Grand Teton Day4

From this day we started 3 night/4 days backpacking of the Teton Crest Trail!

First we did a car shuttle. Kindly Ms.L helped us to do that. We parked our car at the finish point, at String Lake trailhead. Since it was a rental car, we took a picture of car so that we can find the car. Then we headed for the trailhead near Phelps Lake with Ms.L's car. At the trailhead, we took pictures with Ms.L and said goodbye, then started hiking. 

This day's hike short: 6 miles, +2000 feet elevation gain. 

Phelps Lake

First trails goes along Phelps Lake. Lake is very clear and I could see the bottom. It was pleasant to walk along the crystal clear water. 

Soon we saw a group of dayhikers who talked to us. They were a little hyper, because they saw a bear. Their picture clearly indicated that the one was an adult black bear. They said it was a cub, but it was too big for a cub. Anyway we said okay and would be careful. However, we didn't see a bear. Probably those chatty dayhikers all cleared up bears. 

After Phelps Lake, the uphill started. Phelpes lake got lower and lower. One point on the flat trail, there was soooooooooooo many bear poops. Bears look like they love to use a flat trail as restroom.

Columbine

Columbine

Going up, more flowers showed up. They were all pretty and colorful. One of my favorite on this trail was Columbine. The flower is pretty both looking from above or side (pictures left and right). White color is transparent and looks so vulnerable and pure. I got a little sad the Columbine high school, which got famous for the tragedy was named after this pretty flower. 

Pretty

Purple Columbine

Enjoying flowers, we climbed a lot. Looking back in the middle of switch back, Jackson Hole was far below. Wow. So pretty. This beauty blew away my tiredness.

On the slope of switch back, I found purple columbine! It was very rare. It was my first time seeing them and only this particular point had purple ones.

After this switchback, we had to stop and camp. In Teton, the permit system is interesting. There are multiple zones for camping for backpackers. Each zone has about 3-5 mile long along the trail. There are developed campsites exists (flat dirt, very obvious) in the zone. If it is flat and not disturb plants much, it is okay to set a camp in the zone as well (and not too close to water or trail). Our permit zone this day was in the Open Canyon. 

Campsite

After the switchback, Open Canyon camping zone will end soon, so we searched for a good spot. Then we found this as you can see in the left picture. Nice home for a night with great view. Talus was just next to the meadow. Talus residents? Pika! A lot of pikas' homes to ours. They occasionally came out and communicated. This day we set up camp around 4 p.m. and were able to have nice relaxed evening.