What. A. Hike.
Our trip to Turquoise Lake just outside of Jackson, Wyoming last weekend was an amazing adventure. Our sweet friend Scott Eren woke up early with us on a Saturday and drove us nearly 2 hours south of town to drop us in the middle of nowhere so we could walk back to down. The plan was about 11 miles on the first day with around 3,200 feet of elevation spread out over most of that distance.
After what turned out to be closer to 14 miles on the first day, we reach the lake around 7pm and found much more snow than we expected. We found a place to make camp and get some food cooked. It wasn't until we had set up our tents and sat down for a few minutes when I realized just how exhausted I was. Turquoise Lake is easily one of the most beautiful alpine lakes I've been to and well worth every mile I carried my pack.
We slept in a little longer than we had planned on, but we would need the rest. As we made our way out of camp we realized most of the trail was covered by snow, which made finding exactly which direction to travel difficult. When we finally made our way up and over the crest of the valley the lake is settled in, we caught out first glimpse of the Tetons on the trip. After crossing the next little valley that contains the headwaters to the popular Flat Creek, we made our last saddle cross of the day and caught a view of Jackson from about 7 miles out.
We finally made it through Cache Creek Canyon and down onto about 5 miles of flat trail, but by that time we all started to feel the effects of the miles as we realized our 22 mile trip was really more of a 27 miles trip. By the time we got back to the car we left at the trail head and got home, those burgers didnt stand a chance.
