbing the Tetons in the future!
Recent Comments