Grand Tetons backpacking 
Backpacking will not be an official part of De Anza College Outdoor Club trips to the Grand Tetons, but you could get a permit for a backpack adventure if you plan ahead
and bring appropriate gear, including gear for a potential early winter storm during the fall trip or late spring storm during the summer trip. In summer, remember that the snow doesn't clear on the highest trails until late July or August and you'll need an ice axe (and knowledge of its proper use to self arrest and self belay) for safe travel over many passes/divides. When you pick up your permit the rangers can give you current details.
The Grand Teton Online Ranger Station, with climbing, mountain pass, canyon and trail route conditions is at: http://www.tetonclimbingpass.blogspot.com/
There you will find info you need to know, for example in 2012, Lake Solitude started to melt around the edges by June 30, and was open water July 13. By July 13 the north fork of Cascade Canyon was mostly dry and all campsites were snow free. By July 20 only patchy snow remained in the upper portion of Paintbrush Canyon.
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If you decide to backpack overnight you'll need a permit. As of a 2012 brochure, the basic rules are: individual parties of 1 to 6 people. Groups of up to 12 people can only backpack to designated group sites. You can't stay overnight everywhere, for example, not in the first 4+ miles of the Cascade Canyon trail, or the first 6+ miles of the Paintbrush Canyon trail. There are designated campsites at some places, zones where overnights are allowed at others and no sleeping overnight allowed some places. There are limits to how many nights you can stay at some places, as few as two or three, and a maximum total in the backcounty in summer.
Backcountry camping permits are issued free of charge to walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis OR requests for advance reservations are accepted from early January to mid-May. You can send the request by email, regular mail, fax, or in person or online. You have to pick up an advance reservation permit.
The main Grand teton Park backcountry camping page is at:
http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/back.htm
There you can download a backcountry trip planner, find links to camping zones, reservations and more.
Watch a Grand Teton National Park backcountry trip planning video:
http://www.nps.gov/grte/photosmultimedia/tp.htm
As of 2002, the Park Service was promoting a more complete pack-it-out policy and providing 'rest stop' bags to pack out human waste from the Grand Teton lower saddle. Climbing guide companies were requiring their clients to use the bags.
You can climb and day hike without a permit, as long as you don't camp/bivouac. But it's always wise to check with the Rangers for info before even a long hike above the valley floor. In 2000 they banned eating snacks or lunch in the Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point areas of Cascade Canyon because a black bear sow and her two cubs had found they could bluff charge and get people to abandon their picnic or pack.
De Anza students planning a backpack as a part of one of our official trips to the Tetons are asked to read:
Backpacking Advice, which has these sections: Must bring for each large group (or perhaps for each couple or person), Must bring backpacking for each person, Some (crazy?) people think these are optional for backpacking, Backpacking luxuries(?), Do not bring these backpacking, To keep down on weight backpacking, Don't rush out and buy, BACKBACKING FOOD, Low-cook backpacking foods, Yosemite National Park WILDERNESS PERMITS, Leave no trace camping has these basic principles.
and to plan to check out one or more Garcia food storage containers from the club:
 using a bear resistant food storage container has how-to info and advice on how to fit more in each container.
As of 2008 "backpackers are required to carry bear-proof canisters when camping below 10,000 feet in elevation."
As of April, 2011, "regardless of elevation, backpackers will be required to carry approved bear-resistant canisters except where food storage boxes are provided. On some specific climbing routes where a climber is bivouacing on a rocky ledge where bears can not go, park-approved bear canisters may not be required... the park provides canisters free of charge for use in the park."
Counterbalance hanging of food does not work; bear canisters (or campsite bear lockers, such as those at lakeshore backcountry sites on Leigh, Phelps, and Jackson lakes) are the only effective and proven method of preventing bears from getting human food, and only if the humans use them properly.
(Some bear resistant food containers have been invented made of Kevlar, fabric and/or fabric aluminum have been invented, but are not allowed at many parks. Check in advance to see which brands of hard plastic models are okay where you go.)
Afternoon thundershowers are common in the summer. At least one period of interesting weather with snowfall at the higher elevations occurs in late August every year. Grand Tetons Weather
Horses and pack trains have the right-of-way. Yield to them by stepping off the trail on the uphill side and stand still and quiet until they are well past you.
A 360 degree view of Alaska Basin, well above Phelps Lake, along the Teton Crest Trail, is at:
http://www.virtualjacksonhole.com/SceneViewer.aspx?VRLN=alaska_basin
From the 360 degree view from the Middle Teton Summit:
http://www.virtualjacksonhole.com/SceneViewer.aspx?VRLN=symmetry_spire
you can see a lot of the backcountry.
Teton County (Wyoming) Search and rescue would like you to know:
"Do not stand in moving water, even if shallow. If your foot gets trapped in the rocks, the current will push you over, wedging you foot tighter, and pushing your head underwater. You will drown. Others have drowned in 2 feet of water this way."
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Leave no trace camping and hiking has these basic principles:
Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors
For more details about 'Leave No Trace' camping go to:
http://www.tetonclimbingethics.blogspot.com
To truly be able to leave no trace and follow backcountry rules about camping the proper distance from a lake or digging your personal latrine hole the proper distance from water, etc., you will need to know how far 100 feet is. Lay out a tape measure at home and walk it and count your paces.
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A few clues about other distances:
about eight miles away the shapes of prominent trees and buildings become distinguishable
about 2 miles away you can see individual windows in a building
about a mile away a person looks like a moving dot without limbs
about 400 yards away (a little under a quarter of a mile) you can make out a person's legs or a kayaker's arms
about 250 to 300 yards away faces are discernible (but not recognizable)
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See also:
Hiking Advice
GORP and hiking snacks
Thunderstorm and lightning safety
At altitude
Backpacking Advice has these sections: Must bring for each large group (or perhaps for each couple or person), Must bring backpacking for each person, Some (crazy?) people think these are optional for backpacking, Backpacking luxuries(?), Do not bring these backpacking, To keep down on weight backpacking, Don't rush out and buy, BACKBACKING FOOD, Low-cook backpacking foods, Yosemite National Park WILDERNESS PERMITS, Leave no trace camping has these basic principles.
using a bear resistant food storage container has how-to info and advice on how to fit more in each container.
Cell phones in the wilderness has advice on how/when to use a cell phone to contact 911 in the wilderness and a warning about interference between cell phones, iPods and avalanche beacons.
 You can't always expect a helicopter rescue
fatal, near fatal or close call incidents/accidents in camping, backpacking, climbing and mountaineering
GPS is not infallible
Grand Tetons trip pages index
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Where you must pack out your poop, Clean Mountain Cans: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/cmc.htm
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