Wilderness Backpacking

I took this out-and-back hike in August 2022. It was a 9.3 mile hike one way. You start in relatively populated national forest land and then as you rise through the mountains, reach the Wilderness area. The trail climbs through Bear Basin, switch backing up the bowl of the basin to the first pass, which is stunning. The descent down the pass is rough with lots of steep gravel. The trail splits and you take the high trail to the east, over the next pass to Summit Lake, which is nestled between two mountains, then over the lass tiny pass and down into the last, big basin. Hike along the meadow until you reach Thompson Lake at the foot of Gallatin peak. You can summit the peak, but I didn't. I surely didn't see a reasonable trail up it!

Looking into Bear Basin

Wildflowers

Looking down into Bear Basin from the pass

Summit Lake

Towards Thompson Lake

Thompson Lake

Sunrise at Thompson Lake

I went for a quick out-and-back hike this weekend along the Alaska Basin Trail near Alta, WY, USA. Accessible by Teton Canyon trailhead, Alaska Basin trail is about 9 miles long and ends in Alaska Basin, approximately 9500' altitude. Alaska Basin is near the backside of the Teton mountains and the views are amazing.

I was unable to hike the whole thing because the snow is still melting after a heavy winter and cold spring. That's ok though, since I needed to take it easy as my right knee is still recovering from overuse the week previously.

I hiked four miles in and camped overnight, then hiked out in the morning. The first three miles are very gentle rise through Teton Canyon with gorgeous meadows, forest, Teton Creek, and views. Right now there are a ton of waterfalls, which is amazing! At mile 3 is the trail break for Devils Staircase, which was clear of snow by now, that rises to Teton Shelf. I continued on the left fork to stay on Alaska Basin trail and hiked another mile, which is rockier and steeper. There is an excellent campsite above Teton Creek right around mile 4 and an elevation of about 7800'. Patches of snow are still around and the trail is wet, but things should be excellent in the next few weeks.

It's so early in the season there that the greenery is just getting started, lots of tender shoots and leaves and no flowers yet. It felt like the Pacific Northwest in terms of temperature and humidity, which was a really nice different experience as the summers are hot and dry. Oh, and I saw black bear, deer, and moose tracks in the mud. Thankfully I did not encounter any of them.

I did a three-day, two-night backpacking trip for the Cirque of the Towers loop in the Wind River Range, WY USA. It was a 26.1 mile loop total, starting at about 9100' and maxing out at 11300' crossing over the Continental Divide on Texas Pass.

I don't recommend going over Labor Day weekend. Everyone comes out to do it, so it is quite busy. But it's a beautiful hike and quite challenging!

Hoo boy was that a scary pass. There is no official trail for the pass, but people have created one. It's incredibly steep and somewhat unstable, more of a scramble than a hike. But once over it, it's incredible!

Jackass Pass is the second crossing of the Continental Divide on this loop.

These are highlights from my last years 4 day hike from Bovec to Tolmin that covered 78km (48 miles) and 5200m (17000 ft) of elevation gain and 2 mountain peaks.

Krn lake

View from mount Krn

Clouds forming on mountain ridge due to warm costal air hitting the mountains and rising over the top

Remenants of WW1 trenches over 2000m (6500 ft) above sea level

Look back on Krn mountain range

Tolminski kuk

View on a mountain range i also visited last year but only for 2 days

River Soča and the end of my hike

If you liked this i can share more from hikes i have planed this year.

As promised, here is a trip report!

Trailhead: Palisades campground Path: hike past Lower Palisades lake (4 mi), Upper Palisades lake (7 mi) and into Waterfall Canyon (end at 11 miles).

The snow has melted and the Palisades are in full growth mode! Tons of flowers are blooming or preparing to bloom in the next couple of weeks. Patches of snow still exist in Waterfall Canyon starting at about 7400 ft elevation. There were two waterfalls flowing at the end of the canyon. We camped in some nice established campsites to the west of the trail by one of the lakes at the end of the canyon. It was a quiet day with no other people out past Upper Lake.

(Palisades creek is super fast this year!)

(Upper Palisades Lake is beautiful)

(The main waterfall)

(The other waterfall)

(Lake we camped by)

Super stoked for my first first hike of 2023. It's not exactly deep wilderness but it will be beautiful nonetheless. It's a hike in the Palisades in eastern Idaho up to Waterfall Canyon. Here's the Alltrails screenshots for it. I will post pictures upon return.