How I Spent My Summer, 2012 Part V: Travelogue, Darby Canyon and the Wind Cave

Rhys and me at the Wind Cave

My son Rhys spent a week up at Treasure Mountain Boy Scout Camp.  Last year, when he was there, we hiked Table Rock together.  This year, the hike was to be the Wind Cave in Darby Canyon.  Darby Canyon is a glacial valley in the greater Teton area.  I don't know if it is actually in the Teton Range, but it's a next door neighbor if it isn't.  The Wind Cave is a water carved cave through dolomite.  Somewhere in the miles of cavern is another entrance which allows a brisk wind to blow through.

In 1951, a group of girls from Iona, Lincoln and Idaho Falls were camping at the Darby Canyon Girls Camp and chose to hike to the Wind Cave.  It was an overcast day and after playing in the cave for awhile, they came back to where they had stashed their lunches and began to eat.  As they were eating, lightning struck nearby and some of the camp leaders shouted for the girls to go to the open field and lie down while others told them it would be safer for them to hide in the trees.  Before anyone could really move, another lightning bolt crashed into a tree that some of the girls were huddled under.  Accounts say that girls were flung through the air up to a hundred feet.  Two of my aunties were there and one was knocked unconcious and the other was badly burned.  Four girls and one leader lost their lives that day.  A memorial was placed near the site where the unfortunate incident happened.

Memorial to the ones lost

When my boys go to camp, I like to take a day and spend with them if I'm available.  Lately I've tried to go with them on their hikes.  I was excited to go to Darby Canyon with them.  I had only been there once before and had only gone as far as the memorial.

We met at the trailhead at about 7 AM which meant I had to leave home no later than 5:30.  I drove through the Teton Valley and arrived a little early.  When the boys arrived, we spent a few moments getting ready and then we embarked.  I've discovered that each hike I go on takes on a different characteristic.  This one ended up being all about wildflowers.  I was absolutely amazed at the abundance of wildflowers in the canyon and the many different varieties.  There were many varieties I don't believe I have ever seen before.

Leaving the house at first light

The Teton Valley at first light

The trailhead

Images at the trailhead

Images at the trailhead

Images at the trailhead

Images at the trailhead

Our troop at the trailhead

The trailhead lies at 7069 feet above sea level and over the course of 2.6 miles gains about 1800 feet in elevation.  The elevation gain is masked by the fact that the trail switches back and forth frequently so even though there is significant gain, it is really a moderate hike.  It is a very pleasant hike, even for someone like me who is out of shape and has bad knees.

At 8940 feet above sea level, the hike isn't quite alpine, but close.  The trail is forested for most of the way but further up the trail, it breaks out into sub-alpine meadows strewn with wildflowers.  There is evidence of glaciation everywhere, from the U-shaped valley to glacial outwash and deposits to striations on the rocks. 

The valley is fairly narrow where the trailhead begins and there is a giant boulder that has either fallen from above or dragged into place by the advancing glaciers.  Rhys called it the "tent rock" because of it's shape.  The vegetation and thick undergrowth everywhere reminded me at once of the Jenny Lake Trail we went on last summer in Grand Teton National Park.

The "Tent Rock"

The "Tent Rock" from above

Cool rock in the canyon wall

Lush undergrowth

Rhys is usually a very fast hiker and last year he summitted Table Rock a full two hours ahead of me.  This year, he hung back and hiked with me.  Also in our group was my dear friend, Christan Airth and Rhys' friend Kyle. 

Along the way, there are a few huge boulders still clinging to the side of the valley, left over from the periods of glaciation.  There is great water erosion marks on the tops of the boulders.  Those flat boulders offer great views of the valley and the first views of the Wind Cave.  On one of the boulders, one of the boys spotted what he thought was a wild turkey, but as I looked at it, I thought is was a sage grouse.  I photographed it and identified it online when I returned home and found we were both wrong.  It was a "dusky grouse" male, which is a species I had never heard of before.  When I got close, the bird fanned it's tail, inflated it's body to make it look bigger and thumped it's air bladders and made a 'threatening' sound.  It was very cool.

Rhys and Christian on the trail

Boulder on the side of the canyon

Erosion patterns in the top of the boulder

First view of the Wind Cave

The "wild turkey" on the boulder

Closeup of the dusky grouse

We crossed a beautiful sub-alpine meadow filled with wildflowers before we reached to last part of the forested trail to the Wind Cave.  The last hundred yards or so are the toughest of the hike, the elevation gain is quite steep.  There are stairs there, however but I'm not sure if they were placed or naturally occuring in the rock.  At the base of the summit, the trail splits off to the bottom of a waterfall and the other side goes to the brink of the falls and finally the Wind Cave.  We played around at the base of the waterfall then we hiked into the cave.  It is quite a cavern.  The ceiling has collapsed over time and coverd over the creek that flows under the rubble.  Rhys thought that was extremely cool to be walking over the scree and hear the water flow underneath.

We spelunked back into the cave to the point where it narrows and I stayed there and let Rhys and his friends explore beyond.  It felt too small for me to get through with my camera.  Next time, however I will go deeper into the cavern.  Right at the narrows, the wind is the strongest and very cold.  Next time I go, I will definitely take a jacket for this part of the hike.

The sub-alpine meadow just before the summit

Christian, Rhys and Kyle just before the summit trail

Glacial striations in dolomite on the trail

Sub-alpine meadow

View of waterfall and Wind Cave just before the summit

This picture makes me feel peaceful

The valley from the base of the falls

Rhys and Kyle

Rhys and Kyle under the falls for a sense of scale

Waterfall through scree going up to the cave

Lots of moss

I just liked this picture

Rhys and chums at the narrows

Rhys in the cave

The troop at the waterfall

When we were done with the hike, we went back to the scout camp.  This is the same scout camp I attended when I was a boy.  There is a giant boulder in the center of the camp that is now called Chief Rock.  When I was at scout camp it was called Eagle Rock.  When I was there, only people who had attained the rank of Eagle Scout were allowed to stand on it.  I hadn't been an Eagle when I was at scout camp so I never did.  Some of my troop mates did stand on it without getting their rank however.  Today, the requirements for standing on Chief Rock are different than when I was a scout.  They aren't tougher, by the way but more reasonable for someone attending.  I went to the camp counsellors and asked them if I could stand on Chief Rock under the old standards and they agreed.  This has been something on my bucket list for 36 years.  I scratched it off.

Me standing on Chief Rock, scratch an item off the bucket list

This post has become too long and I still have more material, namely all the wildflowers to show, so I am going to add a part II to this blog post that will be dedicated to the wildflowers I saw on this hike.  There were so many and they were so pretty that they deserve their own blog post.  I will add it at a future date.

This was a great day, from spending the day with Rhys and our friends to hiking up to the Wind Cave, to standing on Chief Rock.  I very much enjoyed my time in Darby Canyon.  Christian said that we needed to find a time when we could take our wives up to this cave.  I agree.  I will hike here again.  Now I'll leave with a parting shot of the Tetons in the afternoon from the same position I photographed them that morning.  Enjoy

The Teton Range in the afternoon from the same vantage point

How I Spent My Summer, 2012 Part III--Travelogue: Lower Mesa Falls

Brink of the falls, Lower Mesa Falls

On June 16th, 2012, Chimene and I went to a retirement party for one of my colleagues up in West Yellowstone, Montana.  We decided to leave early and take the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway.  We had been to Mesa Falls many times, but this time we noticed a trail to the brink of Lower Mesa Falls.  In some of the travel literature we have, I saw a close up picture of the Lower Falls and we decided we had to hike it.  I couldn't find much literature on hiking trails in the area, but I did find a link that talked about scrambling down the talus slope to the river and a great view of the falls.  That's the route I decided to take.

Talus Slope at Lower Mesa Falls

Our party included Chimene (my wife), my sons Haydn and Garrett and me.  On the way, we stopped at one of the scenic overlooks to view the Teton range.  At many places in the snake river plain the Teton mountains are visible.  This is a beautiful spot to see them from.  While we were there, we came across several different species of wildflowers, some of which we had never seen before.

The Teton Range from the scenic overlook

Wild Sweet Pea

Fireweed

Possibly Payette Beardtongue

When we got to the Lower Falls, Chimene discovered that she had not brought along her hiking shoes and only had sandals.  So the overlook for Lower Mesa Falls was as far as she went.  The rest of the time she spent reading in the car while Haydn, Garrett and I scrambled down the scree slope.

Chimene's only pic of the day

The hike consisted of a scramble down about 500 feet of boulders with a few stands of trees in the middle.  It was tough going.  Some of the boulders weighed in excess of a ton.  The pitch was up to 60 degrees in some places but settled to around 45 degrees in others.  By the time we got to the bottom, I decided I was going to find a different way up.  All the way down and back up, Garrett and I feasted upon wild raspberries that we found in the canyon.  They tasted like raspberries, but were slightly more tart than the domesticated ones.

Haydn and Garrett on the scree to show scale.  Note the pitch at around 40 degrees

Looking up the scree pile.  Daunting

Life will always find a way

A grove of trees in the middle of the scree pile

Wild raspberries

After we exited from the small grove, we came upon our first view of the Lower Mesa Falls.  It was magnificent.  There is a basalt tower that is a remnant of an earlier falls at the location.  The falls are steadily moving upstream.  We saw evidence of at least two other falls systems while we were on the trail. 

Haydn and Garrett wanted to go all the way to the river's edge and I felt it would be more practical to skirt alongside the talus at the level of the falls until we got to the brink.  They visited the river and I cut a trail to the falls through the boulders.  We met up about a hundred yards from the falls where we picked up a real trail.  When we got to the falls, they did not disappoint.  The Upper Falls is wide and a single sheer drop and is impressive in it's own way.  The lower falls, however is a tiered waterfall that shoots through a narrow canyon over three distinct levels.  The Lower Falls drops about 65 feet in total.  The trail went right to the brink of the falls.  It was magnificent and the sheer power of it was incredible.

Our first view of the falls after exiting the grove.  Note the sun shining through the mist from the falls

Haydn and Garrett at the river

Another view of the falls with the basalt tower visible

The basalt tower from the trail

The falls from the trail

The first tier of the falls

A deep hole I would not want to kayak through

Pretty little grotto on the side of the falls

Possibly my favorite picture of the day.  Complimentary colors of yellow and purple with Goldenrod and Fireweed at the edge of the waterfall

None of us wanted to climb out the way we had come down the canyon so I opted for another trail.  We skirted along the columnar jointed basalt until we found a notch we could climb up the cliff.  There was a plateau there that gave another view of the falls but more interestingly it showed at least two previos extint channels the falls used to follow.  I found a jeep/horse trail that gave access to a few backcountry camping spots and we followed it for awhile.  It became clear to me that it exited at the Upper Falls campground which was a mile away from where we wanted to be.  What I learned though was it is an easier trail than the one we went down and the one we went up.

We backtracked and cut across the plateau to a much gentler incline up the scree pile than the one we came down and made our way up to the top.  We emerged right in front of our car in the parking area.  This was a rigorous hike across the boulder field, and one that I'd like to do again, but when I'm in a little better shape.  The boys liked it and we had a fun time together.  This was well worth it.  I recommend this hike.

The boys climbing out

The falls from the plateau, also showing the ancient course of the river and waterfall

The river valley from the plateau on the way out of the canyon