Backpacking in Grand Teton

We spent two nights backpacking in Grand Teton.  It was amazing and different from any other hike we have done.  We started out hiking up Paintbrush Canyon.  From our first campsite we could see a forest fire.  That was a little worrying but we decided it was far enough away not to be a problem.  We saw a pine martin on the hike in, which is pretty rare from what I understand.  It looked like a cross between a fox and a weasel.

The second day we hiked over the Paintbrush divide.  At an elevation of 10,700 ft, this was a pretty challenging hike.  At one point we were walking over a glacier on the edge of a pretty steep and rocky drop off.  Most treacherous. We saw a lot of little hamster lookin things- very cute and loud.  Then we hiked down to Lake Solitude, a beautiful glacier fed lake.  The water was so clear and blue.

On the last day we hiked out through Cascade Canyon.  We could see and smell smoke in the morning filling up the valley we were supposed to hike out. We decided we would rather risk our lives in the fire than hike back up that mountain.  Fortunately, everything turned out ok.  We did add an extra couple miles and 1,000 ft elevation change to our hike due to a trail closure.  That was fun.  When we got out, the fire we saw on day 1 was much larger, smoke billowing into the sky.  There were fire warnings posted everywhere.  Turned out to be 4 fires in Yellowstone and 3 in Grand Teton.  That is when we decided it was time to move on.

Next stop, Glacier National Park.  They are having unusually warm weather this year, so most of the park is still open.  We still haven't seen a moose, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.