Mega Tent in the Tetons
After a few days at home after our quick backpacking loop in Colorado, we were back in the car and off to our annual trip with our friends from New Zealand. This year, we headed up to the Tetons in Wyoming to do the Teton Crest Trail - after we were lucky enough to get permits during the lottery window in the winter. I decided to bring a few new pieces of gear along for this trip including new trail runners to replace my worn out boots and a new backpack, the Osprey Eja 58, to replace my poorly fitting Gregory pack. It was a gamble trying out not only one, but two new pieces of gear on one trip!
We drove up to the Tetons with our friend, Nate, who lives in Colorado, and met our friends Adam, Zach, and McCall in the Tetons. We decided to take the tram up the resort to skip the first 4000 vertical feet of hiking through the ski area of Jackson Hole. The experience of riding the tram in the summer was rewarding because we could get a prime view of Corbet’s Couloir and revel in what we had skied three months prior. We’d highly recommend anyone doing the Teton Crest Trail to take the tram and save your legs!
We began hiking from the top of the tram and already were impressed with the green colors of the valleys and the prominence of the wildflowers - a pop of color against the gray granite of the peaks. It was quickly apparent that this would be a breathtaking route.
We saw a number of day-hikers on the first day, likely because of the access from the tram, but the crowds quickly started to dwindle as we got closer to the designated backcountry sites. The popularity of the Teton Crest Trail is the cause of both the lottery permit system and the designated backcountry camping zones, but we found the backcountry camping zones to be large enough where you could still feel like you were by yourselves.
In keeping with tradition, the six of us brought Mega Tent - back after its resounding success in the Canadian Rockies last fall. The only detail we forgot to consider was that last year there were five of us in Mega Tent, but this year - with six of us - the tent felt a little bit smaller. Part of that could have been the fact that Nate and Zach recently upgraded to extra wide sleeping pads, but the jury is still out on that one.
Our first campsite was perched up high on a plateau - with sweeping views of the valley below and the distant mountains. At camp, we realized that Grady and Zach were twins in their hiking outfits and we were thrilled to be using our new camp chairs (Helinox Chair Zero) for the second time. If either of us stood up, someone was quick to take our place in the comfy chairs - a rarity at a backcountry camp site. After some sunset photos, we promptly retreated to Mega Tent where we decided to take some group self timer photos to capture the beauty that was 6 adults in mega tent. It was then that we realized that the capacity was probably intended for 2 adults and 4 kids...
I probably should have realized that Mega Tent may not have led to the best sleeping conditions for everyone before I announced that I had the best sleep of my life and asked if anyone else did... Especially given Nate was out fighting off the mini bears at 5 am to keep our tent and trekking poles safe from chewing. This morning the mini bears even included porcupine, which is a rare form of mini bears! The experience was so daunting for Nate that he even wrote a short story about his triumphant fight against the mini bears in the early dawn light. It had us all laughing over our morning coffee and oatmeal.
As the route continued, the views of the Grand became more and more clear. It was a beautiful hike filled with lush green grass, colorful wildflowers, glacial blue lakes, and some colorful bear scat.
We played a lot of Hearts and Spades in the tent and enjoyed some evening excursions up to get better vistas for sunset. Particularly, we went on a little side mission up closer to the Grand Teton itself for sunset and caught beautiful light looking back towards the other mountains of the valley. The orange light on the Grand itself was stunning.
We always have the best time with our Kiwis crew and look forward to this trip yearly - it’s always one of our highlights of the year. As is true each year this group is together, there’s a ton of niche backcountry jokes, the best snacks we ever see backpacking, and a lot of smack talking for the annual chip crunching competition. This year that was boosted by seeing two black bears, a few porcupines, and getting to do some glissading.
On the last day, we were motivated to hike out early in the morning so we could go get bagels and coffee in town and hold the annual event before we all needed to start long, Sunday drives back to our respective homes. Zach and McCall brought the supplies this year - with some chips they bought locally in Idaho with potatoes fresh from the source. Only the best quality for the big event! Adam remembered the trophy, as he was the reigning champion. We sat around a picnic table along a river and enjoyed a few practice rounds before the round robin began. Nate, was crowned this years winner, and the trophy made its way back to Denver - although not back to our home. Maybe we’ll get it back one of these years!
The backpack and shoes were both winners (thankfully!) and Grady and I both felt great after the trip - boosting our confidence for our upcoming trip to Alaska. The Teton Crest trail far exceeded expectations and is well worth the effort to get a permit through the lottery system!