Skip to main content

Day 73 - Grand Teton Paintbrush Canyon

I had my first bear encounter today. Returning down Paintbrush Canyon, I saw a blonde bear on all fours thirty feet ahead on the trail. He looked up at me and I looked up at him, both in stare.  I originally thought he was a grizzly due to his coloring but park literature said black bears can be blonde so the way to determine between them is a shoulder hump and claw size.  He quietly walked across the trail into the woods, a bit afraid of me. I stood tall and silent and stopped for a minute watching alertly as he continued deeper into the woods. I slowly walked forward along the trail past him and we went our separate ways. I had my bear spray attached to my pack and had practiced my hiking pole spear throwing technique earlier, but neither defensive move was required. I didn't take photos for obvious reasons but did see another bear while driving later in the day. 


On to the day. First stop was to the Mormon barns, early structures of early settlers and a popular vantage point for photographs. Next was Schwabacher Point, a boat landing on a river, also popular with photographers due to its reflective nature. 



Next stop was the hike up Paintbrish Canyon, a 2900 foot gain, brutal hike up to an alpine lake. I passed only five people while on this twelve mile hike upcanyon. I passed through a dense forest for the first few miles (site of bear encounter coming back) but then the views opened up. Another wow canyon. 


I passed a young hiker with an ice axe attached to his pack and he said he turned back at the switchbacks due to snow. I didn't know where the switchbacks were exactly so I pushed on. I came to a point where the runoff stream seemed to have washed away the trail and diverted up the near side of the hill, hoping my off-trail route would intersect the trail above. After a small climb, I reached a snow covered section. The snow was maybe a foot thick but was solid enough to hike on so I broke fresh trail up the canyon valley, crossing a stream near a fallen tree and then going up a wooded, snow free section. I eventually came to the trail and followed it over a fast flowing stream and then continued up a very steep but safe hill (an open flat section below the hill would catch me if I fell).  Feeling like I was almost at the lake, I hiked joyfully after this steep climb only to find myself below a four-times as high hill filled with boulders in the center and thick forests on the side. I considered my options: hiking up the boulders was way too dangerous but the forest march while long looked doable if somewhat dangerous. The snow was softening in the afternoon sun making a descent slippery and if this was the "switchbacks"  section then I still had a mile to go after climbing this hill according to the map. I didn't pack my crampons as the ranger incorrectly said the path was clear past the lake. So I turned around and headed back down canyon. Here's the final hill and the photo of my returning down. 



I passed two younger kids on the way down and gave them as much info on the route as I could, and they continued up to try their luck. I passed a nice couple on vacation and they turned around with me. Then I passed the bear. A full day of adventure. 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward.  On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills.  Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising.  I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch).  After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch.  The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead.  The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics.  By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it!  Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice.  My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch.  I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...
Post a Comment
Read more