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When Star and I started taking trips out West, we did not have this forum to save and share our trips with family and friends, which is ultimately how Ben and Star's Excellent Adventures came to be.
I have hiked the mountains of the Southern U.S. for over 35 years, and feel as though I know them better than I know myself. That said, I had always heard stories of the incredible hiking out West, and dreamed of places with names like The Tetons, Glacier, Yosemite, Sierra, and Wind River. Of all the places my Aunt Marilee had travelled around the globe, I found it fascinating she proclaimed the Tetons and Wind River as the most beautiful places on the planet. Anyway, my now deceased Aunt had planted a seed inside my head that would grow like kudzu throughout my adult years.
I never gave up on that dream, but the years slipped by quickly from my childhood into middle age. I remember thinking that maybe those places were meant to be kept in my dreams, where they would forever loom, larger than life. Better off, I convinced myself.
When Star and I met in December 2006, walking and hiking immediately became central in our relationship. In fact, our second date was a walk. Soon after, we were hiking together weekly and I was sharing my passion for the wilderness and my lifelong dreams of heading West. In her typical manner, Star looked at me and immediately said "What are we waiting on? Let's go now!"
So, we boarded a plane headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with our backpacking gear in tow. From the airplane window, we caught our first view of the Teton Range rising nearly 7,000 ft. vertically behind the high grasslands of Jackson Hole, and I suddenly was overcome with emotion and exclaimed, "I made it Aunt Marilee. I'm here."
So, as I sit here watching the snow pile up in our backyard, I'm taking a trip back in the time machine to our first backpacking trip west of the Mississippi.
Backpacking up Cascade and South Fork Canyons
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| Cruising up Cascade Canyon toward the Grand Teton |
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| Hiking with Julie Andrews :-) |
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| Mr. Moose getting a drink |
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| Paintbrush |
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| Climbing steeply up the South Canyon and passing Grand Teton's spire |
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Nearing campsite at 10,000 ft. just below Hurricane Pass
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One last snowfield
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| View from camp looking back |
Dayhiking Uncle Tom's Trail and the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone
The next morning, we took a hike to the head of the canyon, and found another beautiful trail with absolutely no people. A tough find in Yellowstone.
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