Delta Lake & Amphitheater Lake

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

I'm glad I saved my legs yesterday because today's hike was awesome!

I left home around 7:00 am just as the sun was rising and I got to watch the mountains light up, first one peak and then the next. The pic below shows the tips of the Tetons illuminated, with two moose grazing in a frost-covered field in the foreground.

Here's those same mountains, now fully illuminated, glowing red in the morning light.

And just a few minutes later, the entire range is fully enveloped in golden daylight.

All these pictures and I haven't even started my hike yet!

Delta Lake

The hike I did today has a Y-shaped trail. The left fork goes to Amphitheater Lake, and the right fork is a spur that takes you to Delta Lake. There was a large parking lot at the trailhead and all signs pointed to Amphitheater Lake, no mention of Delta. Later I read that the trail to Delta is not maintained by the US National Park Service, meaning there is no marked trail.

It was a COLD morning! It was just 24 degrees when I started, but I had plenty of layers to stay warm, except my face! Between the weather and the fact that it was a weekday, I was surprised to find about half a dozen other parties starting their hikes about the same time I did. I silently hoped they were all heading to Amphitheater Lake instead of Delta.

The first part of the hike wove through trees and I passed several parties, moving fast just to stay warm! The trail then opened up into a few switchbacks on an exposed hillside. The trail to Delta Lake forks at one of these switchbacks. To take it, you have to know where to exit the main trail (I used my AllTrails app which I can't rave about enough!) and then climb down a short ledge, just 3-4 feet to take the trail that you would never notice if you weren't looking for it.

The trail here is well-trodden enough to follow, but because it is not maintained, there are areas where you have to climb over or around fallen trees. And then you get to the rock scramble portion where there is no obvious path and you have to rely on a few cairns along the way ... and the GPS feature of AllTrails.

Here's a photo of the trail:

The spur to Delta Lake is nearly a mile long and about a 600' climb, so it's a good workout. At this point, I'm pushing 9,000' in elevation. I mention this so you don't totally judge the fact that I'm out of breath in this short video showing some of the views along the way:

The last stretch of the rock scramble was a lung-burner but incredibly worth it! Here is my first glimpse of Delta Lake. It's hard to see where the lake is because the mountains are so perfectly reflected on its surface, camouflaging the lake into its surroundings!

I was standing on a log jam in the middle of the overflow stream to take the picture below. What the picture doesn't capture is the sound of running water. I can't imagine what it's like in the spring when all the snow is melting!

See how red my face is in the photo below? It was COLD!!

Look at that turquoise water, especially in contrast with that deep blue sky. It was incredible.

The elevation at this point is around 9,100 feet. You have to climb about 2,247 ft to get here.

I spent a good 20-30 minutes at the top, with the place entirely to myself, loving every minute of it and snapping a few photos. After soaking it all in, I made my way back to the rocky trek down. In that mile back to the main trail, I ran into half a dozen groups - some I had passed earlier on the trail and one group I had seen the day before.

Talk about perfect timing! I was so glad I got an early start and kept a strong pace on my way in. Because of it, I made it to the lake first and didn't have to share my view with anyone! I think hiking is teaching me to be selfish. :)

Once I got back to the main trail, I took the other fork of the Y-shaped trail and continued on to ...

Amphitheater Lake

I found a good rock at the edge of the lake to use as a picnic table. I tried to capture my actual view. Not sure this photo is a win, but it reminds me of my awesome lunch spot.

Now for the trek back to the car, with one last spur to check out Surprise Lake. Not sure what the surprise is all about, but it sure was pretty! Normally, I like my views all to myself, but I think the yellow backpack guy in the photo below adds some nice perspective - and a little pop of color.

Total miles = 11.88

Total elevation gain = 3,612'

Peak elevation = 9,722'