Alright, time for some stories and a bunch of pictures from the last couple weekends of climbing in the Tetons.
Trip 1: Two weekends ago, Mark and I took off to attempt the Chouinard Couloir on the Middle Teton. We left the car at 2am and began the hike up. It was a cool night, but I was quickly sweating due to the pace we were keeping. About 4 miles in I stopped for a water break, and became aware for the first time of the mountains towering over me. The moon was just bright enough to give an eerie view of what we were heading into, and combined with the cloudless, starry night, it was incredible. Surprisingly, we didn't see any bears on the way up; although I did see a pair of eyes that seemed too far off the ground to be a small animal, but it's always hard to tell in the dark.
I was getting pretty tired, and struggling to keep up. We hit snow about 7 miles in, and Mark stopped to make sure I knew how to self arrest with the ice axe. About 10 minutes later, I got a chance to practice. The snow was hard and icy, and as it got steeper, I fell more and more. It got to a point where we were forced to chop steps with the ice axes. This means 1 step per every 30-45 seconds. At this point I was tired enough and not feeling very well, so I was content to let Mark do most of the work while I followed. I gave chopping a try for a bit- it was pretty exhausting, and I found that it takes some practice to be able to do it well.
Too steep to hike up without falling Mark's axe I'm tired and my fingers are cold!
Once we reached the base of the Middle, I was cold, wet, tired, and had a stomach ache, so I curled up on a rock for about 20 minutes. Luckily, I felt better after a bit, and the sun began to reach us, warming me up. So, I shoved some calories and water into me, and we took off for the couloir. But, the snow field was steep and we had to chop steps the entire time. We could see that the couloir only got steeper, and Mark was worried that the descent might be pretty bad, especially without crampons. So, we decided to retreat.
This meant it was time for me to learn to glissade, which is just a glorified technique of sliding down a snowfield on your butt. You dig the end of the ice axe into the snow at your side to control your speed, and you’re prepared to flip over and self arrest if you lose control. I was skeptical and a bit nervous to try it, but I didn’t have much of an option at the point, so I went for it. It was pretty easy, and crazy fun. After about 45 minutes of going up, I was back at the base in about 60 seconds!
My first glissade!
We then took off up another snowfield (less steep) towards Nez Perce. After more chopping of steps and much practicing at self arresting as I constantly fell, we reached rock! We ended up scrambling up the northwest ridge of Nez Perce, but didn’t summit. We got within about an hour of the summit and it was getting late, so we decided to back off. It was a bit disappointing and I was tempted to just go for the summit, but the fact that Mark was worried about it made me quick to agree to give up on it. The scrambling was easy, but a bit exposed at times. It’s pretty safe, but watch your step!
Great picture Mark, thanks. I'm trying to chop steps- almost there! Finally, rock! Careful!
I haven’t mentioned this yet, but oh my, it’s absolutely gorgeous up there! Just to stop and look around makes you want to explore everything you can see. It’s hard to explain the feeling- I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
We climbed back down, then got the chance to glissade down a huge snowfield- it was awesome! It also allowed us to cover a lot of ground in little time, which I’ll miss as the snow melts. The video below is of Mark glissading. It’s horrible quality, and if you listen to the audio it’s pretty ridiculous. I became somewhat worried he was going to run into me, which had me clutching the camera, my ice axe, and evidently just giggling.
View on the way down and Mark waiting for me to hurry up and glissade down(impressively patient)
The video is sideways. Mark glissading down a snowfield at the base of Nez Perce.
We got back down to the car by about 5:30, and I was pretty tired and sore. We drove a few miles to the climber’s ranch in the park, where we were able to shower, cook dinner, and crash!
On the hike out
Trip 2: Last weekend we took off to do the Petzoldt Ridge on the Grand Teton. Again, we took off at 2am. This time however, I began to get really tired only about 45 minutes into the hike. I started to feel sick about 4 miles in, but just wanted to try to tough it out. I was hoping that once the sun came out I would feel a little better. We stopped about 6.5 miles in and considered calling it off, but I wanted to keep going, so we proceeded to the Upper Saddle, which is the launching point for the Grand. By this point it was about 7:30am- the hike had taken much longer than normal, thanks to my extreme lethargy.
Hiking some fixed ropes up to the upper saddle
We hung around the upper saddle for about an hour, trying to decide what to do. By this I mean that Mark was absolutely set on not climbing with me, and I was absolutely set on continuing up the Grand. He has a good amount of experience dealing with others and high altitude sickness, so knew that it wasn't going to get any better by ascending. I knew this too, but I felt ok, with the exception of being REALLY tired. I knew I could tough it out, it was just whether it was worth making him put up with a sick climber all day.
"Seriously Mark, I feel fine." I have no clue why he didn't believe me...
In the end, we decided to head up the Upper Exum, an easier route, and a route Mark has climbed multiple times. I felt pretty crappy all day, and was moving very slowly. The highlight might have been pooping in a bag near the summit and having to carry that all the way out. However, the climb itselft was amazing, and of course, gorgeous.
Mark, getting ready for the second pitch Climbing... Climbing... and thinking 'man, I wish she'd hurry up' A view of a climbing pair below us
A view from about half way up the Grand "I'm about the puke on you and you're just going to take my picture?"
We started to see some clouds build as we neared the summit, so we were pretty anxious to get off as quickly as possible. We met another pair near the summit who was equally eager to get off quickly, and we used two of their ropes tied together to turn 3 rappels into 2, saving time. We finally returned to the lower saddle by 5:30pm. We took off almost immediately for the hike out, and I returned to the car by about 8:30pm. 18.5 hours of hiking and climbing had left me unbelievably tired, and my ankles were not at all happy to be hiking that long. A pretty epic day though, and well worth it. Strangely, it made me want to get out there even more. But, given how poorly my body was responding, I reluctantly agreed it was best to take a weekend off.
Proof! The summit mark!
Trying to keep my balance on the hike out
Jason and I took a week to explore the backcountry of Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. We spent a few days in Yellowstone, where we hiked and camped around the Grebe Lake and Heart Lake areas. It was pretty area, though the park rangers weren't entirely cooperative and the mosquitoes were horrible! Luckily, Jason talked me into picking up mosquito netting before we left- best $3 I've ever spent! After hiking half way around Heart Lake, I managed to lose the bear spray while crossing a river, and we decided to hike out. In the process, we unknowingly set off the 'help' button on the SPOT, sufficiently scareing the parents (they forgave us). Next, we headed down to Teton and spent a few days hiking up Death Canyon and Granite Canyon. This area was different (lush forest vs. burnt forest), but pretty in an entirely different way. And, less mosquitoes! Jason dehydrated a ton of food before leaving Lincoln, which we consumed over the week- pretty good stuff. After Teton, we returned to Jackson for some good beer and amazing Thai food (coconut tofu- yum!). We had pretty good weather all week, and I was definitely tired by the end- a good feeling. Pictures to follow eventually! And now to catch up on work...
