Grand Teton Oct 2002: Home | Hermitage Point Trail | Inspiration Point Trail | More | Links
Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park, 30 September 2002 by John Hunter.
As day hiking guides I used, and recommend, Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Teton (hike 19) and Day Hiking Grand Teton National Park (hike 8).
This was a spectacular hike. One of my favorite hikes of all time. I started early (for me anyway) at 8 AM. The weather was suppose to be overcast and rainy but started out well and luckily stayed that way. As I was almost at the end of the season the park was very sparsely populated and I did not see anyone else on the entire 10 mile trail (I did see two boats from the trail). It had snowed in the Mountains the previous night and it snowed all day the next day throughout the park).
As I started this hike I went the wrong direction and did a nice short hike (Coulter Bay Trail). If you wanted a much shorter trail it is a nice option.
The photo to the right shows the start of the Hermitage Point Trail. The trail is actually a series of interconnecting trails and, as both books mention, the trails are confusing, with many intersections. I found, Best Easy Day Hikes, the most help.
The rocks found along this trail are all smooth - from millenia of wear. As in the Cascade Canyon trail rocks from many epochs lie side by side. The first few miles the trail winds though large stands of pine with occasions breaks that give you views of the Mountains in the distance.
Eventually I reached the point itself (first picture - and more below) with spectacular views of the mountains over Jackson Lake. It is beautiful. View photos from the first half of the hike below; then see the second half of the hike.
The beginning of the trail is through this type of terrain. Photo by John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
This pond includes two beaver huts (one is visible in the photo). Photo by John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
This shows the stump of a sapling (on the banks of the lake shown above) that was felled by a beaver. Photo by John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
Tracks of elk? at the Point itself. Photo by John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
Dry boat docks. The Hermitage point trailhead is to the left and the Coulter Bay trail to the right. Photo by John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
On the Coulter Bay trail. Photo of John Hunter, 30 September 2002, Hermitage Point Trail, Grand Teton National Park.
