Grand Teton Hiking/Camping

Hello,
This is my first post on MP. I am heading to Grand Teton/Yellowstone on April 22-25. I was wondering if anyone know how's the snow condition on the trail? I was planning to hike from Paintbrush to Cascade and maybe camp overnight on the mountain. I've done some winter mountaineering and ice climbing. So I just want to make sure if Ice Axe and Crampons are necessary for this time of the year. Thanks in advance :)

I would plan on snowshoes or skis, and maybe a set of micro spikes (Katoohla, etc.) for early morning hardpack. I don't recall any part of that route being steep enough to warrant crampons or an axe.

I would also get in touch with the backcountry rangers in Grand Teton National Park for the best info on current conditions if you haven't already done so.

http://jhavalanche.org/viewTeton

mountainweather.com/index.p…

Thank you both for the information!

Well, it's been snowing for the past three hours in Hoback, so there's certainly more snow accumulating up high. The Paintbrush divide is fairly steep, and an ice axe isn't very heavy, so I'd say take it. And to echo Mark, I'd plan on snow shoes, skis, or epic post holing for sure. Also, you should plan on camping on snow if you do spend the night up there.

More than likely the loop will be 80% snow or so. April can be a very transitional period--lots of snow and perhaps warm temps and dense cloud cover, warming up the snowpack. At the lower elevations you may run into isothermal (rotten) snow, which sucks for skis, snowshoes, and postholing. If the weather is clear and cold, then you'll have great corn and traveling conditions, at least in the morning. If you go, I'd strongly consider taking an ice ax--Paintbrush Divide has some exposure on both sides. Also to consider are avalanche conditions--I've kicked off some large slabs in June in Avalanche Canyon doing a loop hike.

Skibo is right on point.

I was in Cascade last week, just skinned to Inspiration Point. In the morning the snow was hard enough to travel on without a problem. There was only a few steep sections which were really awkward on skis because it was so icy. I couldn't put in a track on one so I just took my skis off and kicked in steps. If that section wasn't so short and with a mellow runout I would have definitely been happy to have an ice axe. You'll probably run into a good amount of that higher up.

Last week and this week by about 10am the snow has been so soft I was sinking even on skis. My field partner was in snowshoes and sadly was post holing in them the whole way back. Also, with the rain and warm weather there have been lots and lots of wet slides. Really awesome to watch and listen to from a good distance. It's getting colder though so maybe you'll get lucky:) Good luck!

I hope you already realize this, but since nobody has mentioned it: the inner Grand Teton Park road, which leads to the trail heads you're talking about, is closed to motorized vehicles until April 30. It's been plowed, so a bicycle is probably the best means of access.

I hope you already realize this, but since nobody has mentioned it: the inner Grand Teton Park road, which leads to the trail heads you're talking about, is closed to motorized vehicles until April 30. It's been plowed, so a bicycle is probably the best means of access.

+1 CarolJH

I skied up in the park Friday. The road is closed at the Taggart lake TR where there is around 2 feet of snow. I skied up Garnett and out Cascade and walked down the road. The snow is supportable in most lower elevation locations with a fair bit of new snow above 10k. I bike would be great right now there is no snow on the road.