What to Wear in Jackson Hole in October

Pack for a 30°F day and a park with fewer doors every week. NOAA's figures for the Jackson town station, at about 6,200 ft, put October at 13°C / 55°F by early afternoon and -4°C / 25°F at dawn, with 40mm of rain and snowmelt over about 9 days. The National Park Service sums up fall as "sunny days and cold nights". Grand Teton, meanwhile, shuts in stages. Jackson Lake Lodge and Jenny Lake Lodge close on 4 October, Signal Mountain Lodge on the 11th, the Jenny Lake Visitor Center on the 12th, and on 1 November the Teton Park Road closes to cars. The valley is nearly yours; the warm rooms to duck into are not. Parka at the pullout, overshirt by two, merino under both.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Charcoal short insulated parka, hooded

   Wear it for the first two hours of the day and the last one. NOAA puts October dawns in Jackson at -4°C / 25°F, and a Teton Park Road pullout at first light has no wall to stand behind. A short charcoal parka with a hood stops at the hip, so you can still fold into a car or crouch at a tripod, and it rides behind the seat from eleven.

2. 
   02

   Dark chocolate suede-look overshirt jacket, two chest pockets

   By two the same valley reads 13°C / 55°F in sun and the parka is dead weight. A dark chocolate suede-look overshirt with two flap chest pockets is the afternoon jacket, enough over the merino for a walk around the Murie Ranch in Moose during its art festival, 9 to 11 October. Chocolate also ties the pale khaki trousers to the dark brown boots.

3. 
   03

   Charcoal merino thermal long-sleeve base

   One layer that never comes off. A charcoal merino thermal long-sleeve sits under the parka at -4°C / 25°F and under the overshirt at 13°C / 55°F, and wool still keeps you warm when one of the month's 9 wet days soaks your cuffs. Merino also holds off odour for three days of wear, so one base covers a long weekend in the park.

4. 
   04

   Light khaki five-pocket straight-leg trousers

   Five-pocket, straight, light khaki: cut to tuck into the tall boots at a muddy trailhead and to hang over them at dinner. Skip lined or insulated trousers, because by two the day is 13°C / 55°F in sun and the boots and the parka already carry the dawn. The pale colour also stops a capsule of charcoal, chocolate and navy reading as one dark block.

5. 
   05

   Tall slouchy dark-brown leather boots

   Frost on the grass at first light, mud at the trailhead by noon and, the National Park Service says, occasional snow in between. Tall dark-brown leather boots keep all three off your ankles and your trouser hems, and a slouchy shaft pulls on over wool socks in the car. They also walk you into a Glenwood Street dinner without a change of shoes.

6. 
   06

   Western patchwork leather shoulder bag, tan, grey and brown

   Jackson dresses more ranch than resort, and a western patchwork shoulder bag in tan, grey and brown leather, tooled with red flowers, is the piece that says so. It holds the cap, the gloves and a park map once the parka comes off, and it goes from the Farm to Fork harvest market at the Center for the Arts, 2 and 3 October, straight to dinner.

7. 
   07

   Navy cuffed wool watch cap

   A felt hat shades your eyes and leaves your ears out at -4°C / 25°F. For the dawn hours pack a navy cuffed wool watch cap instead: the cuff doubles the wool over your ears, it goes in a pocket once the sun is on the valley floor, and navy is the one cool colour against all the brown.

8. 
   08

   Black leather gloves, thin

   Hands go first at a dawn pullout: binoculars, a camera, a steering wheel that sat out all night at -4°C / 25°F. Thin black leather gloves keep your fingers working where ski mittens would fumble, and the mittens stay home anyway, because Jackson Hole Mountain Resort does not open for winter until 27 November.

A suggested look — brown button-up shirt, beige cargo pants, brown leather boots, brown leather bag, brown leather belt with silver buckle.

What to avoid

• A single mid-weight jacket — wrong at one end of a 30°F day
• Mesh trail runners — dawn frost and occasional fall snow
• A felt hat as your only headwear — ears out at -4°C / 25°F
• Counting on park lodges — Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake Lodge close on 4 October
• The Aerial Tram after 4 October — its summer season ends that day