The Grand Tetons

Driving into the Grand Teton National Park the next day, we were greeted with haze.  

The mountains are obscured by smoke from fires in Idaho.

We stopped at the Lodge for some coffee and internet - we wanted to get some more information on some of the climbs in the area.  At the Grand Tetons, we also noticed there was a 'Climber's Ranch' operated by the American Alipine Club.  We decided to go check it out.  

The climber's ranch is a little haven tucked into the mountains for mountaineers and climbers.  It is a dorm style ranch that has a nice picnic area, showers, laundry, and small bouldering wall.  The ranch is open to the public, they often have families stay there, but the rates are discounted for AAC members.  Naturally, we decided to join the AAC! 

New AAC member!

At other national parks, we usually feel like the young svelte couple cruising up the trails and whizzing past families and elderly tour groups.  At the Grand Tetons, we felt like a poor sedentary risk-averse pair.  We saw long distance runners looking like antelope people.  There were intense mountaineer types, rugged and missing teeth.  There were tough rock climbers almost three times our age.  One lady with wildly curly grey hair said she had hiked 60 miles in the past 4 days and was a bit disappointed her feet weren't holding up - she was considering investing in hiking shoes and retiring her sneakers. 

A view of the climber's ranch - it used to be an old dude ranch - there are several small cabins and you can just see the main pavilion with picnic tables. 

Of the people we met, one of our favoites was Adam.  He is a young spindly kid from Maine with a square jaw and curly blonde hair. His eyes lit up when he told us about his roadtrip out to the Tetons with his friends, and the months he had been spending out here - living in his minivan.  He had summited several peaks - and was currently doing time trials up the Grand.  This means that he runs to the top of the 13,770 foot mountain, and runs back down.   Parts of the ascent you have to do some genuite rock climbing - as you are exposed to two thousand foot drops!  He told us he wears running shorts, some vibram toe shoes, and carries about a liter of water.  No ropes, no helmet, just pure adrenaline.  He had just done the climb yesterday in over 6 hours.  He was going to try the next day, and was going for 5.

We decided to stay at the Alpine Climber's Ranch for two nights, hoping some of the awesomeness would rub off on us.  The ranch also had a library full of climbing books and maps of the area. 

That afternoon we went out to a small butte just east of the mountains called Blacktail Butte.  It is a small sport craig - known for slick routes from lots of use and some tough grades.   It was well advertised.  The approach was really sweet, a short walk through a meadow and up into the trees around the butte.  We warmed up on a 5.9+ that kicked our butt.  It was called Power Trip - at this point we should have known better 5.9+s have consistently been painfully difficult.  I managed to make it up the slick climb and marvel in the great views of the Tetons.    Before heading to the butte, we had stopped at a climbing shop - and Joey got a new pair of climbing shoes - pretty sweet. 

Joey and his new climbing shoes!

Joey led a second route, a 5.10a called Red Chili. I climbed this route too - excited to do a 10a - it wasn't a totally clean ascent, but I was feeling good.  Joey finished up the day with a climb that shared anchors with Red Chili called Rock Candy Nugget a 5.10b.  We were both testing ourselves that day by climbing grades at the top of our skill level.  By the time he made it up, it was growing dark and a mischievous mouse was trying its best to get past me to the snacks in our packs.  

Adrianne on a ledge on Red Chili, a 5.10a

We headed back to the ranch for some dinner and conversation.  We planned out the next day - a hike up to some alpine lakes in the mountains.  

The next day we got off to a late start, the luxurious alpine ranch was a great spot to sleep in.   We made it to the trailhead for our hike just before noon.  We were hiking up to Amphitheater Lake.  The hike was 10 miles and climbed up 3,000 feet in elevation above the valley floor to the lake at 9,698 feet.  We wanted to test ourselves on a high elevation hike because one of our goals for Colorado is to climb a 14,000' mountain - also known to the locals as a "14er".

Joey had to park next to the other 4wd van in the parking lot for the trailhead. 

As we headed up the trail, we saw a familiar face zoom by - Adam was running back down the trail at blazing speed.  Since it was just after noon, we figured he had met his target of summiting the Grand in under 6 hours.  We yelled a 'way to go' after him, and he kind of nodded his head in recognition - or maybe it was just him running down the trail.  He was 'in the zone' for sure. 

Joey was keeping me on a strict hiking schedule up to the lake - we'd hike for 50 minutes and rest for 10.  The first part of the trail was pretty warm, and I was having a tough time contending with the three thousand feet of elevation gain.  After our first hour of hiking I was feeling a bit better.  Kind of odd though because the trail just kept getting steeper.  The trail is really well taken care of, and there were a surprising number of other hikers all along the trail - so it wasn't really like hiking in the backcountry - but it was beautiful. The views across the Wyoming plains from the mountainside were just gorgeous.  We could see Jenny lake at the bottom of the mountain - and luckily the haze had cleared up some. 

Joey at our first rest stop along the trail.

Adrianne at the second rest stop - she's wearing a funny tie-die shirt... 

Along the trail, we met some wildlife - bears!  We saw a couple of bear cubs after our second rest - but didn't see the momma bear.  This made us a little worried.  We bunched up with another solo hiker (a girl from the UK working for EarthWatch), and another group of hikers met up with us shortly afterwards.  With a group of 10 of us, and mostly ladies - we figured we would be loud enough to let the momma bear where we were.  We continued up the last bit of the trail together and made it to Amphitheater lake. 

Bear cub! Where is momma bear?

Amphitheater Lake - we made it!

The lake boasts a view of all three of the Tetons - the Grand, Middle, and Lower.  You can also see a few other famous peaks.  We rested at the lake, and decided to climb a little further up the side of the basin to try and catch a glimpse of the valley below.  We also wanted to try and make it to 10,000 feet - judging by the topo maps, we probably did. 

Adrianne doing her best 'Sound of Music' impression.

Joey at the top of the hike. 

It was spectacular up there in the brisk clean air.  We met up with a few rock climbers and mountaineers - returning from summiting Disappointment Peak and a few climbers that had just climbed Irene's Arete - a famous 7 pitch climb that Joey had been drooling over before the trip.  You need to know how to 'trad' climb to do it - so we aren't equipped - but it's within our grade.  Some good motivation to keep learning more climbing techniques. 

Where is Joey?  Can you find him?

Eating some PB&J at the top of the trail. 

After a snack at the top, we made our way down - and found the momma bear.  I nearly walked right into her!

Video of a bear cub seen from the trail.

We waited for the next batch of hikers coming down from the lake, and a family with three teenage girls headed down.  They were singing all kinds of songs - trying to make some noise - so it was a safe bet to head back down the trail with them.  The quickly outstripped us (again making us feel slow and out of shape) apparently the family had placed bets on how fast they'd complete the hike - and they wanted to try and meet their predictions.

All in all - a great time at the Grand Tetons - and a place we must head back to!

The end of the day found us back at the ranch - listening to the amazing adventures the other climbers had experienced that day.