The Grand Teton

A few weeks ago when we went to Wendy's cabin in West Yellowstone I slipped away for an excursion with my college friends. It was a last minute thought, but luckily Nate, Scott, and Gene were able to join me. I missed the last group Grand Teton trip, so I was glad this came together, and their climbing experience made it much easier. Here is a picture driving up to the mountain. The peak is just under 14,000 ft, and the parking lot is around 7,000 ft. The trail was approx 9 miles. As you can tell the climb is pretty steep. Scott Whiting, Gene Spalding, and Nathan Berg on the way up

Me and Gene hiking to the lower saddle

We left in the evening and hiked to the lower saddle just below 11,000 ft where we camped on the rocks under the stars. It was a clear full moon night, but unfortunately I couldn't capture it on camera. Here is the sunrise shortly after we began climbing at 5 AM.

This is looking down on the lower saddle as the sun is rising. The steep scramble begins at the lower saddle with a few tricky traverses and climbs. This is me making one of the traverses with a 4,000 ft cliff looming below.

This is me at the upper saddle where things start to get steep

Me, Gene and Nate working our way to the top

We were extremely lucky and had a beautiful day. We summitted around 10 AM, and there was almost no wind, it was warm, and the visibility was incredible. We could see from Yellowstone to the Wind River Range in Wyoming, and beyond. We spent almost 45 min on the top eating lunch and taking pictures. It was incredible.

The gang on top

Scott showing off doing his famous handstand

We repelled twice on the way down. The first was approx 150 ft, and the second was approx 200 ft. It was a lot of fun, and a lot easier than going up.

The hike out was quick with a short swim in the river on the way down. The climb was perfect and couldn't have been better. It was great to see my friends, and finally get the chance to climb the Grand.