Hiking Snow King Mountain
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July 2nd – hiking Snow King Mountain. It’s beautiful today, sunny, warm, everything is GREEN-GREEN-GREEN from all the earlier rain, wonderful day to hike The King. The last snow from the cornice up top is almost gone, the snowline in the Tetons is up to about 9,000 feet & the wildflowers are coming out in force. Hiking Snow King is something you get addicted to. It’s about a 1.8 mile trail ascending 1,500 vertical feet to the top of Snow King Mountain. The views from the top are excellent, from the Snake River South of Wilson to Teton Pass & the Tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to the Grand Tetons, to Yellowstone up North and across the Elk Refuge to the Gros Ventres & Sleeping Indian (Sheep Mountain) to the East all with the Town of Jackson right below you. The views are your reward for an aerobic trip uphill – from the top you can either ride the chairlift back down ($2/rider) or you can hike back down either the main trail or take the Trapper Trail which switchbacks through the trees directly under the lift – a shadier single-track for the way down. You’ll greet other hikers, young and older, mountain-bikers and of course a few friendly dogs along the way. Bring some water and wear good shoes, suitable for loose gravel & a dirt hiking trail. Applying sunscreen & a few squirts of mosquito repellant is also a good idea this time of year before heading up the trail. If you bring your dog, be prepared to clean up after him, trash cans are at the top. Of course a camera is always nice as you never know what you’ll run across.
The trail is easily accessed from the Snow King Mountain base area at the corner of Snow King Avenue & Cache Street – about 4 blocks from the Town Square. If you’d rather cut out the uphill “challenge” ride the scenic lift up ($12/adult & $10/child) and hike the trail down…. Or relax completely and just take the lift back down. Enjoy!
Teton Range from Snow King Mountain Trail
The last snow up top almost melted
July 2 2011 hiking Snow King Mountain
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Dana Ahrensberg
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I climbed it on August 22nd. You can get the chair down for only 2 bucks!