These are a few of my favorite things...

I had a random (and rare) day off in the middle of the week so I called up my friend Alex to do some hiking. We decided on the famed Garnet Canyon up in Grand Teton National Park. I'd been wanting to visit what is called "The Meadows" for a long time. It's the place where people climbing the cathedral peaks (aka the gnarly Tetons) camp before or after they make their summits. It's a 5-ish mile hike up to this spot, all uphill of course. What else would you expect out here? There is a little bit of scrambling in the end to make the final pitch up to the meadows, but nothing that a semi-athletic person can't handle. There is a huge forest fire burning in the Gros Ventres right now so the smoke settles in the valley in the mornings. It was a pretty weird day with near storm-like conditions early on and then bright blue skies in the afternoon. Here are a few shots from the trip:

Smoke in the valley.

The trail up into Garnet.

The Meadows.

Spalding Falls on the right, looking up at the Lower Saddle.

This one's for you, Middle Teton.

After a great day of hiking we picked up David and headed up to Shadow Mountain for a night of camping. The view was spectacular and it was amazing to sit up there and watch the sun set behind the Tetons. Aahhh....I love this place.

A Trip to Jackson Peak

Wow, finally our first backpacking trip of the year! Between mosquitoes, lingering snow, and ever-changing weather patterns, it's been a pretty difficult year to get out into the backcountry. For this first one I chose Jackson Peak, a triangle shaped mountain that I constantly admire from the road to my house. There is a ski cabin there that people visit in the winter and I guess it's pretty fun to rip down its endless bowls when the snow is good. As far as summer activities go, there is a little lake behind it called Goodwin Lake that provides great camping, fishing, and even swimming. Standing not too much further above the lake is the summit of Jackson Peak. Located in the Gros Ventre Wilderness, this peak is pretty easily accessed. The round trip hike to and from your car is just over ten miles, making it a nice day trip or a relaxing overnight trip. We drove up the rugged road into Curtis Canyon and were soon at the trailhead. A nice hike through the forest takes you to the little gem of a lake. There are lots of campsites, so it was pretty easy to get settled in. Once we had our tent pitched, we took a nice little jaunt up the ridge to the summit of Jackson Peak. It took less than an hour to get to the top, and the views were stunning. From the daunting ridges of Cache Peak to the vastness of the valley floor below, we were in awe. We added some rocks to the giant cairn at the top, did some yoga, took some photos, and sauntered back down to our campsite. It was a great night in the backcountry sleeping under the nearly full moon. I was so happy to get out of town and spend some quality time outside. I finished off the weekend with some solid pool time, a twelve mile run, and Teton Thai. Life isn't so bad, eh?

Here are a few favorites from the trip:

The trail to Goodwin Lake.

Pond along the way.

Wildflowers.

David and the last push up Jackson Peak.

Sleeping Indian.

Giant cairn on top of Jackson Peak.

David and the Tetons.

Goodwin Lake from above.

David looking out at the view.

My heart melts for the Tetons.

Cache Peak.

Little yellow flower.

Indian paintbrush.

Dinner...mmmmm...

Looking up.

Cozy camp.

Moonrise.

Early Season at its Finest

La Niña years typically equal snow for the Northwest and Northern Rockies. To much delight, those predictions have rung true and brought us Jacksonites an early Christmas present in the form of massive amounts of snow. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort secured record pre-season snowfall and opened "wall-to-wall" It's been amazing so far, and besides the fact that people are just barely in-shape enough to ride, we've had a blast.

Rock Springs powder turns - Day 2 of JHMR.

First time we've seen Cody Peak in a while. Gorgeous day.

New to the resort this year is a series of terrain parks design by Burton called the "Stash Parks." They are placed in random locations all over the resort and contain (fairly massive) terrain park features made out of natural materials...aka tree jibs, bird's nest pillows, wall rides, etc. I thought the wall ride would be pretty sweet to shoot on a random snowy day.

David hittin' the Stash Park.

Finally, we started our morning right today with a "dawn patrol" up at Teton Pass. My friend Julie had an early appointment so she and our friend Robin convinced us to get up for a sunrise lap. Needless to say, it was totally worth it. Who needs sleep anyway when you can snowboard?

Sunrise behind Cache Peak.

Earn your turns -- you won't be disappointed.

On another non-snowboarding related note, I've had some pretty sweet views from work lately. The elk are migrating back to the elk refuge and I guess the Amangani is on their way. I've been checking out these guys for the past week or so. Such beautiful animals.

More Snowboarding!

Destination: Powder

I guess I didn't expect the off-season to be filled with this much snowboarding, but yesterday it was! We got a solid 7" of snow on the Pass, along with a whopping 20" over at Grand Targhee! Time to take advantage. David and I planned on going up to the Pass at 7 am to meet up with Robin & Julie. We did a lap on Chiver's Ridge and decided it was so good, we could squeeze another one in before Julie had to go to work. It was definitely possible. I don't usually get up to the Pass until at least 9, so it was beautiful to see what happens there at sunrise.

Early morning on Teton Pass.

Trail Creek parking area.

Robin shoots marketing photos for the 'Ghee and he was able to convince me & David to get over there and ride (you can imagine he really had to twist my arm haha). We arrived to a beautiful sunny day, and a not overly-crowded resort. Targhee is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to get out there more next year.

This is called Mary's Nipple. It looks more nipple-y from up higher.

Some tree runs at the 'Ghee.

Another highlight from yesterday...I got a new job! I'm so excited. I'm going to be serving at the beautiful Amangani . Check out the website. You'll see why I'm so excited. It sounds like it's going to be a great job.

The End of a Season

It's really a shame that Jackson Hole Mountain Resort had to close its lifts this weekend. Mother Nature ended the season with a bang, dumping a few feet of snow over the course of just a few days. Unfortunately, Jackson Hole is restricted to Teton National Park guidelines and has to close at a certain time every year, regardless of the current snowfall. David and I ended the season with a couple of really awesome backcountry runs, and I thought I'd share.

Nothing like a cliff drop method.

Stomped it.

Perspective.

Pow slashing.

More than one way to do a method.

Hiking for pow.

Testing the landing.

Gnarly drop into the trees in Rock Springs.

Nothing but pow out there...sad. At least we still have Teton Pass though. You can be sure I'll be making my way up there as soon as the storms settle and the avalanche danger decreases. What a great end to the season though. Wow.

Making the Most of the Mountain

The past few days have been some of the best that I've had here in JH. Yesterday I met up with Anna and we took some runs in the fresh 5 inches of powder. Stuff was good all over the mountain. We stopped for lunch at the Moose and a little Bailey's and coffee to get us going.

After, we prepared for my first trip out to Four Pines. The avalanche conditions were definitely a little more questionable out there than in the comfort of Rock Springs. The journey required passing over Rock Springs and then hiking up a steep knoll. Soon we dropped down into a small canyon, shadowed by the line called "Breakneck". Don't think I'll be hitting that anytime soon. Looks gnarly.

Anna on hike #1 to Four Pines

Cody Peak looming in the fog.

Our destination: the knoll in the left upper corner of the photo.

The line called Breakneck. Yikes!

After a second mellower hike, we reached the top of Four Pines, along with several other go-getters. We looked down at the awesome powder below us and couldn't believe how epic it looked. The sun even started peaking through on our descent.

Hike #2 to Four Pines.

Anna on the descent.

View from where I was about to drop -- fun chute!

We reached the flattened area at the bottom and proceeded to take the long, tiring traverse back to the resort. All of the hard work hiking and traversing was totally worth it.

Looking back at the goods.

Today was another hard hitting day. I got out to the resort early with David so I could show him Rock Springs. It was sunny and the avalanche danger was supposed to increase as the day went on. It was pretty tracked through there with some heavy sun-soaked snow, but it was still a blast. A parade of people were hiking up the ridge to Cody Peak...good idea since this was one of the first sunny days we've had in weeks! I bet that was a good time.

After Rock Springs, we headed up the elevator shaft hike up the Headwall from the top of the Gondola. We met a snowboard instructor named Steve who also had the day off on our way up. Turns out we have lots of mutual friends, so when David took a sweet line down through the trees so he could go to work, I showed Steve the chute David and I had gone down in Casper Bowl a few days before. The snow was lots heavier today but still nice and soft. I ended up meeting with my friend Helena as well, and we had a small crew roaming around the mountain for the rest of the day. Another hike up Headwall and a Saratoga Bowl run later, I was spent. Now here I am writing this and soaking up the afternoon rays that are pouring through my window.

I have to go back to work tomorrow, but the days off I had were amazing, and I think I'll be able to power through while I look forward to some more adventures!