Hanging Canyon
Yesterday we trekked into the Tetons to reach the incredible Lake of the Crags, which sits at about 9,600 ft above sea level. For a special place like this, though, be prepared to WORK for it. My legs are rather stiff today.. but it was worth it!
Starting off at String Lake
be prepared for a lot of panoramas today
the gang was myself, Mitch & Lauren who are on the same project as me, and Pete & Alice who are Masters students from Frostburg in Maryland studying river otters!
fireweed
osprey nest at the top of one of the snags!
talk about a good view!
so much fireweed!
Jenny Lake through the trees
the start of Hanging Canyon trail, which is not maintained by the park (meaning, fewer people!)
peeking peak
take my word for it, this is a yellow-bellied marmot
and here is its butt
the closer you get to the mountains, the more epic they become!
see the top of that saddle? that's where we're going!
Jenny Lake from above
up up up
it's an insanely steep trail
lots of panoramas!
this is called “The Cube,” and there’s actually a person standing on top!
wildlife!
living it up on the slopes of giant mountains
I think this is Columbine? Maybe?
no idea what this one is, but it’s pretty!
looking back down.. I took a lot of photos because I needed a lot of rest stops on the way up!
parts of the trail were scrambles over boulders
almost to the top!! This is Arrowhead Pool - can you spot the deer??
here it is! :D (ignore the terrible quality of a zoomed-in iPhone photo)
now there are two!
the landscape is just so cool, like those trees are growing out of what appears to be sheer granite - but the slop between the peaks is treeless, I would guess because of the immense weight of snow and avalanches during the winter.
another pano! Our trail took us up the green strip in the center of this pano. Yet more elevation to gain! Yeesh.
there go the others up the waterfall trail
so many wildflowers on this trail!
wish I knew the names of them all
Ramshead Lake, the first of the two alpine lakes at the top of Hanging Canyon trail
plenty of snow still up here!
it felt pretty good on my sun-crisped skin after all that hiking
looking back on Ramshead Lake as we continue yet further to our final destination
Lake of the Crags! The top of Hanging Canyon, about 9,600 feet above sea level, and 3,000 feet from our starting point.
This is definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been
and the geology is so amazing!
we all jumped into the water, which was pretty darn chilly - but it felt incredibly refreshing after 4 hours of steep trails!
happy crew
heading back down, this pano is a little funky as Mitch was walking by and the processing seems to have squished him a bit, whoops!
the smoke had cleared a little from earlier in the day, but in the distance you can see the large clouds above the wildfire that has been obscuring the Tetons for a couple weeks
the view from the Tetons, pretty good eh??
What a day! I’m not sure I’ll be doing any other major hikes like this one while I’m here, but it was pretty amazing to earn this experience of the Tetons!
Starting off at String Lake
be prepared for a lot of panoramas today
the gang was myself, Mitch & Lauren who are on the same project as me, and Pete & Alice who are Masters students from Frostburg in Maryland studying river otters!
fireweed
osprey nest at the top of one of the snags!
talk about a good view!
so much fireweed!
Jenny Lake through the trees
the start of Hanging Canyon trail, which is not maintained by the park (meaning, fewer people!)
peeking peak
take my word for it, this is a yellow-bellied marmot
and here is its butt
the closer you get to the mountains, the more epic they become!
see the top of that saddle? that's where we're going!
Jenny Lake from above
up up up
it's an insanely steep trail
lots of panoramas!
this is called “The Cube,” and there’s actually a person standing on top!
wildlife!
living it up on the slopes of giant mountains
I think this is Columbine? Maybe?
no idea what this one is, but it’s pretty!
looking back down.. I took a lot of photos because I needed a lot of rest stops on the way up!
parts of the trail were scrambles over boulders
almost to the top!! This is Arrowhead Pool - can you spot the deer??
here it is! :D (ignore the terrible quality of a zoomed-in iPhone photo)
now there are two!
the landscape is just so cool, like those trees are growing out of what appears to be sheer granite - but the slop between the peaks is treeless, I would guess because of the immense weight of snow and avalanches during the winter.
another pano! Our trail took us up the green strip in the center of this pano. Yet more elevation to gain! Yeesh.
there go the others up the waterfall trail
so many wildflowers on this trail!
wish I knew the names of them all
Ramshead Lake, the first of the two alpine lakes at the top of Hanging Canyon trail
plenty of snow still up here!
it felt pretty good on my sun-crisped skin after all that hiking
looking back on Ramshead Lake as we continue yet further to our final destination
Lake of the Crags! The top of Hanging Canyon, about 9,600 feet above sea level, and 3,000 feet from our starting point.
This is definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been
and the geology is so amazing!
we all jumped into the water, which was pretty darn chilly - but it felt incredibly refreshing after 4 hours of steep trails!
happy crew
heading back down, this pano is a little funky as Mitch was walking by and the processing seems to have squished him a bit, whoops!
the smoke had cleared a little from earlier in the day, but in the distance you can see the large clouds above the wildfire that has been obscuring the Tetons for a couple weeks
the view from the Tetons, pretty good eh??
What a day! I’m not sure I’ll be doing any other major hikes like this one while I’m here, but it was pretty amazing to earn this experience of the Tetons!