Teton Canyon to Phelps Lake via Alaska Basin Trail

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 

17.5 miles. 4,173 ft. elevation gain. Date hiked: July 24, 2025

Grand Teton National Park is a beautiful place to be, especially during peak flower season. Five star rating on this hike. Leti has been dreaming of this through hike for years. The stars aligned. We found willing shuttle drivers. And viola! The dreamed of hike was a reality. Our shuttle drivers, Ray and Vicky Wetzel, were the perfect shuttle service. They dropped us off at the trailhead a little after 8 with a funny joke about us never seeing each other again. And, about 8.5 hours later, we were reunited. 

The beginning of this hike was stunning. Literal fields of wildflowers, all in bloom. There were not a lot of people on this hike, and there were no bear sightings, which we were both grateful for. It is hard to capture the beauty of the wildflowers. So, just imagine from the pictures below lots of wild flowers in bloom. 

The wild flowers, as mentioned, were just amazing. I recognized all of the popular wild flowers I know by name, and I saw others that I had never seen before. Fields and fields of this. Also, as a win, the first part of this hike was a gentle climb. It felt great to be out and about.

For the first miles of this hike, we hiked along a stream/river. It was quite pleasant. Below is one stream crossing. 

Leti on a bridge. The stream was just pleasant. 

So many flowers here: columbine, monkeyfaces, paintbrush, monkshood. So much to love!

This is a little farther back. You can sort of see all the flowers. The mountains really put on a show. 

The next part of the trail was the steepest. For .8 miles we climbed steadily up the mountain side. And then we bushwhacked to where the trails came together. You could see for miles. 

Me and Leti on the ridge overlooking the Alaska Basin. 

Leti pointing to Static Peak, the highest point of our hike. 

High mountain trail. Look at those paintbrushes! 

We continued to hike along. We got to a pass that I thought would take us to the summit of Static Peak. Not so. We still had a mile to the next ridge. Haha. Also, we had to make our way past a snow bank. Leti did this flawlessly. I ended up with some minor scrapes. It pays to be athletic. :) 

We made it to the next ridge, and then we had to climb to the top of the peak. That was as hard as I remembered. Leti thought it wasn't that bad. Clearly, one of us is more of a mountain goat than the other. 

Me at the top of Static Peak. Alaska Basin in the background. 

Near the top of the peak, you can see this high mountain lake. This is a picture that is not zoomed in. 

This picture is zoomed in. I love that lake so much! Rimrock Lake maybe. It is 33 acres. Wild. 

'

Timberline Lake. You look down on this from the top of Static Peak. 

After we left the top, we headed down the trail. It wasn't as steep as I remembered. Except this picture: 

At this point, if going up to Static Peak, you have ascended about 4,000 feet and you have about another 1,000 feet to go. It can be a little painful. But, no pain, no gain is good to remember at about this point. 

A great view of Phelps Lake from a few thousand feet up. :) 

At this point in the trail, we keep going down. And down. And down. Lots of switch backs. Long switch backs. Beautiful wild flowers. I don't think we passed a single soul as we descended to Death Canyon. I have no idea why they call it that. It does nothing to still the nerves. Death Canyon was really beautiful. We hiked past beautiful flowers, little streams, and strangely, some patches of dead trees. No idea what got the trees. 

We passed the little cabin and some picturesque lakes. It was so beautiful. The water was perfectly clear. If I fished, this would be the place to do it. Just so pleasant. The boulder fields were also stunning. 

I started working on a blister on my toe at this point. And that was not enjoyable. Downhill was worse on my toe than uphill. #whinewhinewhine After stopping to put a Band-Aid on my toe, life got better, and I moved a little faster. (I slowed us down quite a bit because I was so gimpy.) We got to the overlook, and that was lovely. Then, we met up with Leti's dad. He was about 10 minutes from the Phelps Lake Overlook. And, we made our way merrily to the car. My feet were so happy to sit. I was so happy to sit. And, I was so thankful for such a beautiful, memorable hike. It was a great time in the mountains. So many wonderful views and flowers. It was another great hike in the books!