Tank Tries Trail Notes
Trail Notes are typically Joe’s thing, but today, we’re going to try to give him a run for his money.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I headed out West for vacation, where we put more than 2,000 miles on the rental car and made our first visits to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Over the 10 days, we saw plenty of pretty country and took several hikes to kick off our summer.
Members of Team Trestle are hitting the road this summer, with some folks headed across the country and others across the globe. In that spirit of summer vacations, we’re here to offer some literal trail notes from our June travels and rank a few of our favorites hikes from the West.
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
After landing in Kallispel, we hit the ground running and took our first hike of the trip. The 5.6 miles were well worth it, as we followed Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake. The view from the lake was incredible, with multiple glaciers melting into waterfalls that fed the lake and creek.
We passed a handful of deer on the way, learned we definitely needed to bring water on future hikes and burned 800 calories to kick off the trip.
Taggart Lake Trail, Grand Teton National Park
We were looking for a good hike on our last day of the trip and stumbled upon our most underrated trail of the trip. We traversed another rocky path that featured gradual climbs and falls of elevation through forests and grasses to end up at the peaceful Taggart Lake nestled in front of the Tetons.
A bridge takes you across the edge of the lake, where we set up shop on a rock to take in the scenery for a bit. We made friends with a park ranger who gave us some context on the park and its wildlife, and we passed a few Georgia fans who offered a “Go Dawgs” at our red and black ahead of the team’s first College World Series game that evening.
Ptarmigan Trail, Glacier National Park
We spent our final day at Glacier on the park’s East side, taking the Many Glaciers entrance for some sightseeing of Lake Sherburne. That led us to the Ptarmigan Trail, just down the road from the ranger station and its series of cabins.
Over our 5.8 mile roundtrip journey, we saw a number of grizzly bears (from a distance) and came face to face with a few deer as we traversed a mix of forest and open trail through mountains both snowy and dry. We turned around at Ptarmigan Falls, roaring from snowmelt, and retraced our steps as the elements turned from sun to rain.
Jenny Lake Trail, Grand Teton National Park
We had heard some of the hype of Jenny Lake before we arrived at the park, and boy, did it live up to it. By far the most crowded trail of the trip, we constantly passed hikers as we traversed the rocky path around Jenny Lake before arriving at Inspiration Point, set halfway atop a steep hill. The views of the lake and Jackson Valley were great, and we took a little break to admire them.
On our trip back, we passed a cow and bull taking a bath in the aptly-named Moose Pond, before running into a third by Cottenwood Creek. We also saw a black bear near the trailhead from the car, a yearling we later learned was getting a bit too comfortable with humans and had crashed a visitor’s picnic the day before.
North Rim Trail, Yellowstone National Park
While most of our two days in Yellowstone were spent in the car, we did venture on a near-five mile hike of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. About four and a half of those miles were spent on a loop to Inspiration Point and back, offering pristine views of Yellowstone Falls and the vibrant colors of the canyon.
The duration of the hike was down to the Falls Overlook, a steep switchbacking trail down the canyon that offered views of its walls and the falls’ drop off. Both portions of the hike were breezy, but they gave a better look than cruising down North Rim Drive.
– Thomas
