The Ortenburger Lake Expedition, Grand Teton National Park

[Bob]

stsying on the crest at Mica and the Wigwams depends on your steepness tolerance......

 

[Chuck the Mauler]

Bob, I didn't find it that bad. In 2018 we climbed up from Mica and stayed up (just below the crest) the entire time. Camped at one of the lakes near the wigwams (the lake closest to Table. I think there were 4 "lakes" in the area) The next day was easy. Over to Table Mountain, then down into the south fork and back up to Avalanche Divide. Camped at Snowdrift Lake. Then out to our car waiting for us at Taggart TH.

 

[wypronghorn]

Where are you planning to start and finish? The short answer is, Yes. You can summit Table or stay south of it and hit the trail in the basin. But you SHOULD grab the highly trafficked summit of Table while you're there. There is very little exposure above Mica, but it can be easily avoided.

Don't know yet. Always just looking to find ways to connect things. Watched Joey's video coming down from the Wigwams toward Alpha/Omega and it looked a bit technical. Have you actually done that route?

Did anyone from your group create a track for your Moose Basin to Ortenburger trip?

 

[wypronghorn]

Hi all! Gonna revisit this for a bit now that I'm back in the park. I hiked up to and camped at Alpha/Omega from Cascade Canyon a couple days ago. Lakes were beautiful. But I'm still curious about the high route - the north-south ridge that is the park boundary. Curious what it's like going from Hurricane Pass to Table and continuing north along the ridge to the top of the Solitude bowl. It was hard to get a sense of that terrain from where I stood at Alpha and Omega. Is that entire thing actually walkable? The ridge looked so jagged and like there were a couple tiny, pyramidal peaks that might be hard to get around. If anyone has a kml track for that route that would be sweet. Thanks!

 

[Outdoor_Fool]

Hi all! Gonna revisit this for a bit now that I'm back in the park. I hiked up to and camped at Alpha/Omega from Cascade Canyon a couple days ago. Lakes were beautiful. But I'm still curious about the high route - the north-south ridge that is the park boundary. Curious what it's like going from Hurricane Pass to Table and continuing north along the ridge to the top of the Solitude bowl. It was hard to get a sense of that terrain from where I stood at Alpha and Omega. Is that entire thing actually walkable? The ridge looked so jagged and like there were a couple tiny, pyramidal peaks that might be hard to get around. If anyone has a kml track for that route that would be sweet. Thanks!

I hiked that 3-4 years ago from N to S (Littles to Hurricane Pass). It is walkable with some scrambling involved but nothing technical. Rather than going over Wigwams, I camped at the lake just west of Wigwams.

 

[wypronghorn]

Any advice on how to get to Ortenburger from North Leigh TH as a 1-2 night backpack?

 

[Outdoor_Fool]

You might need 3 nights to complete the trip but you can hike up Leigh Canyon to Mink Lake and camp there. Leigh Canyon took me longer than expected but it is not too bad. There are some game trails in Leigh Canyon but nothing that lasts very long. It took me 5-6 hours to travel up from the bottom of Leigh Cyn to Mink Lake but I was not acclimated at all to the altitude, and I am older and slow enough as it is.

Then continue west to the divide and north, or north past Maidenform to Moran Creek. It's a steep slog up to Ortenburger but doable. Avoid traveling up or down Moran Creek canyon, it is really brushy, rocky, slow and miserable.

Backtracking out is the fastest option. OR if you have a shuttle or other means, you could go out to the west and head down South Badger or one of the Leigh Creeks.