2017 Appalachian Hike

No signal in the backcountry so I’ll be combining two days.

August 31, 2018.

Ryan and I got up about 6:00 this morning and packed our stuff. We ate breakfast at the Moose outdoor cafe and started our hike at 8:30.

We hiked past Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake. We knew this trail because it’s the same one we hiked yesterday.

Then we got onto Amphitheater Lake Trail. This is where we started seeing a lot of tourist day hikers. They were all climbing as we were descending.

Then we made our way to Jenny Lake and took the ferry across to the trailhead for the Cascade Canyon Trail. We Stopped at Hidden Falls and ate some lunch and then also spent about 2 minutes at Inspiration Point. Lots of tourists here. Then the climb up Cascade Canyon is long and in some places steep. Pretty much all up even when it wasn’t steep.

About a third of the way up ww came across a group of about six people all stopped. There was a bear. Actually very close to us casually eating berries. It didn’t seem to care that were there. Then it walked up the trail about fifty feet in front of us.

Then about two miles further we saw a moose minding it’s own business in the stream.

It was a long hard day of mostly climbing for Ryan and me. We’re not sure of our mileage but believe it to be in the 18-20 range. We found a great campsite right next to a mountain stream. We are at about 9,000 feet. Ryan and I are both experiencing a little dizziness when we bend over or stand up fast. We’re pretty sure it’s the altitude.

We filtered some water and made supper and went to bed before dark. We’re going to hear the rushing water in the stream all night.

September 1, 2018

This morning Ryan woke me shortly after 5:00. Neither one of us slept very well. My sleeping pad lost air twice before I figured out that the plug wasn’t in securely. I was also a little restless about being next to rushing water and not being able to hear a bear or any other animal.

Today was hard, but spectacular. We started out with a relentless climb up the remainder of the south fork of Cascade Canyon and up and over Hurricane Pass. Very difficult but worth every step.

Going through Alaska Basin was beautiful and the climb out was torture. The high altitude definitely contributes to the difficulty. We stopped at Death Canyon Shelf for lunch and then made our way to our Death Canyon campsite at around 4;30.

We set up camp, filtered some water, ate supper and talked about the day. At 7:00 we were both ready to crawl into our tents.

Tomorrow we hike down to the bottom of Death Canyon and work our way back to our vehicle. Today was around 20 miles again. Tomorrow looks to be about 13.

Oh I have forgot to talk about the weather. It’s been perfect. Today felt like 60’s and sunny. Last night it got down into the 20’s. Tonight will probably be 30’s.