Christopher F. Powell
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, July 2-9, 2001
Well, it took 5 years, but Matt and I finally made it back to the Tetons. This was really more of a climbing trip than a backpacking trip. We met up in Salt Lake City, then rented a car and drove to Jackson. We wanted to do our best to acclimatize, so we took the ski lift from Teton Village up to the top of the mountain and hiked around for a few hours.
Matt catches his breath at 10,000 feet.
The high point of this trip was a four-day ascent of the Grand Teton. We took a guided trip with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. This is the second time we've used this guide company, and once again we had an awesome guide and a great time. The first day was an 8 hour hike to high camp. For the first few hours of the trip, it was Me, Matt, a young woman named Lisa, and our guide Andy. Here we're looking down on Bradley and Taggart Lakes.
It was a long hike up. For the first 2/3 of the day, the trails were well-groomed and only a little steep, but the sun was blazing and the temperature was somewhere in the 90's.
The heat took its toll on Lisa, and she had to turn back after a few hours. The last two hours of the hike to high camp are really steep on loose trails. It was tough, but Andy kept me and Matt moving.
This had to be the most amazing view from a tent I'd ever experienced. JHMG's Corbet High camp is at 11,200 feet. The terrain is really rough but the view is spectacular. At night we hung out in the main tent, ate our dinner, and listened the stories of the grueling climb to the top told by the climbers who had just come from the summit.
The sun sets on Nez Perce seen from Corbet High Camp. We spent our second day on the Grand learning to climb. We climbed a couple of walls that are a few minutes from camp. This was the longest, most difficult climbing Matt and I had ever done, and it was a blast, especially the rappel. We learned a lot in only a day, and it helped build our confidence for the trip to the top.
This photo was taken just above the lower saddle, looking west into Idaho. The night before our summit attempt it was almost impossible to sleep, excited about the upcoming climb and tormented by the wind pounding on the tent. The day started at about 2 AM, when Andy woke us up to tell us that the weather was too nasty to make our summit attempt. He woke us again at 4 AM, the weather had cleared and we were going! I was a little reluctant to leave my warm sleeping bag, but I had come this far... We ate a quick breakfast and started up. We passed through the Exum camp where all the guides had decided to stay in their tents today. Most of the ascent was scrambling over and around boulders, with a couple of spots where we roped-in because of the exposure. From the upper saddle we took the Pownall-Gilkey route to the top, which is almost all technical climbing. Halfway up a 3-pitch wall, a cloud blew in and made things a little more challenging. It was cold, wet, and visibility was about 50 feet. The toughest section of climbing (rated 5.8) is only about 10 feet long, but the cold and the rain made it really difficult. It took a long time to get up that 10 feet, even with Andy doing a lot of pulling on the end of that rope. From there, it was a few more minutes of scrambling to the top, but I was feeling the effects of the altitude and probably dehydration, and I was placing every footstep carefully.
Matt and I at the summit of the Grand Teton, 13,770 feet. As you can see, the summit was completely socked in with fog, so we only stayed long enough to take a few pictures. We weren't upset about the fog at all, we enjoyed the challenges of the climb and were just happy to be up there. The trip down was quick and easy (we were still high on the summit adrenaline rush), though rappelling down into the fog was a little disconcerting. We spent a third night at high camp, and this time we were the ones telling the summit stories, terrorizing the climbers who were going up the next day.
Matt and Andy at the summit.
Relaxing at high camp after our 9 hour summit day. The hike down from high camp to the trail head seemed to take forever. Once we made it back to the car we said farewell to Andy, our new friend and climbing partner. He had continually encouraged us, built our confidence, and he fed us very well. We then went back to Jackson feeling like accomplished mountain men. That didn't last long though, as I had a few too many margaritas and passed out.
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