Six years ago I drove through Grand Teton National Park, but because of bad weather I didn't stop for a hike. The Tetons were so amazing that I knew I would have to go back at some point. This was one reason why I decided to drive about 1000 miles to Grand Teton for my vacation this year.
Pred sesti lety jsem projizdela Narodnim parkem Grand Teton, ale kvuli spatnemu pocasi jsme se nedostala na zadnou turu. Teton pohori me tak oslnilo, ze jsem vedela, ze se musim jednou vratit zpet. Toto byl jeden z duvodou proc jsem se rozhodla jet asi 1600 km do Grand Teton na moji dovolenou!
Thursday - Friday
Petra and I left on Thursday evening, after my class around 9 pm. We drove through the night and most of Friday, one was always sleeping, one driving. We arrived to Grand Teton in the late afternoon. Considering that August is a busy time and we didn't have any reservation, the plan was to try to get a campsite at least close to Grand Teton and in the morning be early for first come first serve basis campsite and the next day to try to get permit for the backpack. To my complete surprise we got campsite at the park and even a permit to start our backpack the next day - Saturday!
Ctvrtek - PatekVyjely jsme s Petrou ve ctvrtek vecer, po moji hodine na universite, kolem 9 vecer. Jely jsme celou noc a velkou cast patku, stridaly jsme se v rizeni a spani. Do Grand Tetonu jsme prijely k veceru. Protoze byl srpen, jeden z nejrusnejsich mesicu a my jsme nemely zednou reservaci, planovaly jsme kempovat nekde pobliz parku a brzo rano byt v rade na kemp, ktere jsou na bazi kdo driv prijde.... a druhy den zkusit dostat povoleni na backpack. K memu velkemu prekvapeni jsem nasly nejen kemp v parku, ale dostaly jsme i povoleni na nas vylet do hor hned na druhy den - Sobotu!
Saturday
We packed our bags, made sure that we had everything necessary for 5 day - 40 miles backpacking trip and drove to the trailhead where we were planning to finish. We wanted to leave our car there and then hitchhike to our starting point (ranger recommendation), but we didn't see anybody around, so we decided for another, little bit more expensive solution. We drove to our starting point, Granite canyon trailhead and called a company who later transported our car to the finishing trailhead (again list of providers from ranger).
We finally started around 1 pm. We had to walk over 7 miles to our designated camping place. We walked through Granite canyon, first part in the woods, later it opened up more and we saw beautiful meadows with flowers. We camped in upper Granite canyon. Tired and not being able to make a fire and get rid of annoying mosquitoes, we went early to bed, just after dinner and hot chocolate.
Sobota
Sabalily jsme si batohy a ujistily se, ze mame vse nezbytne na 5 dni v horach a 64 km a jely jsme do mista kam jsme planovaly dojit. Chtely jsme tam nechat nase auto a stopem dojet k nasemu vychozimu bodu (na radu rangera), ale nikoho, koho bychom se mohli zeptat jsme na parkovisti nevidely a tak jsme se rozhodly pro drazsi variantu. Jely jsme do naseho vychoziho bodu a zavolaly spolecnost ktera nam pozdeji prevezla auto k mistu kam jsme mely dojit (opet seznam spolecnosti byl dodan rangerem).
Vysly jsme kolem 1 odpoledne. Musely jsme jit pres 11 km k mistu, kde jsme mohly kempovat. Sly jsme Granit kanonem, prvni cast lesem, pozdeji se kanon vice otevrel a nam se naskytl pohled na nadherne louky s kytkama. Kempovaly jsme v horni casti Granite kanyon. Unaveny a take jelikoz jsme nemohly zalozit ohen a zbavit se otravujicich komaru, sly jsme spat brzy po veceri a teple cokolade!
Sunday
After almost 12 hours sleep we hiked up to Marion Lake and join the crest Teton trail. When we reached the first of the two passes that we had to cross that day, the view of the Tetons appeared! We walked around 11 miles, passing Fox Creek pass, Death Canyon Shelf and Mt. Meek pass and descending into Alaska basin (out of Grand Teton NP boundaries) for the night by some lakes.
Nedele
Temer po 12 hodinach spanku jsme vysly k jezeru Marion a napojily se na cestu Crest Teton. Kdyz jsme dosly k prvnimu prusmyku kterym jsme dnes musely projit, objevily se pre nami vrcholky Tetonu! Sly jsme asi 18 km, prosly Fox Creek pass, Death Canyon Shelf, Mt. Meek pass a nakonec jsme sesly do Alaska Basin (mimo Narodni Park Grand Teton), kde jsme prespaly u jezer.
Monday
Our next camping zone wasn't too far away - only about 6.5 miles, but we had to climb up to the Hurricane pass (10372 ft), so we started quite early. The view from this pass was really unbelievable and we spent at least one hour on the top enjoying the view! We camped in South Fork Cascade canyon. Unfortunately there were designated campsite spots in the canyon and the one that we found at about the location that we wanted to stop was full of mosquitoes (more that usual!). We solved that problem by taking our dinner to the river and enjoyed our afternoon there!
Pondeli
Nase dalsi kempovaci misto nebylo daleko - jen asi 10 km, ale musely jsme vyjit na prusmyk Hurricane (3161 m), a tak jsme vysly pomerne brzy. Vyhled z tohoto mista byl skutecne uzasny a my jsme zustaly uzivat si pohledu na vrsku alespon hodinu. Kempovaly jsme v kanonu South Fork Cascade. Nanestesti tady byly vsechny kempovaci mista primo vyhrazeny a ten co jsme nasly v miste kam jsme chtely dojit byl plny komaru (vice nez obvykle!). Vyresily jsme to tak, ze jsem si vzaly nasi veceri k rece a uzily si nase odpoledne tam!
Tuesday
I think we broke a record in packing up and leaving - the mosquitoes helped with that a lot! We walked through South and North fork of Cascade canyon - full of beautiful waterfalls and small streams! Our first stop was Lake Solitude, after time there we started our walk to our highest point on our journey - Paintbrush divide. We tried to have lunch at the pass, but it got quite cold and windy so we started our descent. The way back was quite steep and the path was loose stones, so not a very easy task. We found our campsite after walking about 7 miles in Upper paintbrush canyon.
Utery
Myslim ze jsme vytvorily rekord v baleni a casnem vychazeni - komari nam k tomu pomohli! Sly jsme kanonem South and North fork of Cascade - plnym nadhernych vodopadu a malych ricek. Nase prvni zastavka byla u jezera Solitude, po prestavce tady jsme vyrazily na nejvyssi bod na nasi trase – prusmyk Paintbrush divide. Chtely jsme tam poobedvat, ale protoze se docela ochladilo a zacalo foukat, zacaly jsme nas sestup dolu brzy. Cesta dolu byla docela prikra a tvorena volnymi kameny, tak ze to nebylo zrovna jednoduche. Misto na stanovani jsme nasli po ujit celkovych 11 km v kanonu Upper Paintbrush.
Wednesday
This was our last day backpacking. Even the weather was sad, and the sun was hiding behind clouds, at least it wasn't raining! We had only 7 miles ahead of us and all downhill. Because when we got to the lower part of Paintbrush canyon the views stopped being interesting and we walked fast without stops to the car. We were back around 1 pm.
We found a campground in Colter bay and then drove to Jenny Lake. After short walk around we got back, made a dinner and went to sleep. We wanted to make a fire - finally we could, but the wood that we bought wasn't very good and we gave up after few tries.
StredaStreda byl nas posledni den v horach. I to pocasi smutnilo, slunicko se schovavalo za mraky, ale nastesti neprselo. Mely jsme pred sebou asi 11 km a celych zkopce. Protoze kdyz jsme se dostaly do dolnich casti kanonu Paintbrush, vyhledy prestaly byt zajimave a my jsme sly bez zastavek rychle zpet k autu. Tam jsme byly asi v 1 odpoledne.
Kempovani jsme nasly v Colter bay a pak jsme jely k jezeru Jenny. Po kratke prochazce jsme se vratily zpet, udelaly veceri a sly spat. Chtely jsme udelat ohen, konecne jsme mohly, ale drevo co jsme koupily nebylo moc kvalitni a vzdaly jsme to po nekolika pokusech.
Thursday
Our last day in Grand Teton we decided to hike up to Amphitheater lake where there were supposed to be great views. By this time we were used to getting up by 6.30 so we had an early start. The hike was only about 5 miles long, but with 3000 feet elevation gain. The views were really amazing, especially if one climbed around the lake. We had long lunch there, then stop by another close by lake - Surprise lake and then walked back. Since it was quite early in the afternoon, we wanted to do one more short and easy hike around Jenny lake to see Hidden Falls, but it started to rain. It had rained a few times before, but it was always over in couple of minutes. We thought that it will be the same this time and we started our walk despite the rain. We turned around very quickly, when the hail started to hit us and the sky above the mountains was black. We drove back to the campsite, checked our tent and went to the store for hot chocolate waiting for the rain to stop. The campsite was full of water, but luckily our tent was dry. We made a fire - quite challenging considering that the wood was now soaking wet, but we succeeded and made our dinner and warmed up a little bit before going to bed.
Ctvrtek
Nas posledni den v Grand Tetonu jsme se rozhodly vyplnit turou k jezeru Amphitheater, ktere melo mit nadherne vyhledy. Uz jsme si zvykly vstavat pred 6.30 a tak jsme vyrazily brzy. Vyslap byl jen 8 km dlouhy, ale asi s 1 km prevyseni. Pohledy od jezera byly skutecne uzasne, zvlaste kdyz jsme vylezly na skaly kolem jezera. Udelaly jsme si dlouhy obed a po ceste dolu se jeste zastavily u druheho jezera – Surprise a pak sesly dolu. Protoze bylo docela brzy, chtely jsme jit jeste na jednu kratsi a lehci turu kolem jezera Jenny k Hidden falls, ale zacalo prset. Uz nam prselo i predtim, ale vzdy prestalo behem par minut. Myslely jsme, ze to bude stejny pripad, a vyrazily jsme i pres dest. Otocily jsme se velice brzy, kdyz na nas zacaly padat kroupy a obloha nad horama byla cerna. Jely jsme zpet do kempu, zkontrolovaly stan a pak zajely do obchodu, kde jsme s horkou cokoladou v ruce cekaly az prestane prset. Kemp byl plny vody, ale nas stan nastesti suchy. Udelaly jsme ohen, coz byl docela narocny ukol kdyz vezmeme v uvahu, ze nase drevo bylo zcela promocene, ale podarilo se a my jsme si udelaly veceri a trochu se ohraly nez jsme si sly lehnout.
Friday
Petra hadn't been to Yellowstone National park yet, se we decided to spend two days of our vacation there. First stop was of course Old Faithful. We saw the famous geyser twice and walk around hot pools and other geysers around the area. Then we drove to Bridge bay where we reserved our camping. To save some time in the morning we decided to drive to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone NP to see the famous waterfalls. Unfortunately the weather got again bad and we decided to leave most of the sights for morning hoping for some sun! Since it started to rain again and what's more, it was really cold, we had dinner at Canyon Village. The drive back was made interesting by stunning views of buffaloes on the road and all around and we even saw a grizzly bear - as a dot somewhere on the meadow!
PatekPetra jeste nebyla v Yellowstonu a tak jsme se rozhodly jet na posledni dva dny nasi dovolene tam. Nase prvni zastavka byla samozrejme u Old Faithful. Videly jsme znamy gejzir dvakrat a prosly se kolem horkych jezirek a dalsich gejziru v oblasti. Pak jsme jely do Bridge bay, kde jsme si rezervovaly kempovani. Abychom usetrily cas rano, vydaly jsme se do Grand Canyon of Yellowstone k vodopadum. Bohuzel pocasi nam opet nepralo a nakonec jsme se rozhodly nechat vetsinu zastavek s vyhledem na druhy den doufajice, ze bude svitit slunicko! Opet zacalo prset a navic byla pomerne velka zima, a tak jsem si daly veceri v Canyon Village. Cesta zpet byla zpestrena vyhledy na bizony na ceste a v okoli a dokonce jsme videly i grizliho – jako tecku na louce.
Saturday
We left early knowing that we had to cover the rest of the park. Today was the the first time in the week that we didn't have blue sky in the morning! We drove through all the view points around Grand Canyon of Yellowstone NP. Then we headed to Mammoth Hot Springs, stopping on the way at Tower Fall. At Mammoth Hot Springs we spent about 2 hours walking around the interesting formations, and then we found out that close by is a hot spring where we could swim. In a way I was quite sceptical, because the air was so cold that even the thought of putting a swimsuit on made me feel cold. We walked to the spot where a really hot spring joins a cold river and saw that quite alot of people were enjoying this natural bath! So we joined them. At that point we had all we planned for the day, but the thought of starting our journey home wasn't pleasant! We started to drive back the entrance to the park, thinking of stopping at some gift shop before leaving completely, but there wasn't anything in that part of the park, so we drove back to the Old Faithful area. After hot chocolate there we said good by to the park and started our journey back home to the Bay Area.
Sobota
Vyrazily jsme pomerne brzy protoze jsme mely na planu projet zbytek parku. Dnes poprve za celou dobu dovolene jsme nemely rano modrou oblohu. Projely jsme vsechny mista s vyhledem na Grand Canyon of Yellowstone a pak se vydaly k Mammoth Hot Springs. Po ceste jsme se jeste zastavily u Tower Fall. V Mammoth Hot Springs jsme ztravily asi 2 hodiny chozenim okolo zajimavych prirodnich utvaru. Zjistily jsme, ze pobliz je teply pramen, kde se da koupat. Byla jsem docela skepticka k teto myslence, protoze bylo zima a uz jen pri myslence na obleceni do plavek me byla zima. Dosly jsme ale preci k mistu a skutecne teply pramen se vleval do studene reky a tam jsme videly pomerne hodne lidi uzivat si teto prirodni koupele. Tak jsme se pripojily! To byla asi posledni vec, co jsme planovaly v parku delat a videt, ale myslenka na odjezd domu nebyla vubec prijemna. Vyjely jsme smerem k vyjezdu z parku, ale chtely jsme se jeste zastavit v obchode nez odjedeme uplne, nanestesti nic nebylo v te oblasti a tak jsme nakonec jely zpet do oblasti Old Faithful. Po horke cokolade jsme se rozloucily s parkem a zacaly nasi cestu domu do Bay Area.
Sunday
Again we drove the whole night and since we near Concord where there is a nice Czech restaurant at around lunch time we decided to finish our great holiday with great Czech meal! We were back around 2 pm.
The total miles drove: 2464, total photos taken: 753
Nedele
Znovu jsme jely celou noc a jelikoz jsme byly v dobe obeda u Concordu, kde je vyborna ceska restaurace, tak jsme se rozhodly zakoncit nasi dovolenou vybornym ceskym obedem!
Zpet jsme byly kolem 2 odpoledne.
Celkovy pocet km: 3942 , celkovy pocet fotek: 753
PHOTO/FOTKY
