Grand Teton - The Scramble From Hell

The main goal of our trip was to visit Yellowstone and Glacier. We decided to spend a day or two at the Grand Teton because it was on the way. It turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. We came in with no expectations, and came out with nothing like it. On our way from Rapid City to the Grand Teton, this was the view. We were 100 miles away and could still see this. Absolutely beautiful.

Once we got there we were dying to get an up close view of the Grand Teton. With the 5 hour drive we did, we weren’t looking for much of a hike. We just walked along the rocks which was less than a mile there. Here’s the view on a small walk we took.

There were plenty of trails on the way, but we chose to walk on the shore on these colorful rocks. Because we expected this to be a short hike, we wore sneakers and brought nothing with us besides a cellphone. So stupid! No matter how small the hike, always bring supplies!! While admiring this view, we realized that it began to sprinkle. The boats on the lake had disappeared, and the clouds were dark. In an attempt to get back to the car quicker, we hopped on a trail in the woods. After 30 minutes of walking and a rainstorm later, we saw that we passed the same people… twice. The trail was like the Twilight Zone. We kept going in circles. At this point we were scared, hungry, and thirsty. It was getting dark. We found a group of young children being led by camp counselors and followed them back to the parking lot. I still have no idea how we got back, but we were soaking wet, and left for our campground. Oops!!

Our campground was nothing like a campground. We drove into the edge of Idaho as we booked the campground through a site called Hipcamp. This was the same site we found Uncle B’s farm, and we were expecting at least a campground. Our ‘campground’ was a person’s front yard. I can’t complain, they had horses, adorable dogs, and a bathroom. The bathroom had a cat that hung out and watched you. It was great. But we set up a tent in their front yard. We wanted to stay up to look at the stars, but the sun doesn't set until 10pm, so we drank wine in our tent and watched a movie on our phone. Still, a fantastic night.

We started the next day early. I was excited for today. I found a view I couldn’t let go of on Pinterest. It was called Delta Lake, a lake on top of a mountain and a view of the Grand Teton. This view was the reason we went to the Grand Teton. It was arguably the reason we went on this trip. When we started the hike, we didn’t see the trail on the map, but we decided to get started and ask around on the way. The first half of the hike was pleasant. I mean it was the best hike I’ve ever done. It was a gradual incline with an amazing view. It wasn’t like hikes in New England. This hike was filled with flowers and water and colorful rocks. I was astonished. We met a few traveling friends along the way, and they showed us the trail to Delta Lake.

The trail was off to the side and unmarked. From my understanding they did not want people going on this trail, but it was the most popular trail. Without looking up the trail beforehand as such experienced hikers do…. We had no idea what to expect.

The next half of the hike was the most physically exhausting thing I’ve ever done. I have been training for my college soccer preseason and hiking high peaks in the Adirondacks but I have never done anything like this hike. I have this saying where it's not a real hike without a scramble, or at least not a hard one. Well fuck, this was a hike. I always have such a love hate relationship with a scramble. It's fun to hike up, but it's hard. This was the scramble from hell. The next 2 miles included a scramble that was completely uphill. We had to cross and hike up unstable rocks which took an hour in itself. But it was all worth it. Once we got to the top, we were met with this view. Breathtaking. The water was ice cold but many people were jumping in it. This was the view.

Kayla and I spent the entire day bathing in the sun on this rock. We made many hiking friends that day, including many people that were doing the same road trip as us.

On the way down we saw a baby bear, which was daunting because the mama bear had to be close by. No pictures of this one! We just watched him walk along the trail for a little bit until he was out of sight. This hike was exhausting. But it was so worth it. I spent the rest of the trip and I am going to spend the rest of my life thinking about this hike. There was truly nothing else like it.