From Sunset Lake we climbed the ridge and looked out over Alaska Basin and into the Park. We had a very pleasant day ahead. We were hiking out of the highest part of the range, the terrain looked easy according to the maps, and this was the last day of the perfect weather we hoped to get in the Tetons. The trail became a national park trail again as we made our way to the huge escarpment which towered over the Death Canyon shelf.
The huge cliff wall above Death Canyon was reminiscent of the Chinese Wall in Bob Marshall Wilderness but without the dense forest such that the huge house-sized boulders fallen from the wall could be seen for miles in the distance. The scale of these rocks and cliffs is hardly imaginable even in person. We passed lots of other backpackers along the way to the head of the canyon and Fox Creek Pass.
Somewhere on the other side was Marion Lake and that sounded like a good place to break for lunch and a swim. After all of the scenery over the last few days, we didn’t expect to be too impressed but we were impressed nonetheless. This place really is magical! We took a swim, rested, and pushed on. After the last few days, everything now was just dessert.
We made the last intense climb and then crested Phillips Pass when a helicopter could be seen flying around overhead. As it got closer we could tell it was SAR. They started circling and looking directly at us. Unsure of how to signal that we were ok, we just continued hiking and tried to look normal (or at least “normal” for us). They eventually moved away but could still be heard. A few minutes later they rose again over the pass lifting a stretcher just a few hundred feet from where we first saw them! No wonder they thought it was us! We later heard a report of an injured hiker being rescued, but no terrible news.
Around this time we started to see our first storm clouds and heard our first thunder. We raced downhill toward the area we planned to camp as the storm grew closer. As the wind picked up, we knew we would have to make camp quickly and soon. In a haste, we found a flat spot near the trail, pitched, and braces for what was coming. Luckily we didn’t get the full force of the weather and managed to get some acceptable sleep.
The next morning, we were woken by passing hikers well before daylight. These folks from Jackson Hole like to get out early! Since we pitched a bit too close to the trail we broke camp in record time and started out into the sunrise. The clouds were breaking and the morning looked like it could be pretty nice. We hurried past funny trail markers and a mountain bike trail named “Jimmy’s Mom” (which filled some time with appropriate jokes), in a rush for town food. Besides breakfast and coffee, new shoes and a long hitch out of Jackson Hole to Dubois we’re all waiting to be had before dark today and we had to make good time.