Winter nwsltr06_6 - Grand Teton National Park Foundation

Lakes Swimmer Resor Completes Quest to
Swim all the Lakes of Grand Teton National Park
When Avery Resor began swimming
in the chilly lakes of Grand
Teton National Park, she didn’t initially
realize her favorite backcountry
activity would eventually evolve
into a quest.
But over time, Resor moved from swimming
the Tetons’ easily accessed bodies of water to
seeking out the more obscure and inaccessible
lakes in the park. Late this summer, during a
two-week visit home from college, the Jackson
native and her parents, Bill and Story, bushwhacked
their way to Talus Lake, located up
rarely traveled Snowshoe Canyon. After swimming
the picturesque lake, Resor had finally
completed her goal of swimming all 44 named
lakes in the park that sit within areas open to
the public.
“I never really thought it was a big deal,” said
Resor, 21, talking by phone from Durham,
N.C., where she’s studying environmental science
and policy at Duke University. “It was
just an excuse to go to obscure corners of the
park where there aren’t people.”
An avid swimmer, Resor began visiting the
park’s lakes more than 10 years ago, quickly
moving from easily accessible lakes such as
Bradley, Taggart and String to other lakes located
off of heavily used trails. After completing a
large number of swims in eighth grade, her
progress slowed when she began seeking out
more obscure lakes deeper in the backcountry.
“On a hot day in the middle of the hike it’s
refreshing when you jump in,” Resor said. “I
just love swimming in lakes. I jumped into a
lot of other bodies of water that didn’t have
names.”
When Resor finally decided to try and visit
each named lake, she counted 50 total.
However, six (including Swan and Heron
ponds) are closed to the public for habitat
restoration, so she settled on 44 as the final
number. She was accompanied by family
friend Hank Phibbs on several hikes, while
other swims were done on backpacking trips
with friends and family members. To qualify as
a swim, Resor would go under the water and
do several strokes.
Though every body of water in the park features
cold water, one swim stood out as being
particularly frigid. In early summer 1999,
Avery and her father climbed Buck Mountain,
where she planned to swim in Timberline
Lake, located at 10,000 feet. When they
arrived, the lake was almost completely frozen
over except for a six-foot hole in the ice. Resor
never hesitated, though she admitted it was
the shortest swim of any she attempted.
“That was the coldest, most epic swim because
it was iced over,” Resor said. “My dad put a
rope around my waist and kind of belayed me.”
Resor said several other lakes stood out
because of their beautiful settings, or because
they offered an especially scenic access route.
Several years ago, Resor visited Cirque Lake on
a multi-day backpacking trip. The remote lake
is tucked behind Maidenform and Cleaver
peaks north of Leigh Canyon and is accessed
most easily from Idaho. At Grizzly Bear Lake
north of Paintbrush Canyon, Resor swam
while several black bears lurked nearby.
Though nearly hidden, Rimrock Lake, tucked
below the summit of Prospectors Mountain,
was challenging to access.
Photo courtesy of Story Resor
Resor saved the most difficult trip for last. To
reach Talus Lake, Resor and her parents took a
boat across Jackson Lake and then endured an
arduous, eight-hour bushwhack up the North
Fork of Leigh Canyon, which has no trail and
is filled with downed timber and dense willow
thickets.
“I saved the best for last, I guess,” Resor said.
“That was the hardest bushwhacking I’d
ever done and my mom and dad said they
hadn’t done something that hard since hiking
in Alaska.”
Resor said she’s not certain if there are others
who have dunked and stroked in each of the
park’s lakes, but she emphasized that her
swims weren’t the sole emphasis of her backcountry
excursions
“It’s not really so much about achieving this
goal, though it’s kind of fun to know I’ve gone
swimming in them,” Resor said. “Mainly it’s
been a way to play in the Tetons. Instead of
going to somewhere you’ve been before, just
pick a body of water and figure out how to
get there.”
Courtesy of Michael Pearlman and the
Jackson Hole News & Guide. October 18, 2006