Alan in Holiday
Having retired at 9pm I slept somewhat fitfully awaking at midnight, 3am and 6am. I suspect with the previous nights camp having been next to a noisy river and following the late afternoon storm of the previous day I was expecting more to come and the silence was subconsciously affecting my sleep.
Despite my tent only being constructed of thin nylon it seemed to offer psychological security way in excess of its flimsy structure and initially I had to overcome a marked reluctance to venture outside it at night. It was as if I were a child once again, afraid of the dark and what might be lurking out there in the wall of darkness.
Moving around at night can be difficult. Unless there is a moon it is completely black and this can cause difficulties with balance as there are no points of reference for the eyes to focus upon. Add in uneven ground, guy ropes etc and I'm sure it appears to the uninitiated observer that there was an unstable drunk staggering around. Of course, provided that it could be located within my tent, I did have my Petzl head torch but switching this on totally destroys any night vision and there is still a wall of darkness beyond its range.
The type of sky we like to see at dawnWith the cloud cover still in situ the early part of the night was warm, but towards dawn as the clouds cleared the temperature fell. Two days out and I had already decided that my least favourite time of day was early morning and having to leave the snug comfort of my sleeping bag. Just like home really but without the slippers!
I awoke refreshed to the sound of the dawn chorus and was glad to note that my appetite had returned. I was up for whatever the day had to throw at me, but little did I know that it was to a be a long day.
After breakfast I headed off to replenish my supply of water. Whilst we were camped near to the lake collecting water from it was difficult as the edges were very shallow and the mud easily disturbed resulting at best in cloudy muddy water. It was much better to locate a source of running water. Dave mentioned that he had found a small stream approximately 250 yards away exiting the lake so I headed off in the general direction he had suggested. However I quickly became literally bogged down in an area of marsh so had to switch directions multiple times taking a more circuitous route. Eventually I was able to locate a small stream following its course for some distance to find an adequate flow and depth of water to replenish my bottles.
Mission accomplished I retraced my steps back towards our camp. Unfortunately I had become disorientated and suppressing a rising feeling of unease was trying to locate the site. Did I make a fool of myself by shouting for directions and help ? Searching around I thought I recognised a large tree that had been semi demolished by a woodpecker so headed off in its direction. My gut feeling was confirmed when Christine most helpfully sneezed.
I should at this point make clear that Christine's sneezes are not of average volume (I hope she will forgive me this observation) and can be heard over a considerable distance. In fact if unexpected and nearby they can be very alarming. Relieved I was soon back in camp.
Onwards and upwards
Breaking camp we set off at 8.40 and having briefly retraced our steps from the previous day we then headed off in the direction of Granite Basin. Dave initially seemed to be having some problems with identifying the correct route, frequently disappearing off on reconnaissance's trips down ridges and tracks for minutes at a time whilst we waited, our packs temporarily discarded, admiring the view. We were later to learn that, although vastly experienced, a lot of our Teton Crest route was new to him as well.
We continued to climb and soon had reached 10,000 ft. Moving on we spotted tents pitched away from the trail and suspected that we might have found our teenagers from yesterday, but nobody from a distance appeared to be at home and we presumed they had gone for a day hike.
Moving past the tents we were accosted by two dogs and shortly thereafter met their owners - two not so young day hiking American ladies from Jackson, who Dave later observed seem to have all the right designer fashion gear. We spent an interesting 5 minutes chatting and learned that they had started their walk at 8.30 am that morning from the trail head at South Leigh Creek and that they frequently completed 25 mile walks.
Our first sight of Fred's Mountain
Dave's intended route for day having reached Granite Basin was to descent the switch backs down to South Leigh Creek, have lunch and then ascend the ridge to the side of Fred's Mountain (part of the Grand Targhee ski resort) and locate a suitable place to camp overnight. We would then descend to the South Teton Canyon trail head the following morning.
We started through trees following a clearly defined path and descended a considerable distance crossing the same stream a number of times. Emerging out of the trees into quite heavy vegetation we were still high above the valley floor when we noticed that the path had started to ascend once again. Worryingly we had seen no trail signs for some time and could only assume that we were off our route. However all was not lost as the view over towards Fred's Mountain and South Leigh Lakes was truly spectacular, so we settled down to lunch, enjoy the view and ponder our maps. 
Looking toward South Leigh Lakes and first sight of The Cathedral Group
Lunch finished and his pack discarded Dave headed further up the trail to see whether it was only a temporary rise but returned some 20 minutes later to report that it continued to climb and were obviously off our route. We decided that the only option was to retrace our route to see if we could identify where we had made our error.
Carefully retracing our steps back through the vegetation we eventually discovered that the cause of our error was that the original trail had been bypassed - probably by horse riders taking a short cut across the top of the trail and making a new path bypassing the original path. Unfortunately this bypassed section included the junction with our next trail. Much relived that we had located the correct trail we were then accurately able to identify our position, which was much higher than we had previously suspected. In fact despite much descending over the previous hours we were yet to start our descent down the switchback to South Leigh Creek.
A lower view of Fred's Mountain looking towards South Leigh Creek in the valley below
What followed was a challenging couple of hours as we headed down a steeply sided slope on a frequently poor path heavily covered in vegetation, weeds and brambles. Obviously not a heavily used trail. In places it was very narrow and slippery underfoot. Add in a large backpack, the afternoon heat and it became a very tiring slog. Even my trekking poles became a hindrance as the weeds reached out to catch and obstruct them at every opportunity. My shins were cut and raw from the constant bushwhacking through brambles and nettles and I was worried whilst splashing through the many small brooks draining off the hill across the path that my taped boots might leak causing my socks to become wet.
During our decent of the switch backs we met two people - one we assumed was a homeless gent who presumably having cashed his benefits cheque and obtained some provisions was heading back up (he told us he had been sleeping on one of the mountain tops nearby for five days) and the other hiker who desperately wanted to know if he was anywhere near the top. Unfortunately for him he wasn't and I was very relieved that we were heading down rather than up. Both seemed to have underestimated the severity of the climb and it was late in the day to be so far from any reasonable camping location. At this point my mind went back to the two mature American ladies we had met earlier in the day and my respect for their physical abilities increased immeasurably.
Tired feet - finally on the valley floorAfter what seemed an eternity the trail finally levelled out as we arrived on the valley floor. We emerged into the path of an apparently wild herd of cows that took an unhealthy interest in us and pursued us some way down the valley. Christine suggested that perhaps they needed milking but I was not looking for fresh milk from this source. By this time it was 16.30 - so much for descending the switch backs prior to taking our lunch!
We reviewed our options. It was obviously to late to start the ascent over the back of Fred's Mountain and there did not appear to be any promising sites to camp locally, the area being heavily wooded and overgrown with vegetation. Additionally with my boots still giving cause for concern it was agreed it would be sensible to head into the nearest local town of Driggs to see if we could source some replacement boots, before heading up the South Teton Canyon Trailhead.
Essentially we were avoiding a climb out of one valley and regaining a day that we would have lost as the route was proving more challenging than anticipated. It did hi-light that the trek had been planned somewhat on the fly but whilst loath to cheat and return to civilisation however briefly, given the overall circumstances, we all felt there was no other option but to take this route.
This left two issues - in anticipation of our arrival at South Teton the SUV had been moved to that trailhead and the nearest trailhead with vehicular access South Leigh was still 5 miles away along the valley floor. The first issue was easily rectified by a phone call using Dave's satellite phone (another expensive cheat at $4 a minute) which resulted in the SUV being swiftly repositioned. The second would required further physical effort on our part.
We plodded on and now that we were on the valley floor the scenery was uninspiring - wandering along a path through trees screening any meaningful views, with the occasional challenge of a stream to cross. The heat was intense. Christine's feet were showing signs of wear and likewise Dave's feet were protesting to the extent he switched to his sandals. My legs were heavy and whilst I still had reserves to spare I was glad that we were not heading up over the ridge as it would have been a real slog at this late hour.
Our campsite next to the trail
Another hour elapsed and we had managed a further three miles when Christine spotted a potential campsite alongside the trail. Strictly speaking you should camp at least 50 yards away from a trail, but that would have put us in the middle of either a dense forest or in the middle of the river and Christine was past caring.
The decision made, our tents pitched, we settled down to tea and to rest our weary feet. I estimate that we had walked 14 miles and descended 3,000 feet since Granite Basin. Whilst in day hiking terms that doesn't sound a lot, with 60 lb on your back that's a lot of punishment for the legs.
So ended my longest walking day so far and we retired to our respective tents blooded and worn but not beaten.
As Dave observed "This is not a holiday its an adventure" and he was right ...
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