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Greetings!

Our travels have now brought us to Grand Teton National Park. The park is set in northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park. The landscape is dominated by the jagged, glacially carved peaks of the Teton Range. But, the park is much more than just the mountains. There are many lakes, rivers, creeks, forested valleys, canyons and meadows abundant with wildlife. The park is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact ecosystems in the world. The section of the park we chose to explore was in the remote northern section of the park, which is only accessible by boat. We were more than happy to once again ride in the canoe.

After obtaining our backcountry permit, we put in in at Colter Bay Landing eight miles across Jackson Lake to the Warm Springs designated campsite on the shores of the lake. Warm temperatures, tailwinds and spectacular views of the Teton Range made our paddle very pleasant. The campsite was open and scenic. It came equipped with a steel fire ring and steel food storage containers. Wildlife filled the skies. We saw Bald Eagles, Ospreys, hawks, ducks, gulls, Clark's Nutcrackers, Ravens, finches and chickadees. Later in the evening we crossed paths with a large bull moose. Our night ended with stargazing next to a warm fire.

The following day we loaded up the canoe and paddled to a peninsula across from Wilcox Point to access the Webb Canyon Trail. We hid the canoe in the bushes and started bushwhacking through heavy brush until we met up with the trail. The Wood Canyon Trail took us through a spectacular wooded canyon and ascended finally into Moose Basin. We camped in an open, subalpine meadow just above the basin. The air was cool and still as the night fell. A hunting owl flew in for a closer look and the silence was only broken by the sounds of bugling elk in the valley below.

A group of coyotes sounded the alarm as the sun crept towards the horizon. We set off that morning on a day hike in search of big game. We had hoped to see Grizzly and Black Bears, Elk, Moose and possibly wolves. Our hike led us up an open alpine slope to a ridge that opened up endless views to the west and sweeping views of Moose Basin and Webb Canyon. Jackson Lake was visible in the distance. The sight of a large bear in the valley below kicked the adrenaline into overdrive. He disappeared into the forested valley. We descended from the ridge towards the valley floor. The bear reappeared at close range and vanished once again into the thick woods. After hiking the perimeter of the valley and seeing many signs of elk we decided to follow one of the game trails into the basin. The trail was extremely steep at first and then leveled out following the contours of the ridge gently to the valley floor. There were many fresh tracks and droppings on the trail and it was evident that the elk herd was close by. Then all of a sudden, the herd was right in front of us, scattering through the woods. It was very exciting, but difficult to get a good look at the elk because the forest was so thick. We did manage to get a clear view of some cows and a large bull with a huge rack. We continued to follow the game trails back to the main trail which would eventually led us back to camp. Bugling elk could be heard in the distance. After a hot meal we curled up in our sleeping bags underneath the canopy of the Milky Way and went to sleep.

We woke before sunrise on our third day, ate breakfast and prepared for a journey into Owl Creek Canyon. We started up towards the Moose Basin Divide. The trail was steep and the air was thin. We reached the divide at 9700' in about one hour. There were spectacular views of Moose Basin and the beginning of Owl Creek and Canyon. Our spirits were lifted knowing that the trail was all downhill from here. The trail plummeted into the canyon and followed Owl Creek into the marshland below. There were many signs of animals along the way. It was apparent that elk, deer, bear and coyotes have used the trail recently. We stopped to camp on a pine bench that overlooked the
open marshland. With our thirst for big game not yet quenched, we set out later that evening in search of more. We followed the trail back into the marsh. Soon into the hike we heard something large moving through the trees. We stopped and waited. Suddenly, two cow elk came bounding out of the forest and into the marsh. A large bull remained a silhouette at the forest edge. We tried to hide but they were aware of our presence and a few minutes later headed back into the safety of the forest. We kept heading down the trail, following the bugling. We'd been hiking for thirty minutes and it was getting dark fast. Every now and then we stopped and listened. We were now in the middle of everything. There were elk all around us, but, because of the impending darkness we had to head back to camp. The trail was hard enough to follow in the daylight hours and we didn't want to chance hiking it at night. That night we spent our six night in a row sleeping in our bivy sacks under the stars.

We rose early to a chilly, cloudy morning. We had four miles to hike and ten miles to paddle. The trail left the relatively flat marsh-like creek basin and descended steeply through a forested canyon towards Jackson Lake. The trail would roll along the contours of the canyon about fifty to one hundred feet above the creek. It then came to the junction of the Webb Canyon Trail and a National Park Service patrol cabin. The trail continued onto a peninsula and ended at a creek. After crossing the creek we followed elk trails through thick brush to the end of the point. Sometimes the brush was well over our head, making navigation a challenge. We finally made it to the end of the point, found the canoe and started the scenic paddle back to Cotler Bay. So now ends trip number ten on the tour. More to come.

See You in the Outback,

Kevin and Steve