Marion Lake

The next morning I head to the visitor center, pick out a hike, and make my way to the trailhead. I rented a pack in Jackson the night before, and the park requires you to take a bear canister with you. I pack my pack and the bear canister doesn't fit. I have to use my cargo net to secure it to the bottom of the pack. By the time I've found the trailhead (one of the roads was closed between the visitor center and the trail so I have to drive into Jackson and back up into the park, about an hour of driving) and packed my pack, it's 1:30 before I embark on a 9 mile hike. I know i have no time to waste so I get to it.

The hike is absolutely stunning. I'm hiking with a mission, so I don't even realize how steep the trail is. I only realized after the hike when I descended for two days how much I had climbed. The trailhead is at 6356 ft, and my campsite for the first night is somewhere in the 9200 ft range in about 9 miles. I start the hike at 1:30 and arrive at camp around 5:30. Needless to say I was sore the next day. It was threatening to rain the last two hours of the hike, and luckily it held off till is set up camp. I took a quick dip in the lake to rinse off, it was glacially cold. And passed out till the rain and wind woke me up. The rain was light throughout the night but the wind made my tent and tarp flap around. Luckily the morning brought a few minutes of sun. The rain held off for most of the day.

Pictures, I don't have any to share on this one. I saved my phone battery in case of emergency.Read more