Getting the chute ready. 

Here the guys have decided the wind is good so they're suiting up to protect from cold elevation air when soaring. 

After completing my attempt to hike Garnet Canyon, I encountered some afternoon paragliders. They strap into a parachute-like seating contraption, make sure the breeze is coming in from the East (normally only in the mornings, but sometimes there are rare afternoon treats), run, and take a leap off the mountain to soar down to the valley below. This can take a few hours in good wind conditions.

This is one of my favorite shots of upper Death Canyon. Because the rock faces are so sheer in here, forming a sharp v-shape rather than a standard glacially-carved u-shape, snow doesn't accumulate as heavily along the rock faces and melts off quickly. In the summer, this canyon can feel like hiking in an oven, with heat radiating nearly horizontally off of each side of the canyon walls.

Flowers along lower Death Canyon trail. 

This was the trailhead at Death Canyon. I have never, ever, been the only person on a trailhead in the Tetons. This was my trusty little rental car - was supposed to be an economy Kia Rio, but I got instead a Toyota Corolla sport edition - complete with sunroof! 

Death Canyon terminus. I just couldn't get any further in this icy snowy mix. Each step would find me sinking up above the knees in snow, take time to pull legs out, and continue. I finally just got tired! This is called post-holing, because the holes that your legs leave after being extracted look like fencepost holes. 

Shot of weather and spring tree renewal with lime green aspen leaves. 

Sky scrapers. 

This was weird - for some reason, this little brown thing caught my eye because of a tiny movement. I thought maybe it was a fledgling bird, so I got closer for a better look. Turns out, it was a bag of catepillers (or worms?), and one of them was doing some sort of signalling work - its bottom half was hugging the rest of the mass of worms, but its top half was extended at a 90 degree angle from them, and was precicely moving back and forth, like a tiny wave.  

Really lower Death Canyon. I think this is a Hosta plant - I have some in my landscaping at home. 

Lower Death Canyon flowers, forget-me-nots? 

Lower Death Canyon flora. 

Lower Death Canyon. 

En route up Death Canyon.