This trip took place a couple weeks ago before the Sawtooth trip I posted. I took my wife and 14 yo son around a 34 mile loop in the Gros Ventre Wilderness. I put together a route that starts at the Granite Hot Springs then up Granite Creek and goes over a couple of passes before descending into upper Cache Creek just east of Jackson. From upper Cache Creek we connected with the Granite Highline Trail and followed that all the way back to the Granite Creek Rd. From there we walked about 1.6 miles along the road back to our car. The first day we hiked about 11 miles up Granite Creek and camped. Granite Creek Canyon is beautiful and the wild flowers were out in force. The second day started out with a climb to Turquoise Lake. The basin in upper Granite Creek was my favorite part of our whole route, very scenic. We climbed a pass after leaving Turquoise Lake and were greeted with a view of the Tetons. From the pass we dropped into the basin for upper Flat Creek for a short distance before going over another pass above Cache Creek. We dropped quite a ways down into upper Cache Creek. This was my least favorite part of the trip. It was overgrown and there were lots of biting flies of some sort. In upper Cache Creek we connected with the beginning of the Granite Highline Trail. We followed the Granite Highline Trail up and out of the Cache Creek drainage. On the ridge above Cache Creek it was hard to locate the trail. The trail was really overgrown and I could tell it gets very little traffic. We spotted some Elk above us and watched them a couple minutes before moving on. The Granite Highline Trail is pretty but it can be very hard to follow in spots. People without decent navigation skills could have some trouble. It was also overgrown enough to make travel fairly tedious in places as well. Despite those issues it was still an enjoyable hike. We found a great place to camp for our second night with great views. The third day we continued on the Granite Highline Trail. We dropped into the upper Boulder Creek drainage and took a short break. When I got up and started hiking again I noticed a bunch of Elk coming down from a ridge behind us. They did not see us so we stopped and watched them. They were descending out of some trees and just kept coming and coming. It was a large herd of Cows and Calves. We watched them for around 20 minutes as the herd dropped into the valley above us and cross it and go up the other side and over the ridge. My wife got some good video but I don't think I can post it on here. We made our way back to where the Granite Highline Trail ends at the Granite Creek Rd. It was a short 1.6 mile hike up the road back to our car. My wife took a dip in the hot springs while my son and I decided to wash off in the creek. It was a fun loop and we had plenty of solitude. We only saw two day hikers in upper Cache Creek and that was the only two people we saw on food the entire loop. There were a couple small groups of horse packers in Granite Creek. Other than that we had the place to ourselves. We didn't see a single person on the entire 15 mile stretch of the Granite Highline Trail. I have another route in the Gros Ventre that I want to go back and try in the near future that I believe would be even better.
My son heading up Granite Creek Canyon
Lots of flowers in Granite Creek Canyon
Looking into upper Granite Creek basin. Upper Granite Creek/Turquoise lake basin was my favorite part of the route. Very beautiful.
Turquoise Lake
My wife and son in upper Granite Creek basin.
Got a view of the Tetons from the pass between Granite Creek and Flat Creek. The picture does not do the view justice.
Camp on the second night.
My son heading up Granite Creek Canyon
Lots of flowers in Granite Creek Canyon
Looking into upper Granite Creek basin. Upper Granite Creek/Turquoise lake basin was my favorite part of the route. Very beautiful.
Turquoise Lake
My wife and son in upper Granite Creek basin.
Got a view of the Tetons from the pass between Granite Creek and Flat Creek. The picture does not do the view justice.
Camp on the second night.
