Robert Szypulski, a computer programmer with Windstream Communications, lives in Penn Township. His son, Scott Szypulski, is a financial research administrator for the University of Pittsburgh who lives in Oakland. This is the story of their recent adventure to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks in Wyoming.

The past three autumns, my son Scott and I completed bucket list hikes in some remarkable western national parks. From Zion’s red rocks, to Yosemite’s granite cliffs, to the alpine heights of Glacier, America’s physical beauty can take your breath away, and not just from exertion. Add the chance of encountering large animals in the wild, such as grizzly bears, moose, bighorn sheep and elk, and you have a shot at real adventure and exhilaration.

Seeking that adrenaline rush again, Scott and I recently tackled our most demanding hike. The Paintbrush Canyon-Cascade Canyon Loop in Grand Teton National Park is a 22-mile marathon that gains 4,350 feet in elevation, crossing Paintbrush Divide at 10,720 feet. It was a worthy challenge and healthy escape from the long shadow of coronavirus.

We flew into Jackson Hole, Wyo., its airport fronting one of the world’s youngest mountain ranges. A note about travel on Delta Air Lines: The planes appeared ultra-clean, sanitized wipes were generously provided, and facemasks were mandatory on staff and passengers. Along with socially distant boarding and deplaning, flights were under-booked to allow empty buffer seats between travelers. We felt safe.

Leaving the airport, it didn’t take long to fall under the park’s spell. It’s not just the height of the mountains that astonishes, but the lack of foothills. The Tetons erupt almost angrily from the western edge of Jackson Hole, the name of the tabletop valley adjacent to the peaks. Buttes dot the otherwise level country, and the Snake River cuts terraces into it as well. Due to ongoing movement of the Teton fault line, Jackson Hole still sinks today … as the mountains rise!

After a stop in the town of Jackson for bear spray, we drove to our room at Signal Mountain Lodge. The journey was its own treat, on a road hugging the fault line under the range. Built along Jackson Lake across from 12,605-foot Mt. Moran, Signal Mountain was pricey but strategic, being the closest lodging to our hike’s trailhead.

Early the next morning, after passing bull elk feeding in roadside meadows in the pre-dawn mist, we set out. The trail traced the eastern edge of String Lake then crossed a tumbling stream to start the ascent. Climbing Paintbrush Canyon, coniferous forest was interrupted by avalanche paths and talus beds. Switchbacks led us through boulder fields and wildflower meadows. After 6 miles, we reached Holly Lake, nestled in a small cirque.

We continued to climb, breaking the tree line to reach the canyon’s alpine section. The view behind us opened to reveal the lakes and valley below. The view ahead was daunting. We now saw the divide’s crossing point, but also snowfields and the mountainside of smaller loose rocks (scree) we had read about. Luckily, when reached, the snowfields were safe to cross. And using caution on every step of the switchback, Scott and I scaled the trail’s most dangerous section.

Our prize was Paintbrush Divide, the hike’s craggy summit. It provided a partial first glimpse of 13,775-foot Grand Teton. If the final climb to the divide was the hike’s scariest stretch, the descent from it to Lake Solitude was the most brutal. While not as steep as when climbing, the crisscrossing trail of unsteady scree down to the lake tortured our knees and feet. We recharged over lunch at the icy, turquoise-tinted water’s edge. Just above tree line at 9,036 feet with a backdrop of only the Teton tops, Lake Solitude was the prettiest alpine lake we’d seen.

Next was our favorite leg of the hike. We descended Cascade Canyon’s North Fork over 2 miles of glacially carved meadows with in-your-face views of Grand Teton. No lens captured what we saw in person, and we savored each step until dropping into forest to the canyon fork. From there to Jenny Lake, the packed-dirt trail along Cascade Creek toggled between sunny meadow and shady trees. It was in a clearing beside the creek that the hiking gods rewarded us. Just after discussing how we’d not seen any large animals, we exited forest to find a mother moose and calf in the stream. Knowing female moose are as protective of offspring as mama grizzlies, we froze and slowly retreated. I unsnapped the bear spray holster just in case, but the moose barely acknowledged us. Both continued up the creek, climbed the opposite bank, and moved into brush.

The surprise encounter energized us. We soon reached Inspiration Point with its idyllic views of the peaks, lake and valley. A final set of switchbacks down from the outcropping tested our stamina after 20 miles, but we persevered, skirted around part of Jenny Lake, and reached our car, exhausted but satisfied!

That night in Jackson, we visited the town’s top-ranked pizzeria and took our best shot replenishing the 5,350 calories Scott’s step-tracker said we had burned. No crumb was left behind.

The next day, we rested and road-tripped. Scott and I drove through the valley, stopping at classic photo spots. From rustic barns, to reflective beaver ponds, to river overlooks, the jagged Tetons as backdrop never disappoint. We continued to Oxbow Bend, where the river gets lazy, creating habitat that attracts not only pelicans, otters and eagles, but also moose and bear.

Lastly, I had to show Scott where my obsession with western mountains and national parks had begun decades ago, working a summer in Yellowstone’s Canyon Village. With the two great parks almost touching, we continued north, slowed only by a magnificent grizzly bear grazing a meadow. In Yellowstone, we found the same store I worked at, the same dormitory where a moose tapped my room’s window with his antlers, and the same spot of my too-close encounter with a blond grizzly. It was the perfect cap on another great adventure, this one to the jaw-dropping, still rising mountains of Grand Teton National Park!

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