A Grand View of the Grand Teton

Posted on by Backcountry Fever

My daughter had another wedding to attend in Idaho Falls this weekend.  Since she didn’t want to go up there alone for the second weekend in a row, she asked if I wanted to go with her.  It only took a split-second for me to see this opportunity to finally hike Wyoming’s, Table Mountain!

Face Trail Up

The trail starts out with my kind of “welcome” sign!

This came into view on the way up above the treeline.  As a few other hikers also stopped to look across this canyon, I overheard one of them say “hey, there’s a trail over there.  I wonder where it goes”… YEEEES, my thoughts exactly!

Table Mountain with the Tetons poking up from behind.

With a mile left to go, I thought it should be called Mushroom Mountain from this angle.

What a view! From the top of Table, I could also see a faint trail above that snowfield down below that could get me even closer…

…and that’s where I took this picture! I was the only one out there and spent 30 minutes just taking in the view.  Later, I discovered the Teton Crest Trail goes through Cascade Canyon down below as part of a 25-mile backpack adventure along this Teton Mountain Range.  Hmmm.

North Teton Trail Down

On the way back, I was happy to find out my route choice would take me down into Teton Canyon, the one we marveled at earlier that morning.

The views were so stunning the entire way down, I was looking back at where I had been more than I was paying attention to where I was going.  I will do this one again but in the opposite direction next time!

Here’s a downloadable map of these routes for your adventure planning!

  • Table Mountain trailhead up to summit via Face Trail: 4.25 miles with 4,066 feet of elevation gain
  • Summit back to Trailhead via North Teton Trail: 6.5 miles with 168 feet of gain

Square Ice Cream

I drove back to Idaho Falls through Swan Valley just to stop at the Rainy Creek Country Store for an Idaho novelty for sure  My wife brought me here some 25+ years ago when she first showed me Eastern Idaho/Western Wyoming.  Do you know of another place that serves SQUARE ice cream?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

It`s been a minute since I`ve had anything other than ski boots or hockey skates on my feet this winter. Gotta switch gears before the mountaineering season melts away here in Utah!

#mountaineering #kesslerpeak #westridge #wasatchfront #timetoclimb

📷 @wasatchwidescreen

22 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18073878845639559
It's been a minute since I've had anything other than ski boots or hockey skates on my feet this winter. Gotta switch gears before the mountaineering season melts away here in Utah! #mountaineering #kesslerpeak #westridge #wasatchfront #timetoclimb 📷 @wasatchwidescreen

Winter is my favorite season, and cold weather camping is one of my favorite winter activities.

#coldweathercamping #wintercamping #tenting #lovewinter #lovecamping

19 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18088708565160118
Winter is my favorite season, and cold weather camping is one of my favorite winter activities. #coldweathercamping #wintercamping #tenting #lovewinter #lovecamping

Scoping out snow levels for my annual winter campout this weekend. Yep, there`s enough to still make it fun!

#wintercamping #coldweathercamping #winterhike #sunset #weekendwarrior

19 2
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18093303244798082
Scoping out snow levels for my annual winter campout this weekend. Yep, there's enough to still make it fun! #wintercamping #coldweathercamping #winterhike #sunset #weekendwarrior

Yeah, you read that right — 5,000,000 vertical feet. That’s a million feet of vert every year for five straight years. Who does that? Well… these two average hikers from Utah have been stacking numbers like this since 2021 — quietly, but well beyond “average”.

The numbers speak for themselves. Get a summary and breakdown by month from the link in the bio ☝️

Think about that: we’re talking about an average of 50 miles and 20,000 feet of gain every single week.

It’s hard to wrap my head around that level of commitment. What they’re doing every month is roughly what I log in a year, all while holding down full-time jobs. That’s one serious fitness program.

In talking with Andee about what comes next, they took the week off after Christmas, then jumped right into the new year on a local favorite—Mount Olympus—with plans to log another million in 2026.

#goatworthy #biggoals #millionverticalfeet #hikerlife #hikemoreworryless

24 5
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 17966367422867268
Yeah, you read that right — 5,000,000 vertical feet. That’s a million feet of vert every year for five straight years. Who does that? Well… these two average hikers from Utah have been stacking numbers like this since 2021 — quietly, but well beyond “average”. The numbers speak for themselves. Get a summary and breakdown by month from the link in the bio ☝️ Think about that: we’re talking about an average of 50 miles and 20,000 feet of gain every single week. It’s hard to wrap my head around that level of commitment. What they’re doing every month is roughly what I log in a year, all while holding down full-time jobs. That’s one serious fitness program. In talking with Andee about what comes next, they took the week off after Christmas, then jumped right into the new year on a local favorite—Mount Olympus—with plans to log another million in 2026. #goatworthy #biggoals #millionverticalfeet #hikerlife #hikemoreworryless