The time had finally come! All of our practice hikes were completed, our backpacks were packed and repacked multiple times in order to get them to be the right weight and comfort on our backs. We had our food planned out to the exact ounce and calorie we would need. So much preparation had lead up to this moment and this week. Finally it was time to go. Teton 50-Mile High Adventure; let's do this!
On the morning of July 28, we all met at the Hyrum Rodeo Grounds and got ready to leave. Our group consisted of 8 girls and 5 parents who would be hiking the whole way. We also had our pack horse group consisting of 4 adults and Rosie. So in all, there were 18 of us and about 6 horses. We were quite the group. Over the next week we would get to know everyone really well and become good friends.
After piling into the trucks, we made our way to the Tetons. This was about a 4 hour drive. Emily and I rode with Holly Pickup, Casey Snider and his daughter, Rosie. During the drive, we were all thoroughly entertained my Rosie and her funny stories especially her Tour Guide Barbie impressions along the way. Just outside of Jackson we saw a mother moose run right across the road in front of us! When she jumped the fence on the other side of the road, we noticed that her baby was already there and together they ran off through the field. It was so cool to watch and we took it as a good omen that the trip would be awesome.
We stopped in Jackson Hole for a lunch break before driving to the actual trail head. When we arrived at the trail head leading us into the Tetons Wilderness, we were all ready to go. To tell the truth, we were all excited but a little nervous to get started. We all used the bathroom one last time. Even though it was a stinky pit toilet, we knew it was the last toilet we would be able to use for a week. For the rest of the week we would be finding bushes!
Here we are all strapped up and ready to head out! We look so pretty and clean!
Off we went, there was no turning back. The adrenaline from the anticipation was still coursing through us so we hiked kind of fast this first day. Most of the time we were split into two hiking groups, a faster group and a not as fast group. Emily and I were in the faster group with Zoe, Nora, Ilse, and the Zooks, Jen and Sean.
While there was a gap between the groups, we did wait and keep an eye out for each other through out the whole week.
Our first day of hiking was not too bad. We hike about 5.5 miles this day to get to our first campsite. The hike was through beautiful forests and trees. There was always a river or stream nearby so that we could refill our water bottles using our water filters.
While our packs were heavy, about 30 pounds each, we were able to carry them without too much struggle. We kept cool by soaking bandannas in the streams. We also took a lot of breaks in order to rest, let the other group catch up, and just let our pack down and stretch our backs. Sometimes I wondered if we should just keep going but I had to remind myself that it was all about the experience not the race to the end.
We finally made it to the camp area we would use for the night. We all selected our tent spots and pitched our tents and got our camp set up. The pack horses were still a ways behind us because we started hiking before they had all of the gear and animals ready. They came into came about a half hour after us and we helped unpack the animals.
Our campsite was right on the bank of this beautiful river. The first thing everyone wanted to do after pitching their tents was take off their shoes and wade out in the cool water. Let me tell you, it was sooo nice.
After wading and cleaning ourselves up a bit, we settled into the night by making our dinners and just hanging out around the fire. This first night we all just talked and got to know each other a little better. It was really delightful.
This campsite did not have a bear box so we had to use a bear pole. What that meant was we had to put all of our food and scented items in a bag and hang it over a pole in the air. Getting our bags up the pole was quite interesting. We had to tie a rope to the bag and then try and throw the other end of the rope over the pole. Well there were only a few rocks or big sticks useful enough to tie to the end of the rope to help us throw the rope. Finally after a million tries at throwing the rope over the pole, we got it to go over! We pulled the rope tight and pulled our bag up out of the reach of bears. Then we secured the rope to the tree so that it wouldn't fall. It was definitely harder than it should have been!
The sunset that night was amazing. I also loved the effect the roaming horses had on the scenery. They made it more woodsy and scenic. Emily and I were both a little nervous about how the night would go. We are not big "sleeping outdoors" people. We usually have the trailer and not a tent. Honestly though, as soon as I went to bed, I was asleep and it was a pretty good sleep too! During the night, something did walk through our camp but I just told myself it was a deer and not a bear. I didn't look out to see for sure though! Other than that, it was a good night!
While I was gone, I put Russell in charge of the kids. One hour into the day, he sent me this picture of Brooklyn...
I guess this is how he will take care of the kids while I am gone... Great...
It was a great first day of the hike and we are learning a ton. We have a gravity fed water filter and we realized that this type of filter is great for at camp because you can just fill it up and hang it from a tree and have water for all of the cooking and filling. However, while hiking and getting water out of streams, a pump filter is better. Thankfully, anytime we stopped for water, everyone helped each other and we all shared the pump filters. The gravity filter works faster but its hard to get a clean fill from a small stream which is why the pump worked better in those situations.
One day and 5.5 miles down, 4 more days and 44 miles to go!
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