Regina and Matthias with their backpacks
The trail climbed steadily right from the beginning and we were quickly gaining elevation. Although the sun was still out during breakfast the weather changed quickly and it started to rain. In addition the wind started to blow. The nearer we came to Paintbrush Divide (at 3289 meters) the more unpleasant the weather became and the more streneous the hike became. Close to Paintbrush Divide it even started to hail and the wind got more and more intense. At the Divide hail changed into snow.
Picture taken from Paintbrush Divide
Matthias at the Paintbrush Divide
At the way down it was still quite windy, but the weather steadily improved and we even got some sunshine. The landscape was breathtaking and old trees and wildflowers added additional beauty.
When we arrived at Lake Solitude dark clouds appeared again on the sky and we decided to just make a very short stop.
Lake Solitude
Our camping area for this day was not too far from Lake Solitude and we found a wonderful - wind protected - camp site for the night. We made our camp, cooked lunch and took pictures from the marvellous scenary. The weather improved again and we got some pleasant sunshine. It was really gorgous.
Unfortunately, our luck only lasted rather shortly and dark clouds started to hide the blue sky again and it started to rain soon after for about 2-3 hours. At higher elevations it got some fresh snow. Fortunately, the rain stopped at around 6:30 so that we could cook dinner and it stayed clear for the entire night.
Picture of the Middle Teton and the Grand Teton before and after snowfall
From our experiences on this day you can see that the weather in the Grand Tetons can change very, very quickly. There can be an entirely blue sky and rain or snow 15 minutes after.
1 Kommentar:
So you also got a winter conditions in the summer time. ;-) Indeed the wetter there changes really quickly!
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