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November 15, 2006

Teton Weekending

I intended to play a bit in or near the Teton Mountains last weekend. Turns out, there wasn't too much fun to be had on foot in much of the Tetons due to snow. The first storm rolled through on Saturday, and the second storm on Monday. What we had planned to be a weekend of high altitude play morphed into a weekend of middle altitude play.

The highlights:

Saturday afternoon's run along the Snake River just outside of Jackson, WY, was outstanding. The snow was falling fast and hard, even at that (relatively) low elevation of 6000 or so feet. Visibility was limited to about 100 feet, just enough to spy a bald eagle perched in a tree and a cow moose tucked into a small grove of willows. However, the wind! The wind! I had no eye protection and I thought that I was going to freeze my eyeballs from the bitter wind and big snowflakes blowing into them. I was fortunate that the trail was easy to follow, as my eyes were all teary and blurry for the last half of the run.

We splurged on Saturday night and stayed here. The company of friends, gourmet food, excellent wine, hot tubbing in a snowstorm, crackling fire in a fireplace, people waiting on your every need, what more could a girl ask for? Spring Creek Ranch is situated on a hill about 1000 feet above Jackson, WY. When the visibility is good, the whole of the Teton Mountain Range lays out before you in magnificent fashion. Upon our arrival to Spring Creek amidst a snowstorm on Saturday afternoon, you could barely see adjacent buildings, let alone any mountains. However, I will let Sunday morning's view from our hotel room's balcony (the picture above) speak for itself.

Sunday afternoon's trail run bordered on the ridiculous. We started at the Goodwin Lake Trailhead, just outside of Jackson, WY, and headed uphill. The first destination is the lake (about 3 miles), and then the trail continues on elsewhere. We barely made it to the lake, which was, of course, frozen solid and covered with the same thick layer of snow that we were ourselves plowing through. By the time we finally gave up and returned downhill at the lake, we were up to our upper shins in powder. This whole endeavor, a measely 6 miles with about a 1000 foot elevation gain to the lake, took over 1:30 to complete out-and-back. However, it was a challenging 6 miles! In exchange for difficult workout conditions, the views were priceless. The day remained clear, sunny, and cold, and the surrounding mountains glowed snowy white all day.

I was on my own for explorations during the day on Monday. This time I was on the west side of the Tetons, in Idaho. I trail ran (trudged through snow) to a place called Mud Lake. If I thought yesterday's snow was bad on the Goodwin Lake Trail, then this was something entirely else. The worst part of this run was that it was windy and some large snowdrifts had formed. You can't really see the snow drifts, though, until you are in them. Mostly, it goes like this: You're running along, trying to be mindful of foot placement. Suddenly, your landing foot doesn't land on anything, rather it falls through powder until it hits the bottom of the snow drift. Meanwhile, you're covered up to your thighs in snow, and you now have to figure a way out of the mess. I was out of my element and uncomfortable on this run. Upon arrival back to my cell phone, I promptly called the store from where I had ordered my snowshoes and told them I would pay the expedited ordering fee to get the snowshoes here faster. Then I drank hot chocolate while standing in a hot shower. Then I think I felt better.

Monday evening was a lot more fun. We hiked to a place called Huckleberry Hot Springs. It's about a 2-mile hike into the backcountry to some natural hot springs. Fortunately, someone had made this hike earlier in the day, so they had packed down the snow on the trail. This made for much easier hiking. The night was pitch-black dark and absolutely silent. I think the new, thick layer of snow was insulating all the sounds of the natural world. The hot springs are almost entirely undeveloped. You can choose to sit in a natural pool beneath a 6 foor waterfall of hot water, or you can kind of lay in a hot springs water stream. The water temperature hovers around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We sat in the natural pool, and it was perfect. While we were soaking, the next snowstorm blew in. When we went to retrieve our towels and clothes, they were already covered up by snow! Back at the trailhead, my car was already covered with a few inches of snow. The drive to my friend's house was supposed to be about 90 minutes from the trailhead, but it took over 3 hours due to this incredible snowstorm. We crossed over a mountain pass called Teton Pass, which already had about 10 inches of new snow on it. Quite a storm and really challenging driving conditions!

Because of all the snow on Monday night, I had to wait most of the day on Tuesday to get back to my house while some of the roads were being cleared. While I was waiting, I decided to go for a run in Teton Canyon, which is located on the west side of the Tetons. Teton Canyon is also where I raced a portion of my trail marathon back in September. However, I stayed at a much lower elevation today because of all the new snow. Where I ran, there was probably about 5 inches of snow, very doable in comparison to other places I had tried to run this weekend. The weather was fabulous, fabulously clear and fabulously cold. I did and out-and-back in this canyon, and the downhill views out of the canyon on the way back to my car were great.

I eventually made it home last night, albeit a bit late and via a circuitous route to avoid the worst of the roads inside Yellowstone. After several stressful days of snow driving, I'm not going anywhere in my car today!

Posted by Meghan at November 15, 2006 11:47 AM

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Posted by: chelle at November 15, 2006 1:27 PM

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