We started our one and only day in the Tetons in a small gravel parking lot just south of Yellowstone National Park. We had spent some wonderful days up in the Beartooth Pass area and wanted to see Grand Teton National Park. Our ‘vacation’ was just a break between one construction job ending for Tyler, and another beginning. So the amount of time we had was unknown. And so like 2 people that should know better, we decided to brave entering Yellowstone on the 4th of July. I cannot emphasize enough how busy Yellowstone is, and a holiday weekend is much worse. Really you need to rethink your decision about going in there on holiday! But it was our only route to get to the Tetons, so we figured we’d just have to endure it. We started off in Lamar Valley and got re-routed because the pass was closed. Everything was going fine until we hit a traffic jam… I guess there was a bear. Anyways everyone threw their vehicle into park. Some even parked in the middle of the road and got out to pursue the bear on foot. (Story continued below.)
Everything you need to know about hiking Delta Lake in Grand Teton National Park
Distance – 8.2 miles round trip Elevation Gain – 2,400′ Difficulty Rating – Difficult/strenuous Trailhead – Lupine Meadows Trailhead Pets – No pets allowed on this trail, it’s a national park. Bathrooms – pit toilets are located at the trailhead.
Delta Lake, Surprise Lake, & Amphitheater Lake
Distance – 11.5 miles roundtrip Elevation Gain – 3,800′ Difficulty Rating – Strenuous, a long day if you take time to enjoy each place, but doable if you’re in excellent shape! Blog Post – read all about Surprise & Amphitheater Lakes.
How do I get to Delta Lake step by step
Hiking tips for Delta Lake in Grand Teton National Park
Story Continued
Let’s not go into all the reasons it’s a terrible idea to be out of your car and chasing after a bear in a life-threatening situation. But suffice it to say 2 hours! later we finally got out of the traffic jam. And these are just the sorts of situations you sadly need to expect these days. But that’s how we ended up south of Yellowstone and finally heading for the Tetons. We got up in the dark and made a beeline for some photography spots. It was a lackluster sunrise with some clouds keeping out the sun. So we headed for Mormon Row and the sun broke out in time to get some good photos during golden hour. From there we headed over to the parking lot for Delta Lake and got on the trail. I ended up being surprised at just how busy the ‘trail’ was since it’s not an official or maintained trail. This ended up being a bit stressful at times since there were some people there that shouldn’t have been. I would suggest reading the variety of reviews on AllTrails to try and get an idea if this hike is for you. You hear everything from ‘wonderful’ to ‘absolutely brutal’. Also, this hike isn’t really suitable for small children. If your kids are used to hiking and bouldering in the wilderness that would factor in. But in general 8+ years old or so and in hiking shape made it just fine. We saw some things that stressed me out so bad I can’t even. Small children struggling and falling over boulders while parents drug them onward. I was quite dangerous at points and we helped a few families through some areas that were tricky for them. I just mention it because this is something we’ve been seeing more and more lately. There have been so many people new to the wilderness going in way over their heads and needing rescue. We have ended up helping so many people now I’ve lost count. And it’s important to remember that in the wilderness, it truly is life or death if you’re not prepared! Anyways back to the awesome day, we had despite the challenges. Once we reached the lake we could see why it had become so popular – the photos really don’t do it justice. We spent some time here at the lake and took some photos. But then we moved on because we were headed for Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes which also share this same trail. We hadn’t done much research on Ampitheater Lake other than finding the trailhead. We didn’t even know there was another lake called Surprise Lake. There was still a lot of snow on the trail near Surprise Lake in early July. So when we got there we thought we were at Amphitheater Lake. So we sat down to have a snack and I remember saying to Tyler, I don’t think this looks like the pictures I saw in AllTrails, but I can’t remember. A man sitting near us must have overheard what I said because he came over to talk. He asked us if we were going to Amphitheater Lake, and we said ‘aren’t we there’? Then he told us he had made the same mistake the day before! He ate his lunch at Surprise Lake and then headed back down, only to find out he never made it to Amphitheater Lake! So we headed off back up the trail beyond grateful to have run into him. It was only because of a stranger’s kindness we made it to Amphitheater Lake. Which was fortunate because it’s incredibly stunning and we’ll definitely be writing about it. It just goes to show you should do a least a smidge of research first! We hadn’t planned ahead at all for this trip and rarely had a cell phone signal. So we’d get a bit of cell service and look up what we’d do next. But we never had enough service to download maps of anything. I should’ve taken a screenshot of the directions, but luckily we didn’t miss out in any case. As we backtracked we found the trail sign nearly buried in the snow pointing to Amphitheater Lake. So it’s not likely you’d miss this a little later in the summer! After Ampitheater we began the long hike back out and saw a total of 5 bears on the way back to the trailhead. We’re used to hiking with bears in Glacier National Park and take a lot of precautions. But it was unnerving in the Tetons because they seemed to be ok with crossing the trail close to you. A ranger told us the bears are more used to people there than they should be. And it definitely made us stay on high alert. In fact, we saw so many bears, so close together, that we started hiking back with another couple who was behind us. We ended up sticking together in a group for extra safety which was really nice after so many close encounters. From there the day wasn’t over because instead of another day in the Tetons, we got the call from work we needed to come back. So after a hugely long day hiking into 3 lakes after a photography morning and next to no sleep, we started the long drive back north through Yellowstone!
