Cascade Canyon Forks

I hadn't seen Paul and Pam since the tail end of ski season. They were planning to hike up Cascade Canyon and climb Guides Wall. The climbing part didn't interest me, but it was a good excuse to hike in with them, catch up on what they've been up to, and mingle with the crowds in Cascade Canyon on a gorgeous day in mid-July. My plan was to see how far up the South Fork I could go before the snow got annoying, and maybe do the same up the North Fork.

As usual, Cascade Canyon is looking spectacular. There is a lot of water flowing in the creek. Here's a view of the cascade coming out of Valhalla Canyon.

At the forks I turned left and headed up the South Fork. Hate to admit it, but that is the first time I've been up South Cascade. It's gorgeous, and I had the place to myself until after I had turned around and was halfway back down. Here is a look at the northwest side of the Middle Teton.

 

 At about 8600' the trail was completely snow-covered, so I turned around there, went back down to the forks, and headed up the North Fork.

As usual, there were a lot more hikers in the North Fork. At the bottom of the camping zone, about 8200', the trail was mostly snow-covered. I decided that was a good place to turn around for the day.

On the way out, I stopped at the moose ponds to refill my water bottle and have a snack. Paul and Pam arrived about five minutes later, we couldn't have timed it any better if we had tried. We hiked out together, and declared victory with drinks on the deck at Dornan's. Another gorgeous day in the Tetons!