Teton Crest

Several years ago i gave the Grand Traverse a handful of goes and failed each time. It is an ambitious objective to be sure, technical climbing to 5.7, miles of 5th class scrambling spent above 11k ft in high consequence terrain. I managed to always get up and over the Grand Teton, but never managed to make it to South Teton. I have been back to the Grand Teton a handful of times since, climbing the peak and enclosure peak depending on partners and weather (last year i went up with some friends in september and we encountered near 0 F temps and several feet of snow... despite several parties reporting that they made it to the upper saddle i can confirm, i was the first on that day to make it because i set the post hole bootpack). Some day i hope to at least complete the remainder of the traverse from South Teton through Nez Perce, however when i started trail running more seriously another traverse entered my radar. After years of hemming and hawing about it and not feeling fit enough, ben finally convinced me to commit to running the Teton Crest trail, some 40 miles from Teton Pass to the south through much of the park past the Grand and out Paintbrush canyon in the north, covering about 10k feet of climbing en-route. 

Even so, i didnt feel properly trained going in. Previous failures on the grand traverse showed me that fitness prep was everything for bit days in the tetons, but ben had already booked the campground spot so we were "committed" and at 5 am, after one of the shittiest nights of sleep i have had in a long while (due to car alarms constantly going off all night at the campsite) we woke up to go for a run. 

A forrest of fireweed on the way up to the top of Phillips canyon

We parked at an unexpected empty Phillips bench trailhead and got started as dawn broke at 6:30. Right out the gate we came upon another party also going for the crest, which I knew was popular but was not expecting to see the number of people we did on it (easily hundreds, with maybe 20 running it that day). 

Some smooth singletrack in the Jeddediah Smith wilderness

The initial climb out of Phillips canyon is a bit out of character for the rest of the run, as it goes gradually upwards through deep vegetation in lush meadows of wildflowers. Cresting over our first pass was an unexpectedly long slog though thick brush, you think you're there then you turn a corner and realize it still goes up, but once on top and less than two hours in we started to cruise. The miles through the upper Jedediah Smith wilderness cruised by quickly, mostly running through broad open meadows on excellent single track without too many people out on the trail quite yet. Shortly after entering the park around the death canyon shelf people seemed to come out of no where, and what was an empty trail quickly was full of people, surprising for how far one has to walk to get there.

Some friends on the Death Canyon shelf looking down death canyon

The death canyon shelf is what dream runs are made of, long and gradual amazing single track with amazing views, but before too long we were dropping into the upper Alaska basin and starting to climb again. As to be expected for this long of a run, there was bound to be some difficulties and our first came when Ben kicked a rock on accident, nothing seemed broken but it looked painful and slowed us a bit. Coming out of the Alaska basin was a beautiful Saphire blue lake and large fields of wildflowers, but the climb to the schoolhouse divide was a grind. At this point we were just over halfway in but the fatigue was definitely setting in. Luckily, after cresting the schoolhouse divide we were greeted with amazing views of the central Tetons, upper Cascade canyon, and an ever shrinking schoolhouse glacier. Ben definitely picked it up, like a light switch and went from a slow plod to a full hearted run down the north side of the divide. A few miles past the divide we finally committed to the first full break of the day for lunch and to refill water, and most importantly, ice down the feet and legs to recover a bit, we still had 18 miles and 3.5k gain, 6 of loss ahead of us.

Schoolroom Glacier and upper cascade canyon

The long trek out of cascade canyon up to the Paintbrush Divide

The decent of Cascade was definitely a metaphorical high point, however I the fatigue was chasing me at this point, I could feel the aches and sore was building. At the cascade trail branch we had a decision to make, do we cut the run short or are we feeling good enough for another 3k climb up and over the paintbrush divide? After a quick team check we continued on, aiming to run intervals up the divide. Of course that ended real quick and we admitted a running defeat, I was just going to walk it at least. At this point we were entering the most sun exposed portion of the trail, at mid afternoon, and it was as warm as it was going to get. Ben was pushing for a short break at lake solitude, an halfway in to the climb, but I knew that I needed to keep momentum and continue on, lest the fatigue set in and the legs start to freeze up. I left him laying in the grass by the lake and started the long gradual and hot climb up to the top of the paintbrush divide. The climb starts as gradual, but it is consistent and longer than it seemed. After switching back it seemed we just needed to switch back again, and the saddle I originally thought was the top turned out to be a few hundred feet shy of the actual deicide, but just before 4 pm I created the divide with Ben just a few minutes behind and we began the long final descent down to the valley. At this point I was running quite low on water and Ben was itching for a break and swim, we settled on a 10 minute break at lake Holly to recharge. Of course I was the cattle driver with the whip in this case, and when 10 minutes came I nearly had to drag Ben out of the lake, but on we went. The decent was long and steep but gradually flattened, the poles were a lifesaver for my knees to keep me moving. We had originally planned to try for an extended version, pushing on to Jenny lake, but two miles of flats were suddenly quite unappealing and, after notifying Lindsay, we committed to the standard string lake trailhead finish. Just before 6:30, nearly 12 hours after starting and after 11 hours of movement I crossed the final bridge into the parking lot and it was done!

Finally made it to the Paintbrush Divide!

Dropping down towards Paintbrush canyon

The only snowfield remaining on the route, a short 30 ft crossing

After looking around for Lindsay for a while (eventually she found me...) we all went for a quick dip to clean off and freshen up before finishing the day off with tacos! In the end we were a bit slower than desired, but all in all it was another excellent day out in the Tetons!

The final bridge to the String Lakes trailhead

Packrafting the forks of the Blacks Fork River + Provo Woodland

Every spring the show rushes out of the mountains and river people everywhere rush to try and hop in while flows allow, and i am no different. I try and hit a handful of runs coming out of the Uintas every year, in part for the exploration because there is almost no info on many of the rivers and creeks flowing out of the Uintas. 

Provo Woodland

Lindsay and I have aborted on this section a few times prior to this year, kept away by the multitude of no trespassing signs and private land nightmares (victory ranch, at the bottom of this stretch, is notorious for it's lawsuits to keep people off "their river" unless you pay for access).

This year I did a bit more research and found two public access points we could use as well as a bit of info about dams on the stretch. We put in at a small turn off right next to the river, seemingly a popular riverside spot just below the upper bench creek road bridge. When we ran this section, the river was at about 850CFS on the woodland gauge and seemed to hit a low point sometime after noon in the diurnal cycle. In general, i thought it was a great run, fast and bumpy/splashy class 2 all the way to just upstream from Jordanelle at a public access point on the lower end of Victory Ranch. Many reports mention that the lower half f the run has an extremely braided river, but our experience was that things were plenty boatable the entire way and the whole run was a great time. There are a handful of major Diversion dams to navigate though. 

Some info on the drops: The first one came within ~2 miles of our put in, it is a river wide drop but was easily run hard left, there was wood in the center of the dam and right looked very bushy. The Second dam was best run down the center or taking the left up high (the left channel has very little of the flow compared to the right). The diversion is around a left blind corner and is hard to scout, be aware of the diversion gate on the right at the apex of the bend. These two structures are in the upper portion of the run somewhat close together. The final two dams are somewhat close together towards the end of the run. The third dam is easily noted by a structure to control the diversion river left at the drop. This one is best run just right of center, a big CL3 hole with a few waves. Easily portaged on the right. The final dam in at a rightward bend after a long straight, there is a massive house on the hill above it. This was the most complicated drop of the run, 3+ at this flow and best run far right. Left had a lot of exposed wood and rocks. This one was a steeper drop into a series of holes. It took ~3 hours with a few longer breaks, average speed of the water was around 8 mph.

After a fast and somewhat stressful day on the Woodland section of the Provo with Lindsay, instead of trying the east fork of the Bear which has been on my mind for a few years, but is supposedly very wood choked and CL3+, we set out for the Blacks Fork River, another zone i have been thinking about for quite a while now. We set up camp on te shores of Meeks Cabin Reservoir, where we would take out for at least one of the forks which we would take all the way into the reservoir. 

East Fork of Blacks Fork River

 

Looking Downstream at the bridge put in on the East Fork 

the morning of, lindsay and i decided to try the east fork first on a whim, so we went east at the branch in the road and took it to the end and the east fork of the blacks fork river campground. I suspect one could likely take this another ~ mile or so upstream by hiking, but likely not much further as it was a fairly small river at this point already and splits into two major branches at that point. From the day use/trailhead parking area, its a quick walk to the east fork trail bridge where we put in. I would estimate we had about 300CFS to float on.

The east fork starts fast and splashy, busy but only moving about 6 mph. At 300cfs many of the rocks are barely under the surface and, although things are definitely boatable, there was a lot of rock dodging and the occasional bump and grind which continued for about the first 1.5 miles. In 2025, at about 1.5 miles from the east fork trail bridge, there was a barely visible barbed wire fence across the entire river that required portage, then between 1.8 and 2.8 miles from the bridge there were 3 significant log jams that required portage and significantly slowed progress. From that point, though, things are clear for the rest of the river. Shortly after the last log jam  you pass into an open meadow and things slow for a few miles. As you approach the confluence with the west fork, the river picks back up to a fast and fun CL2. We didn't have any problems with braiding near the confluence but the guidebook mentions this as a possibility. The best take out, if you're not wanting to run the main stem, is the Hewinta Guard Station bridge. Just after passing underneath the bridge there is a great take out/beach on the right. We left camp set up next to the reservoir, though, so Lindsay and i continued down instead. Downstream of the Hewinta is much the same as upstream, however when a large house comes into view on the left, be on the lookout for a river wide wire (bridge remains?). For us it was passable on the right but definitely wouldn't want to be caught off guard with that lovely feature. Downstream, the class 2 water continued right until we hit the reservoir our half mile paddle back to camp. If you want to hit the section below Hewinta, some reservoir miles are required as there are no other take out options higher. For us it was perfect because it put us back at camp so Lindsay could rest while I biked back to the car.

West Fork of the Blacks Fork River

This one definitely goes for many miles upstream of where we put in but that will be left for another trip another year. 

With skies that were beginning to darken and give concern, we drove up the West fork road, which was much rougher than I remember it being every time I went out to dead horse lake. A few miles downstream from the usual trailhead river forge there is an open meadow with a (likely private) bridge. We pulled off here which seemed as good a spot as any to start and shortened the day a bit since this was already the second of the day. 

 

Floating through the meadows in the middle of the West Fork Blacks Fork run 

The upper bit of this stretch goes in and out of beautiful meandering meadows, prime beaver territory but with a distinctly Uintas feel. From where we put in, we had about 3.25 miles of flat but swift meadow meandering. This changed abruptly at a site that seemed to be an old washed out bridge, where the bridge was sitting on the left bank. Here the character quickly went to the usual Uintas fast and fun CL2 bump and grind. For the most part the channel was clear and we did not need to portage anything, however, just after passing under the east fork road bridge, the channel braids into oblivion. We kept going left thinking that we would need to end up that direction anyway, and found ourselves on an ever smaller creek which quickly became little more than a stream barely a packraft wide. Somehow the channel was always clear, however improbable it seemed, and for the last few hundred feet we were floating through the forest in the most literal sense, going right between trees whose trunks came right out of the water. In a strange turn of fate, i was more worried about wood on the west fork but it turned out to be the clearer of the two. All in all the float only took about 2 hours and we were quickly back at the Hewinta bridge. Unfortunately for me, my bike tire had gone flat and i got to alternate between riding on the rim and walking the bike for the entire return. All in all, these are two great Uintas runs that probably deserve a bit more traffic. I need to come back now and float the upper stretch of the west fork, as well as main stem below the reservoir!

A Golden Spring - Granddaddy Couloir on Bow Peak and the Narao Chutes

Grandaddy Couloir on Bow Peak 

Temple was a monster of a day, effort wise, with a lot of trail breaking. During the research phase of this trip the Grandaddy Couloir stood out as a must do because of its asthetic nature, but also the fact that it should be a relatively short day. The obvious next step after the Cobra was to do something shorter, so mike and i found ourselves driving up the icefields parkway towards Bow peak with a casual late morning start. 

Looking up at Bow Peak and Grandaddy (the cut in the peak in the center of the photo) from the Bow river

Looking up grandaddy from he base of the lower spire

Bow peak looks a lot like what we have here in Utah in the Wasatch and Uintas, where we have large quartzite cliffs split by couloirs. Grandaddy, though, has two spires directly in the middle of the chute down low and at the top, which made the setting all the more stunning. Starting out from the mosquito creek campground/trailhead i found that i had forgotten my skins at the Fireloge (our airbnb, a pretty sweet place), luckily i did have my verts so we went for it anyway. I tried some ski straps in place of skins but they were terrible, i switched over to some branches as a next go, which worked for a bit, but obviously skins work amazingly, much better than everything else, and i got frustrated after a few hundred feet of inconsistant grip so i switched to verting and marched on.

Booting up the chute with the spire visible below

Coming around the second spire/split in the couloir

Mike dropping in on the Granddaddy

The Chute itself is incut into a large set of horizontal cliffbands and is stiking and ovbious from the highway (once again, more classic than the Aemmer? i think so...). It had been a few days since the last snowfall and we saw a few tracks on the apron indicating that others had skied the chute, but we were confident we would still find some good snow to ski.  Sure enough, crossing into the shade and starting up the chute we found edgeable snow and continued up. With our late start, some of the walls were definitely shedding which was a bit of a concern, but we booted to the top of the chute relatively quickly. We didnt truely top out due to another monster cornice (this cornice had cornices...) blocking the saddle. The very top of this line was narrow and quite steep, once again in the 50 degree range which definitely keeps you engaged. Mike took the line first and skied all the way out to the apron. I went second and found manageable conditions in another amazing setting. Defnitely a line worth coming back to, and probaably one of the lines that we hit that gets skied quite a bit for obvious reasons. 

Another great line!

Narao Chutes- Narao Left and Birth Canal

Driving through Yoho national Park to lake Louise, Mt temple, and now mountain the chutes on Narao peak could call to me, two long chutes coming off either side of Narao peak set amongst some sweeping cliffs. After Granddaddy we went over to Revelstoke for a resort day, then took a day to rest, and finally had a day bailing off the seven steps traverse again, this time aiming for Forever young but bailing due to socked in conditions. Another clear day came up and Mike and I decided Narao was at the top of the list of objectives, so we set of, early this time, to try and ride both chutes.

The Narao Chutes as seen from the transcanada highway

Narao shoulder is also a popular run in itself, and was one of the zones I looked to ride when I was in Calgary for a few weeks solo for work, so I figured the terrain would be relatively simple. It turns out, it is simple if you stay pretty far right, farther than I thought. The left side of the shoulder is riddled with cliff bands to navigate that made things interesting... 

Narao and Popes peaks from the shoulder

Turning the corner on Narao Shoulder (you go up the shoulder because the main watercourse is a several hundred foot tall cliff, if only we were here to ice climb as well this would have been an amazing multi sport objective) coming into the Narao basin was striking, once again, large sweeping cliffs all around split by a few laser straight couloirs including the Pope couloir, an objective for another trip, and the Narao couloirs that we were gunning for.

Mike topping out Narao left

Ascending the basin, we saw a party's tracks from the day before. They had gone up popes peak and had triggered a sizable wind slab on the way down, definitely something to be concerned about. Much of the East facing cliff side was also shedding so Mike and I opted for a cautious approach, keeping open the option to bail at any time. After transitioning to booting at the base of the couloirs, I went up to peak into the birth canal, it looked like it went, as it was white the whole way up, so the chock stone that makes the birth canal feature must have been buried! For efficiency sake, and because we were not certain that Narao left went clean, we booted up the left thinking we would right right (the birth canal) and reuse the booter to ski left. 

A Panorama from the top of Narao Left

Team Summit Selfie

Narao left is definitely an understated line, with everything that makes a great and aesthetic ski line but with a cliff choke that is barely navigable half way up. Booting up the top was a wallow at Best, easily 55 degrees and deep blower powder made it hard to progress. Here in the Wasatch a line like this would be a covered prize and would be much talked about, but when you have peaks as far as the eye can see on every direction, the guidebook just called it "a good ski line". After topping out and getting blasted in the wind, Mike and I navigated the wind swept ridge to the birth canal, which looked just as good, if easier (only about 40 degrees) than left. Mike dropped in and we leapfrogged down hugging safe zones where we could. Then I hear Mike call up on the radio that he is concerned the line might not go. Sure enough, I skied down to the choke, where the birth canal should be that we thought was covered. Well, it was covered, but it remained a 30 foot snow covered cliff with a zero-margin-for-error straightline landing. We didn't have a rope, not that there was anything to anchor off of. Bummer... We would have to maximize the work now and needed to reascend to ski out (Mike was on the she of bailing after the first chute, time to suck it up Mike!)

Looking down Narao Right AKA the Birth Canal

Coming around on the first pitch of the Birth Canal

Skiing towards the obvious choke that was not passible for us. 

A picture i took earlier in the day looking up at the choke, if you look closely you can see that what looks like a white and consitent slope from afar is in reality a 30 foot snow covered cliff/icefall

After another hour and a half or so wallowing back up (luckily, between the two of us on the way down, we scraped off some of the blower so going back up was a bit easier than going up left) we were back on the Narao Ridgeline and summiting. At this point, Lindsay was off the grid so I updated our emergency contacts that we would be later than expected, and we dropped in Narao left. 

Mike dropping into Narao left with the Popes basin/Lake Louise in the background

Mike, through the choke, sening it through the lower couloir and out to the apron

It's really hard to choose a favorite line on this trip, but it would have to be between Narao left and the Cobra. Narao left was excellent blower pow up to the choke. I sent it first thru the deeply runneled choke, almost kicking steps into the walls of the runnel, but managed to get thru relatively easily. Mike, being on a single edge, was a bit more concerned but he managed as well, and before we knew it we were back on the apron looking up at the lines we had just skied. The trek out went easily with some sun even peaking out to give some alpen glow as we came back around the shoulder. The difficulty of spring skiing soon hit, and although the upper peak was lovely soft power, the shoulder had been baking and was isothermal mank. Luckily the shoulder is relatively fall line with a little bit of compact road skiing at the bottom, so getting out was fine. 

This would turn out to be our last major day of the trip. The following day we tried one last trip in the Rogers Pass/Glacier NP Zone, but our first attempt to go up to the Bonney Glacier zone ended with us turning around due to too little snow to get out of the creekbed, so we skied some manky snow back on Cheops going through the Hourglass to get some steps in before the long drive back to SLC. I cant wait to get back to the area and hope to one day be able to live up there. One can dream!

Coming back around the Narao Shoulder with more amazing ski lines everywhere. I believe the multitude of runs on the peak to my right is the Ogden Bench zone, definitely a zone to check out next time!