Best of the Teton Crest Trail

A Robert Burns Interview

I forget exactly WHY we chose the Crest Trail because we made the decision so long ago. We did put in a lot of research and tried to time the trip so there’d be no snow…but, lucky for us, that didn’t happen.

A: There was supposed to be 3 of us, and honestly 3 is much better for safety than 2. But one canceled last minute…last minute as in a week before we left. So, it’s not like we were going to bail on the whole thing.

Greg and I had been jonesing hard to get into the mountains of Grand Teton National Park since way before we submitted applications for permits. The risk in having only 2 people, in grizzly country, is that if one gets hurt they need to stay behind alone while the other goes for help.

Q: What gear did you bring? Any complaints or praise about your gear to pass on to readers? A: Greg had a Kelty Gunnison Tent, which he swears by. I had a Marmot Limelight Tent, which seems sturdy enough to bounce cinder blocks off the top. We had a night of 50 mph gusts in Alaska Basin and both tents shed the wind pretty well.

We both brought Black Diamond crampons and ice axes for the Teton Crest Trail. Greg used an MSR filter that he complained about because of its slow speed. I used the Katadyn Hiker Filter as I’ve been using for years and it’s super fast.

Meals were typical dehydrated Mountain House. I had a large bag of couscous which can actually be prepared without hot water so I was able to limit the amount of fuel I used.

The ice axe came in handy for a self arrest on a 500 foot vertical snowfield near Mount Hunt Divide. I also bent a pole self arresting in Cascade Canyon

A: Probably the climb up the snowfield. It was the most physically taxing out of anything we did and also the most exciting. There was something great at every turn, however.

Death Canyon Shelf was perched above a great big beautiful canyon with a lush green bottom. The entrance to Cascade Canyon, with a glacier hanging down one wall and the Grand and Middle rising up and streaked with snow, was like an absolute shangri-la.

There were definitely points where we were drunk on giddyness, especially glissading into Alaska Basin.

Q: Least favorite part?

A: I don’t really know if there was a least favorite part. Greg had some vicious blisters on his heels. We forgot sunblock and I had a burn that caused my face to swell on the last morning.

In the Alaska Basin portion of the Teton Crest Trail, we couldn’t find a trail because everything was snow covered. We stayed high and navigated using the map as it looked like a storm was coming in.

Camping on snow in the rain didn’t seem enticing, but the storm didn’t get there until after we’d found a dry spot and by the time the winds kicked up we were already in our tents.

A: Definitely! We’re thinking about going back next year to do a few shorter trips. I think we’re definitely going to schedule the trip for earlier in the year so we can get to travel on snow again.

We want to climb the Grand with Exum and also do the Middle. If we go somewhere else I’d love to backpack in the Cascades. Q: Where do you plan to go next?

A: There are so many different places to go in this country, besides the Teton Crest Trail. The options are limitless! Cascades, Badlands, Rockies, Salt Lake City, Zion, and then there’s the stuff outside the country like the Haute Route or New Zealand.

A: Definitely. It’s so easy to get access to the Teton Crest Trail and shuttles are available and cheap! We Stayed at a hostel in Teton Village for $35 a night and the village was really cool.

The Mother Hips were playing a live show in the commons when we got there. There were some great bars like the Mangy Moose all within a stone’s throw of the hostel. We took the Valley Trail from Teton Village and once we got to Jenny Lake there was a shuttle back to Jackson for $15.

If you’re looking to hike this trail I definitely recommend the hostel in Teton Village. They were uber accommodating and let us leave unnecessary gear there for the 4 days we were gone.

Public transportation around the Jackson area and all through Grand Teton National Park was phenomenal. The Start Bus system and the Alltrans shuttles were so clutch.

As for the trail itself, timing is everything. We had it timed so that we would be doing the trail with no snow but as it turns out they had an unprecedented amount of snow this past winter, 70 feet!

Also, get the permit requests in as early as possible…as in January of the year you plan your hike. Because of conditions we didn’t see many people in the backcountry but from what I’ve read the trail is normally pretty crowded. Q: What is it about backpacking that you love?

A: What I love about backpacking is that it is life whittled down to its simplest terms. I think of Thoreau and Walden and the four basic necessities: food, water, shelter, and clothing. Really, what else is there to be concerned with when backpacking?

There are people who, when they ask me what I’m doing on my vacation, tell me that spending a week in the woods and sweating and getting filthy isn’t a vacation at all. But I don’t understand how sitting on a beach getting a buzz on booze is any sort of vacation. We do that on the weekends.

We go out to dinner or we go dancing or we hit up happy hour; so how does doing that on vacation push any sort of reset button? I’d much rather be sipping instant coffee on a cold morning below a 10,000 foot peak and watching a moose drink from a half frozen lake in August, like on the Teton Crest Trail.

A: I try to get out at least once a month. Whether it’s a short trail on Long Island or a beach backpacking trip, or doing an overnight in upstate New York.

I’m lucky enough to live near Harriman State Park which is a great park that not too many people seem to know about. I’ve been on just about every inch of marked trail up there and most of the unmarked ones and more and more frequently I’ve been bushwhacking and following game trails up there. All in all I guess I set my tent up about 20 times a year.

I’m just waiting to win the lotto so I can do it full time.

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