Trip Report: 2010 Teton Crest Expedition

To my companions on this trek:

Thank you. I had a glorious time in your company.

Y'all are hardcore in my book. I'd hike with you anytime.

RJ

The trip is firmly imprinted on my mind, I will never forget what a great time I had out there with you guys. My big toe has almost finished healing ;-)

Looks like an epic adventure. Great pictures too. I'm loving the recent BPL emphasis on trip reports. Just out of curiosity, was that a circus tent you guys were sharing? How did that work out?

'Twas the trip of a lifetime. The echos of 'red light, red light' will be with me forever…. ;-)

Truly a great group of people to hike with, who kindly put up with my constant attempts at humor and exceptionally colorful language. Thanks guys!

"was that a circus tent you guys were sharing"

Nope. I believe it was one of the GoLite Shangri-La tents. Perhaps the 6-person?

I took the opportunity to sleep out under the stars in my bivy. And we had incredible luck with the weather, every night was a clear or fairly clear sky chock-full of stars!

Great report guys. Looks like it was an awesome trip.

Amazing report! It reads like poetry and the pictures made me drool. More!

The kudos go to Pat for the story. He wrote it, we just tweaked. I love the way he blends the geology of the region within the story. He brought this really cool map he printed out (and we're talking large here, not some 8.5×11) with the geology of the region, including the geologic history, and gave us an impromptu history and geology lesson during one of the breaks. It was fascinating and really added to the trip!

Yeah, I got a serious geology education out of this trip, that was for sure. I never met someone (Pat) so passionate about rocks… it was cool.

I tried sleeping under the stars one night. The moon was so bright that it was like a flashlight in my face. I don't know how you did it Doug.

The picture of the day 4 camp is stunning…

A great hike with some great companions.
A week of exceptional weather.
A challenging off trail route.
A beautiful "chunk" of North America.

What more could anyone ask for?

x2. Thanks for doing it (the trip) and then putting all the hard work of making it into a narrative. Makes me want to hang with guys with off-trail skills. Thats how you bring home the bacon getting all those views and brilliant experiences. BTW, did all of you wear trail runners? That was some very challenging terrain, especially those back-bone ridges. Wow.

Great article! Sorry if I missed this, but what pack is Ryan Jordan carrying in that video? It looks like a combo of woven dyneema and cuben fiber.

IIRC, Ryan used a Cilo Gear NWD pack (maybe the 45 he had for sale).

All of us but one wore trail runners. No problems handling the terrain, although a couple of the pairs of trail runners were looking pretty worn by the end.

I was wearing a pair of brand new GoLite Amp Lites which had some sole durability issues.

Doug was wearing a new pair of Inov-8 Flyroc 310s which had the stitching wear through due to the rocks. I would recommend going over all exposed stitching with Seam Grip on any shoe with exposed stitching to try to prevent this problem.

Ryan was wearing a pair of Inov-8 X-Talon 212s which seemed to do well, except for some cosmetic damage.

I can't remember what the other two guys were wearing.

Gentlemen, well done. Your journal pulls me into your hike. The power of your experience comes to life with seeking the high route, struggling to locate water, and being worn out on trail breakfasts.

Damien, your video is another dimension. As well as the hike, the music choices are captivating.

Together, the article and video create a high impact story.

This article is a great example of what I enjoy at Backpacking Light. Thanks for bringing the rest of us along.

Nice report, beautiful pictures, good story and looks like great company! Thanks for sharing.

ps. The sequential pictures in the "video" do such a nice job of giving us an idea of the terrain you covered and your movement.

Wow! This was a quality read, the photographs captured your words and the experience very well. Thanks guys for putting this together.

Well done!

Added to the list of to-dos.

Beautiful scenes and a great report. The sunny meadows make me eager for spring and summer to come again. I'd love to do a trip like that before I leave the US.

I got a little misty when I saw the Death Canyon shots at the end of the video. In the late 70's I worked four summers on the Death Canyon trail crew while going to UCLA. Our crew sometimes stayed in the patrol cabin near the junction to Static Peak, and sometimes farther up the canyon in a canvas tent. Thanks so much for including that in the video.

Excellent video, love the music with it and such a diverse range of gear used, I would be interested in hearing about each hikers main gear items. Also intrigued by the trekking poles/non poles choices, clearly Ryan did not use trekking poles, why? Terrain or ???

The variation in packs is also interesting, do the participants have observations on theirs, and others, packs? Ryan seems to have the simplest and the tallest pack.

Thanks for a great report.

Roger, I used an SMD Starlite pack. I like the way it carries heavier loads, and it worked wonderfully for the trip. It had more room than I needed, but I don't think I would have liked my frameless packs for this trip. I really need to get a McHale pack this year!

I carried poles. I always do. I asked Ryan about his choice not to during the trip. If I remember correctly, he said he wanted to see if he could further strengthen his feet/legs by not using/relying on the poles (he does use them on other trips – he's not a 'no pole' guy). Not using the poles is a great way to concentrate on balance, as well.

My main gear items other than the pack:

MLD Superlight bivy with net window
enLIGHTened equipment cuben/down quilt
Neoair regular with CCF pad
Inov-8 310s with wool socks
RBH uninsulated VBL socks to sleep in
Nunatak Skaha for evenings/overnights
Railriders adventure pants (the one's with the zippers down the sides for venting)
150 weight LS merino wool zip-neck shirt
Paty Houdini wind shirt
GG LT4 trekking poles
Sunday Afternoons adventure hat
Wool glove liners

Not used but brought on trip: GoLite Reed pants, Montbell Peak jacket and MLD eVent mitts.

Everything worked quite well for me. Of course, this is my regular kit, and has worked well for me for awhile now.

Loved the video! Doug, did you notice the spelling of your last name in the introduction??? LOL! And did you take a tarp that you didn't list, or had you planned to be in the circus tent in the event of rain?

I too teared up at Death Canyon. I haven't hiked there since 1958, but it was always my favorite place in the Tetons. I probably won't get back there, though, because I will not subject my dog (or worse yet, my bank account!) to being boarded in a kennel so I can hike there.

It would be fun to see everyone's gear lists!