Nast Family News
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Grand Teton National Park
This year's backpacking adventure will be a trip West and a little South to Grand Teton National Park... Starting in Duluth MN on 6/25 with 10 young men (Royal Rangers) and 4 adults, we will head West through Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. We hope to get somewhere near Miles City for an overnight stay at a KOA. At Laurel MT we will drop south on 310, 72, 120 and into Cody WY. From Cody we'll take 14/16 West through the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Or if time permits, we may alternately drop into Yellowstone over Beartooth Pass (via 212) and thus bypass the Bighorn Basin and Cody... Once in the park we will head South on 191 to hopefully a spot near
Jackson WY for Sunday night.
We will be taking two separate hikes, see the link below for the trail map. The first will be starting at Lupine Meadows trailhead and taking a very steep trail upwards for two nights in Garnet Canyon which is only about 4,000' below the summit of Grand Teton. Grand Teton tops off at 13,770'. We will stay there two nights then come back down, hop in our vehicles and get to the String Lake Trailhead. From there we'll head up the Cascade Canyon and overnight along the North Fork. Next day we'll head North up and over the Paintbrush Divide, down into the Paintbrush Canyon, and onward to the Holly Lake area for 2 nights. Early Saturday morning, we continue down Paintbrush Canyon to the String Lake Trailhead.
The road trip home will be rushed. We will head North into Yellowstone and out the East Entrance. Going through Cody and then North to Laurel. Alternately if time permits we may continue East from Cody and take a run over the Bighorns to once again see "Old Baldy" and pay our respects to Herman. Hopefully we'll make it back to North Dakota by Saturday night and stay in a hotel to freshen up a bit. Sunday will be an early start with arrival in Duluth in the evening.
Itinerary
Itinerary information [subject to change depending on availability of trail campsites!]:
- 6/25 - Leave from the Charles' house at 0700 sharp! Overnight near Miles City MT.
- 6/26 - Leave early from Miles City and arrive mid-evening at a campsite in Grand Teton National Park.
- 6/27 - Leave Lupine Meadows Trailhead for Garnet Canyon for 2 nights.
- 6/29 - Leave Garnet Canyon for Lupine Meadows Trailhead. Take vehicles to String Lake Trailhead. Leave String Lake Trailhead, up Cascade Canyon for an overnight on the North Fork of Cascade Canyon.
- 6/30 - North Fork of Cascade Canyon over Paintbrush Pass, through Paintbrush Canyon to Holly Lake. Two nights at Holly Lake
- 7/2 - Leave Holly Lake for String Lake Trailhead. Overnight near the North Dakota border.
- 7/3 - Arrive in Duluth in the evening.
Tips
Over the last two years [Bighorns and Mount Rainier], you learned a great deal about backpacking. The environment that we will encounter this time will
be similar to the Bighorns. The following general guidelines also need to be addressed:
- All documentation has been sent to your inbox. Make sure you read it all!
- You should be wearing your hiking boots every day now to break them in! Even if they are not new! They have dried out since last summer and become stiff. Break in your boots, not your feet!
- Expect rain! Even though the area is generally dry, there will more than likely be a daily buildup of rain clouds. Bring GOOD rain gear with.
- We may be on snow in the backcountry of Garnet Canyon, or at least very close to snow. Bring warm fleece clothing, the nights are going to be cool!
- Since we will be in areas with little or no shade and some snow, bring GOOD wrap-around sunglasses with great UV protection!
- Don't forget the sun block!
- Once again we may be in reach of glaciers! Although these glaciers are small in comparison to Mt. Rainier's, we will not be traversing the glaciers!!! There is loose earth near the glaciers, you will be careful!
- No climbing gear this year.
- Please bring your camera(s) and lots of film! We will have two lay-over days this year to relax and explore!
- We will be spending 5 nights on the trail. Bring plenty of food!
- A fanny pack for day hikes from base camp would be nice. Remember, some backpacks have pouches or top covers that are convertible to fanny packs.
- Everyone should have a waterproof map of the hiking area! Please pick one up from National Geographic or a custom one from myTopo.com.
- Once again I will be using my GPS and Ham radio to transmit APRS position, health and other information while enroute and on the trail. See Jeff's home page for more information.
- Health and welfare messages will be encrypted to save space. Use this PDF format decryption key to unravel the mysteries of backpacking with Jeff.
Links
Links to sites with more information: