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Day 1 - Got up early on Friday, October 11th to drive up to the Pacific Creek Trailhead in the Teton Wilderness for a four-day backpacking trip up the Whetstone Creek Drainage. @Jackson had graciously decided to join me on this trip (a bout of temporary insanity I think) 
and we arrived at the trailhead around 1:30 in the afternoon to a balmy 29 degrees. There are three things about backpacking this time of year that you can count on in the Teton Wilderness: cool temperatures, elk hunters, and bear activity.
Our first day was a 4.5 mile (a bit more because we missed the turnoff for Whetstone Creek the first time. Ooops!) hike to our base camp on West Whetstone Creek. The trail was mostly frozen with some snow along the way. We were able to find a dry patch to set up our tents when we arrived at our campsite.
Overview map of our trip
A hunter was kind enough to take our picture at the trailhead. Notice the Rottweiler keeping us in line.
Trailhead sign
Within 100 feet of the trailhead
Some of the aspen down low still had some yellow color left though most had already turned brown.
Pacific Creek
Trail junction that we missed and had to come back to. We were too busy checking out Grizzly and wolf Prints to pay attention to junctions signs.
More snow as we head higher up the trail
Breaking out into some meadows on the Whetstone Creek Trail
First look at Whetstone Mountain
A look down into the Pacific Creek Drainage
Grizzly dig near the trail
Jackson, fording Whetstone Creek, something that we had to do multiple times on our way to our campsite
A dry patch for our tents located near the confluence of East Whetstone Creek and West Whetstone Creek
West Whetstone Creek, looking towards Bobcat Ridge. This is the spot were we cooked and ate our meals.
Day 2 - A day hike up East Whetstone Creek. (9 miles round trip)
A cold 14 degrees when we woke up on day two and the sun did not shine on us until about 8:30 in the morning. We had originally planned on doing a loop hike from camp, starting up East Whetstone Creek and coming back down West Whetstone Creek. Unfortunately our Teton Wilderness Map, and our 7.5 minute maps only had the old trail up East Whetstone on them and not the new maintained trail up on the ridge. So essentially, we spent all morning bushwhacking through willows up East Whetstone Creek until eventually the two trails married up with one another. We set a two o'clock turn around time and decided if we weren't at least halfway through the loop that we would just turn around and head back the way we had hiked up. The trail up East Whetstone was covered in Grizzly tracks that headed both ways.
East Whetstone Creek - on the old overgrown trail
Still on the old trail, looking back down East Whetstone Creek at Whetstone Mountain
Found the current, maintained trail at this point
Large meadow of willows along East Whetstone Creek
Looking up towards the headwaters of East Whetstone Creek with Big Game Ridge in the far distance.
On our way back to camp. Looking down at the meadow where our tents are located.
Dinner time on West Whetstone Creek. Jackson in the distance heading to our eating area.
Day 3 - A day hike up West Whetstone Creek (11 miles round trip)
Only 18 degrees this morning. Since we didn't complete our loop on the previous day, we decide to hike up the trail that follows West Whetstone Creek (originally, we had planned to hike to Moss Lake). We hiked all the way to a saddle where we could look north, down into the Pilgrim and Coulter Creek Drainages and off into Yellowstone National Park.
My boots were so frozen when I got up that I had to take my shovel to loosen the boot strings, then pry the top of the boots apart with my hands so that I could get my feet inside them. Quite the task! I won't even talk about trying to get the gaitors on.
Cold morning on West Whetstone
Grizzly tracks on the edge of our meadow where our tents were located
Whetstone Mountain
Bobcat Ridge
The trail up West Whetstone Drainage
Some fall color hanging on
Unnamed, frozen pond along our route.
Jackson was kind enough to take a picture of my good side.
The saddle that we are hiking to is just left of center of the image.
Looking back down West Whetstone Creek towards Pacific Creek and into the heart of the Teton Wilderness
Jackson, checking out the northern end of the Teton Wilderness and Mount Sheridan and Mount Hancock in Yellowstone National Park.
Mount Sheridan and the Red Mountains, located in Yellowstone National Park
Mount Hancock and Big Game Ridge, located in Yellowstone National Park
Gravel Mountain to the south, located between Pacific Creek and Lava Creek
On our way back to camp, looking down at the meadow where our tents are located.
Victory! We finally got a fire started on evening number three.
Day 4 - Hiking back out to the Pacific Creek Trailhead.
A slow warm up on our trip as it was a toasty 21 degrees the morning of our hike out. During the night though, we were serenaded by coyotes twice, once at around midnight and a second time close to one o'clock. Both times, they yipped, yapped and howled for a long period of time. Pretty cool!
Even though we had been following bear track the entire trip, it wasn't until we were headed out that we ran into a bear along the trail. We stopped and watched it for a couple of minutes just being a bear, before it got wind of us and left the area. It was busy grazing and digging for grubs as it made its way down the hillside towards the trail when it stopped and started smelling the air. After taking a sniff of us it started standing to get a better look. It eventually figured out where we were and gave us a long hard look, standing a couple more times before moving on back up the hill.
Grizzly tracks heading both ways
More tracks along the frozen trail
Grizzly above the trail
Giving us a look
Standing, before it dropped to all fours and wandered off.
Another look at the south side of Whetstone Mountain
Didn't miss the junction on our way out.
Still frozen Pacific Creek Trail. Normally this trail is a muddy mess this time of year with all the horse traffic.
Our ride home.
Once we left the trailhead, we didn't see another person until we got back to the trailhead. We had the whole Whetstone drainage to ourselves, other than the Grizzlies, Elk, Deer and Coyotes of course. A great short trip for sure. Hopefully Jackson will give us his perspective on the trip and share some photos that he took, and thanks Jackson for hanging out with the old man for a few days and congrats on your first Grizzly sighting in the backcountry.
and we arrived at the trailhead around 1:30 in the afternoon to a balmy 29 degrees. There are three things about backpacking this time of year that you can count on in the Teton Wilderness: cool temperatures, elk hunters, and bear activity.Our first day was a 4.5 mile (a bit more because we missed the turnoff for Whetstone Creek the first time. Ooops!) hike to our base camp on West Whetstone Creek. The trail was mostly frozen with some snow along the way. We were able to find a dry patch to set up our tents when we arrived at our campsite.
Overview map of our trip
A hunter was kind enough to take our picture at the trailhead. Notice the Rottweiler keeping us in line.
Trailhead sign
Within 100 feet of the trailhead
Some of the aspen down low still had some yellow color left though most had already turned brown.
Pacific Creek
Trail junction that we missed and had to come back to. We were too busy checking out Grizzly and wolf Prints to pay attention to junctions signs.
More snow as we head higher up the trail
Breaking out into some meadows on the Whetstone Creek Trail
First look at Whetstone Mountain
A look down into the Pacific Creek Drainage
Grizzly dig near the trail
Jackson, fording Whetstone Creek, something that we had to do multiple times on our way to our campsite
A dry patch for our tents located near the confluence of East Whetstone Creek and West Whetstone Creek
West Whetstone Creek, looking towards Bobcat Ridge. This is the spot were we cooked and ate our meals.
Day 2 - A day hike up East Whetstone Creek. (9 miles round trip)
A cold 14 degrees when we woke up on day two and the sun did not shine on us until about 8:30 in the morning. We had originally planned on doing a loop hike from camp, starting up East Whetstone Creek and coming back down West Whetstone Creek. Unfortunately our Teton Wilderness Map, and our 7.5 minute maps only had the old trail up East Whetstone on them and not the new maintained trail up on the ridge. So essentially, we spent all morning bushwhacking through willows up East Whetstone Creek until eventually the two trails married up with one another. We set a two o'clock turn around time and decided if we weren't at least halfway through the loop that we would just turn around and head back the way we had hiked up. The trail up East Whetstone was covered in Grizzly tracks that headed both ways.
East Whetstone Creek - on the old overgrown trail
Still on the old trail, looking back down East Whetstone Creek at Whetstone Mountain
Found the current, maintained trail at this point
Large meadow of willows along East Whetstone Creek
Looking up towards the headwaters of East Whetstone Creek with Big Game Ridge in the far distance.
On our way back to camp. Looking down at the meadow where our tents are located.
Dinner time on West Whetstone Creek. Jackson in the distance heading to our eating area.
Day 3 - A day hike up West Whetstone Creek (11 miles round trip)
Only 18 degrees this morning.
Since we didn't complete our loop on the previous day, we decide to hike up the trail that follows West Whetstone Creek (originally, we had planned to hike to Moss Lake). We hiked all the way to a saddle where we could look north, down into the Pilgrim and Coulter Creek Drainages and off into Yellowstone National Park. My boots were so frozen when I got up that I had to take my shovel to loosen the boot strings, then pry the top of the boots apart with my hands so that I could get my feet inside them. Quite the task! I won't even talk about trying to get the gaitors on.
Cold morning on West Whetstone
Grizzly tracks on the edge of our meadow where our tents were located
Whetstone Mountain
Bobcat Ridge
The trail up West Whetstone Drainage
Some fall color hanging on
Unnamed, frozen pond along our route.
Jackson was kind enough to take a picture of my good side.
The saddle that we are hiking to is just left of center of the image.
Looking back down West Whetstone Creek towards Pacific Creek and into the heart of the Teton Wilderness
Jackson, checking out the northern end of the Teton Wilderness and Mount Sheridan and Mount Hancock in Yellowstone National Park.
Mount Sheridan and the Red Mountains, located in Yellowstone National Park
Mount Hancock and Big Game Ridge, located in Yellowstone National Park
Gravel Mountain to the south, located between Pacific Creek and Lava Creek
On our way back to camp, looking down at the meadow where our tents are located.
Victory! We finally got a fire started on evening number three.
Day 4 - Hiking back out to the Pacific Creek Trailhead.
A slow warm up on our trip as it was a toasty 21 degrees the morning of our hike out. During the night though, we were serenaded by coyotes twice, once at around midnight and a second time close to one o'clock. Both times, they yipped, yapped and howled for a long period of time. Pretty cool!
Even though we had been following bear track the entire trip, it wasn't until we were headed out that we ran into a bear along the trail. We stopped and watched it for a couple of minutes just being a bear, before it got wind of us and left the area. It was busy grazing and digging for grubs as it made its way down the hillside towards the trail when it stopped and started smelling the air. After taking a sniff of us it started standing to get a better look. It eventually figured out where we were and gave us a long hard look, standing a couple more times before moving on back up the hill.
Grizzly tracks heading both ways
More tracks along the frozen trail
Grizzly above the trail
Giving us a look
Standing, before it dropped to all fours and wandered off.
Another look at the south side of Whetstone Mountain
Didn't miss the junction on our way out.
Still frozen Pacific Creek Trail. Normally this trail is a muddy mess this time of year with all the horse traffic.
Our ride home.
Once we left the trailhead, we didn't see another person until we got back to the trailhead. We had the whole Whetstone drainage to ourselves, other than the Grizzlies, Elk, Deer and Coyotes of course. A great short trip for sure. Hopefully Jackson will give us his perspective on the trip and share some photos that he took, and thanks Jackson for hanging out with the old man for a few days and congrats on your first Grizzly sighting in the backcountry.
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