“If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.”
Epictetus
The Phelps Lake area is the hiking equivalent of “you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning. ” It’s impossible to hike all the trails in Grand Teton without going through all the trails around Phelps Lake. While there’s one main trail around the lake, there are several other minor side trails in the area, and since I had a few hours between work obligations, I decided to try to tackle them all in one shot.
This trail network is best accessed from the Laurence S. Rockefeller Preserve off the Moose-Wilson Road. This place is incredible. A park within the Park, it consists of about 1100 acres that Rockefeller donated to the National Park Service, and serves as a monument to his legacy of conservation and desire for others to feel emotionally connected to the land. One way the National Park Service achieves this is by limiting the number of parking spaces thereby curbing the number of visitors in the area. This limitation makes the LSR preserve tranquil and less crowded than other places in the Park. It is definitely worth a visit.
In order to try and complete all the trails in the area efficiently, I calculated a multilobed, 4-pronged, crisscrossing, inversely reversely overlapping, dodecahedral, figure 18 approach that would allow me to hike all sections with the least amount of overlap, and I must say, I was pretty proud of the route I came up with. I just was hoping to not outsmart myself into getting lost.
I arrived around 11 AM, so had to wait about 15 minutes for a parking spot. I started out on the Woodland Trail and then hit the Boulder Ridge trail to form a loop. I saw several people on the Woodland Trail as I set out, but saw exactly no one on the 1.3 mile Boulder Ridge Trail. The trail was pretty with several large boulders along the ridge (duh, obviously) and seemed like perfect bear habitat. I eventually arrived at Phelps Lake only to turn back toward the LSR preserve to complete all of the Woodland Trail. I then hiked over to the Lake Creek Trail and again headed back to the Phelps Lake.
Phelps Lake is amazing, and on this particular day, it was finally sunny and calm. The water was still and glassy and it was the kind of day where even the reflections have reflections (not sure exactly what that means, but I like it). I eventually made my way around the lake passing the “jumping rock” and headed toward the mouth of Death Canyon. I debated several times whether I should take a swim in the lake, but ultimately decided against it since #1- I still had several miles to walk before heading home and #2 – I was wearing cotton underwear. I stand firmly against both chaffing and monkey butt.
I kept trekking along, and around the west side of the lake, I came to “Huckleberry Point” and found a family picnicking and fishing. One of the kids had just landed an 18-inch cutthroat trout – his fourth fish of the morning. I definitely need to bring my family and some fishing gear to this exact spot sometime.
After circumnavigating the lake, I set out on the Aspen Ridge trail which is another loop in the area. This trail was really beautiful and alternated between following a raging brook and sweet long-range ridge vistas. Again, on this trail I saw no one – literally not one single person. Clearly, it is very possible to find solitude in this Park if you know where to go. I couldn’t help but think that this would make Rockefeller happy.
On the way up to the Park I listened to a podcast about bravery and making impossible decisions, so that’s what occupied my mind during the hike. That, and making enough noise that I wouldn’t sneak up on any bears in the area.
My work entails making important decisions all day long – what type of anesthetic to give, what medications and doses, when and how to treat hypotension, hypertension, bradycardia, pain, etc. Many days I also have to decide which patients are appropriate for the surgery center, are they fit for the surgery, are their other medical problems well-controlled. It was particularly difficult during COVID to decide which surgeries we should even perform, if any at all.
Then, like everyone else, I also make non work-related decisions all day long. Things like what should we eat for dinner, who is driving to hockey, should we move to Jackson, should we buy a new car, etc. According to one study, we all make about 35,000 decisions a day! It’s nice to have a framework for the more important and difficult ones.
The Stoics made their decisions based on what they could control and always rooted in the four stoic virtues – wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance. This allowed them to make (hopefully) correct decisions, quickly, wisely, and without regret.
When making difficult or “impossible” decisions it’s important to consider the balance between conformity and character. Sometimes it is easier and better to simply conform to what’s expected or to go along with a group decision as long as it doesn’t conflict with your values or character. Indeed, sometimes the best decision is to just make any decision or at least “go along to get along.”
However, if the decision conflicts with your values, your character, or justice you must choose differently – even if it’s unpopular or difficult. These decisions may in fact, be wildly unpopular because they go against the grain; they are non-conformist. It’s not about being contrarian or disagreeable, but choosing to act according to your values and morals. This requires courage and wisdom.
Ultimately, I decided that my personal framework for difficult decisions is essentially a combination of the AA serenity prayer and the Mark Twain quote, “it’s never wrong to do the right thing.” Hopefully, this philosophy will allow me to recognize what I can control and to make beautiful decisions.
Mileage – 12.1 miles
Time – 3 hours, 25 minutes
BGAS – Nada
PS – Several on Phelps Lake Trail, none on Boulder Ridge and Aspen Ridge Trails
fantastic route planning