Day 12 Cascade Canyon Hike-Grand Teton National Park

Yesterday was another spectacular day of hiking, we hiked the Cascade Canyon Trail in the Grand Teton National Park.  Cascade Canyon lies between the Cathedral Group (Teewinot Mountain, Mount Owen, and Grand Teton) to the south and the St. John group (Symmetry Spire, Rock of Ages, etc.) to the north. It is one of the most spectacular canyons in the Teton Range.  Our pictures just can’t reflect the beauty that we saw and the awesome views surrounding us.  Often you would see fellow hikers just stopped on the trail perched on a rock and gazing up at their surroundings, just taking it all in.

To get to Cascade Canyon Trail go to the South Jenny Lake Area on the Teton Park Road. The trail to the mouth of Cascade Canyon around the south edge of Jenny Lake (2.0 miles) begins at the East Shore Boat Dock.  Or for a small fee, you may ride a boat across the lake, eliminating 2.0 miles of hiking. We chose to do this; I’m all about the shortcuts….. saving my legs for the mountain portion. 

The trail slopes gently upward to Hidden Falls (about 0.5 miles), climbs more steeply to Inspiration Point (another 0.5 miles), then gradually rises to the forks of Cascade Canyon.  We found that most people just went as far as Inspiration Point and felt that if they would have hiked a little further they would have experienced the real beauty of the Canyon. 

Most of our elevation was around 7200 ft. with the Snow-capped Grand Teton Mountain towering over us at 13, 775 ft.  There were so many waterfalls coming off of the mountain is was incredible. 

We hiked approximately 7.5 – 8.0 miles round trip, our goal was to make to it the fork which was at the 4.5 miles mark (9.0 miles RT) but the weather had deterred us from going any further.  We had already hiked through a number of rain showers and the skies looked a little skeptical so we headed down. Good thing because by the time we made it back to the boat dock and to our car the skies opened up and marble size hail pelted down on us. Lucky!

Great hike, breathtaking views, and another example of what a beautiful country we live in and how lucky we are to be seeing it this way.

We must end this journal entry with a lesson learned story:  On the way down the trail we met this guy and his wife, couldn’t quite figure out what he was doing, he was pouring water down his pants.  We discovered that he took the safety off his bear spray and put the canister in his pocket while he was hiking.  It released and yep you got it, his privates were peppered spray…… he was one hurting cowboy that was for sure.  We overheard his wife ask him why did you take the safety off?  He said so we were ready?  So for all you future Bear spray carriers, keep the safety on and wear the canister in the holster on your waist.