Jedediah Smith Wilderness
| Acreage | 123,205 acres (498.59 km²) |
|---|---|
| Size Rank | 8th largest Wilderness in Wyoming |
| Elevation Range | 6,520-10,915 ft |
In 2018, I was studying plant-associated microbes and did some field work in this Wilderness. My passion at the time was fungal endophytes–fungi that live inside plant leaves (they are everywhere). The project was to survey a variety of plants, learn what bacteria and fungi lived on or inside them, and see if we could learn anything useful about patterns in microbial abundance or diversity.
At any rate, I was hunkered down in a bush right near the Teton Creek trailhead (if memory serves) collecting plant leaves at about 7 a.m. when I heard something rustling my way–a youngish black bear.
For this field site, I had two 50 meter tape measures laid out in a large cross, like big plus symbol. This functioned as a coordinate system for me to randomly sample plants and precisely understand how close they were to each other. The bear kept coming right towards me, despite me yelling at it a number of times. It waddled right up to the transect tape and started chewing on it. At this point, I probably should have sprayed it, but instead I threw a stick at it and eventually chased it off. So, keep an eye out for the bears around here, not just the big brown ones.
This Wilderness is smack west of the Tetons. As such, parts of it are heavily visited. Despite the attention, you will, no doubt, find much smaller crowds than in the Teton park proper.
Access
This is a big area. Access is pretty easy to sort out and you will be able to find a way in with low-clearance.
Safety
The usual mountain critters of Wyoming are worth keeping an eye out for: moose, grizzly and black bears.
Be aware of lightning and fast, violent storms in the high country.
Infrastructure
There are something like 175 miles of trails here, from what I have read. You can hike into Grand Teton National Park. But, various rules change in the park. You will need permits etc. to camp in the park.
The Jed Smith Society has cool maps of the mountain man’s travels. Maybe you could follow his footsteps through part of the region.
