Preplan work.

Sent in permit JAN, $25,  (they keep 2/3 of permits for walk ins) If less than 7 people you have to have a bear canister,(free) large groups 7 -12 have bear vaults so don’t need to carry

Trip tik AAA to climbers lodge, maps & books

Called Alpine Climbers Lodge made resv first 2 nights $22 ea, made after 6-1 307-733-7271

Called about gondola to top of mt $29 or less you have senior pass $20

Boat ride across Jenny Lake to cascade trail $10

Camp grounds are $10 with a senior pass.reg $19,

 Websites & tele #’sNps.gov/grteWeather 307 739-3611Craig Thomas Discovery & visitor center- moose open yr round 8a to 5aJenny Lake visitor center 307-739 3392Shuttle – buckboard trans 307 733-1112 or 877 791-0211, also check out parks van Car rental

Rented through enterprise, had issues but at the end they made it satisfying, would reconsider going thru them.

 Ideal Crest TrailDAY 1. Tram to top hike to MIDDLE S. FORK GRANITEDAY 2. Death canyon shelfDAY 3. Alaska BasinDay 4. S. Fork cascadeDAY 5. N. Cascade

Day 6. Lower Paint Brush

Unfortunally this did not happen as our permits requested. Due to the amount of snow they got this year we were not able to do the certain passes. What they picked out for us at the end was satisfying, but now this means I will have to go back to do the whole Teton Cress at a later date. Pack weight started out about 25 #’s including water & food.

 
Grand Teton’s 8-8 to 8-12-2011

Rented a Dodge Caravan worked out well for 5 of us. 17 hrs to Climbers Lodge, which is where we stayed for 2 days before our backpack trip. From our cabin was a moose, elk on the ridge, & the Grand Teton Mts for our view. We meet up with Judy’s brother Dwayne & the Explorers from Ne. The total group was 17, but was divided into 2 groups. Our group was 5 with 7 of them, which qualified us to get Group sites. Due to all the ice & snow passes were closed that were on our permit. The change did not take us totally on the Crest Trail as planned, but was able to due a satisfying plan. Keep in mine to get to the visitor center at 8a.m.to get the resv changed the day before. We took the tram ($29 or less a senior) to the top, then hiked to our trail. Right from start we had our share of ice & snow in the shady areas. Colleen  had a fused ankle & hardware in her back, after falling a few times a discussion was made on her part to turn back. Our van was waiting at Grand Teton Village, but very hard for the rest of us to let 1 person go back. It happened that an off duty GT patrol person named David Lewis helped her all the way back to the tram. He was hiking out after hiking with a friend & his friend ended up severely hurting his ankle & was being helicopter out. Now she knew she made a right decision. The trip was marvelous & the pictures will tell the rest of the story. Be aware of not so much the bears (June & Dwayne did bring bear spray) but the porcupine & marmots. The porcupine loves salt. He kept me up one whole night, not knowing he was chewing on salty boot tongues & hiking pole handles! We did have on additional day once we hiked out so we stayed a Jenny Lake, took the boat over to Cascade Divide Trail & did a all day hike up to the divide. We were 10 feet away from a moose as we walked on the trail.

After Colleen hiked out the 1st day we were all glad to hear she was having a good time. She went back to the Climbers Lodge, & hooked up with the rangers free hikes, did a trip over to Yellowstone & enjoyed all the beauty around her, which was a extreme relief for the rest of us.

   Colleen’s car GPS worked well. On the way home stopped off at Beaver, Ut stayed at Best Western Butch Cassidy for 5 of us $87 phone 435 438 2438, very nice.  Good eats at Urdus, also we were told Bambi is good.