Teton Trifecta

Note - life is busy and i'm behind on write-ups.  the following outing occurred in late august.

After a rest day spent largely at the jackson library, I was excited to head up garnet canyon for a linkup of the grand, middle and south tetons.  I ran a few of the flat stretches of trail but otherwise mainly hiked at an easy pace to the lower saddle.  I continued up towards the upper saddle, passing a number of guides/clients already descending.  From just before the upper saddle I could see a bit of a traffic jam before the start of the owen spaulding route so I detoured to the top of the enclosure to warm up in the sun.

typical view from the lower saddle (enclosure on L, grand on R)

top of the enclosure

parties on the OS as seen from atop the enclosure

After a few minutes of warmth and snacking, I headed down into the wind and shade and started up the OS, passing a few roped parties at the belly crawl and base of the double chimney (supposedly 5.4 but felt easier).  I continued up the owen chimney, which provided the most fun, sustained scrambling of the route.  With the wind continuing to howl, I quickly continued upwards, anxious to hit the sun.  After a short break on the summit, I started down and after squandering a few minutes finding the top of sargent’s chimney, I reversed my route, down climbing to the upper saddle. 

owen chimney - most fun part of the OS

looking N to mt owen

Once down at the lower saddle, I refilled water before trending south towards the middle teton, excited to get away from the crowds that gravitate to the grand.  After winding around pinnochio and bonney pinnacles, I downclimbed into the notch before traversing the ledges up to the “room” and scrambling down & west into the NW couloir.  A bit of verglas added some spice to the 4^th class rock that I ascended on the edge of the snow/ice present.  I then scrambled up the crumbling black dike to the skyline to the base of the route’s crux.  About 30ft of steep but heavily featured 5.5 lead to easier terrain above and soon therafter, the summit. 

N side of the middle

lower N ridge of the middle.  the "room" is visible in upper R corner

a portion of the NW couloir

looking back to the grand from atop the middle.
i love how prominent the ford couloir is even in the middle of august

The descent of the SW couloir was a bit of a loose mess but straightforward and quick.  From the saddle, I started up towards the south teton, with my legs feeling the effects of roughly 25,000 vertical in the past few days.  I was pleasantly surprised to have the route and summit all to myself in contrast to the middle and grand.  The descent back to the saddle and down the S fork of garnet canyon to the meadows was seemingly endless boulder hopping interspersed with the occasional sectional of trail.  From the meadows, I ran most of the trail down to the car but would occasionally walk to give my feet a break since I find running in approach shoes doable but not all that great.

S teton from atop the middle

NW couloir of the S teton

All in all a great day out in one of my all time favorite mountain ranges and a good step towards future outings on the grand traverse as well as the teton trifecta with skis. 

Stats: about 16mi/9200 vert/up to 5.5 difficulty/9:30 car-car

Approx. splits: 2:30 lower saddle, 4:12 grand summit, 6:20 middle summit, 7:25 S summit, 9:30 TH

Rose: the joy of moving through the mountains unencumbered by camping or climbing gear –  running, hiking or scrambling as the terrain dictates, surrounded by beautiful landscapes

Thorn: endless boulder hopping down the S fork of garnet…never again without skis

Bud: I need to get my act together and get down to the tetons for some skiing this winter/spring – its unbelievable how stacked the range is with outstanding ski routes

Tetons

After dropping Bria off at home in Idaho, I headed to the Tetons for 5 days of adventure as the number of days of summer freedom were quickly coming to an end.  I had earlier decided not to connect with random partners off MP for the trip and instead focus on a number of quality scrambles and easy solos.

Day 1 – cascade canyon to paintbrush canyon loop – 19mi/3800 vert/4:36

I had wanted to run the teton crest trail during this trip but didn’t feel as though I had been running enough in recent weeks for my body to reasonably handle the 40 mile distance.  I opted for the classic cascade to paintbrush loop instead.  I took my time, enjoying the scenery and wildlife (3 pairs of moose) along the way.  With shorter breaks at the lakes and running more of the climb to paintbrush pass (I’m blaming a week at sea level beforehand for the amount of hiking I did), this would easily clean up to a 4 hour outing.  Highly recommended.

took a minute or two of yelling/clapping to get this pair to vacate the trail

not your typical view of the grand

lake solitude.  was pleasantly surprised to have 10+ minutes of total solitude
while stopping to stretch and re-fill water 

paintbrush pass

Day 2 – E face of Teewinot – 7mi/5600 vert/low 5^th class/4:40

I relaxed the next morning as some stormy weather blew through before spending an enjoyable afternoon on Teewinot.  I got off-route near the top and scrambled some steep, exposed terrain up the W side of the middle summit before making an exposed traverse to the N to gain easy terrain to the true N summit.  Proper route finding and more running could easily clean this up to also be a 4 hour outing.

view from the TH once the storm clouds had passed and I started up

other than my "detour" up the middle summit, this was the 20ft. crux of the route (climber's R of the prominent gully
at roughly 11,500ft).  felt low 5th class to me.  have read sources between 4th class to 5.3

beautiful view of the N face of the grand and mt owen (makes me excited to return for the cathedral traverse)

Day 3 – Mt Moran CMC Route – 15mi/6200 vert/5.5 difficulty/9:00

Although most people access the CMC Route via canoe/kayak across leigh lake, a few internet comments  and a quick glance at google earth suggested a bushwhack alternative wouldn’t be too bad.  I ran the initial 4 miles of flat trail to bearpaw lake before turning W off the trail (100ft past the small footbridge) and following intermittent game trails and some bushwhacking up to 7800ft.  I then began a long sidehill traverse onto and across the S face to reach the approach gully (1:50 from TH).  More detailed bushwhack beta on my MP comment here.  I then continued up the trail, past the CMC camp to the top of drizzlepuss (4 hrs).  I stashed my bear spray and some water before tightening my approach shoes and beginning the approx. 200ft downclimb N from drizzlepuss to the notch below the CMC route.  There were 3 short sections of 5.4/5 terrain that got my attention but easily dispatched with good jugs and sticky approach shoes.  I then climbed a short but steep L-facing corner to a rap station before traversing climber’s R around Unsoeld’s needle onto the CMC face. 

sunrise from camp.  this view never gets old.

S side of moran from S shore of leigh lake

CMC face

The face is so wide dozens of variations would be possible but I trended up and R towards the prominent dike for about a thousand feet of low 5^th class terrain with occasional harder sections and frequent small ledges.  Super fun.  Once on the broad summit ridge I talus hopped to the true summit (5:15) for a food and water break.  I descended via far skier’s R side of the face on a mixture of 3^rd class trail, cairns and some 4^th–low 5^th class downclimbing.  I wrapped around Unsoeld’s needle on the E side again before downclimbing into the notch (via the same short, steep L-facing corner) and then up to the top of drizzlepuss. 

leigh lake from atop mt moran

falling ice glacier from atop the CMC face

thor peak.  hidden couloir

With the day’s soloing now being me, I sat down to relax and finish my water before crusing down the trail past the CMC camp (6:45) to the point in the approach gully I had hit the trail at about 7800ft.  The off-trail bushwhack back to bearpaw lake was quicker and easier than the morning since I knew what to expect.  I soon found myself dodging tourists on the trail around leigh and string lakes, arriving back at the TH right at the 9 hour mark, stoked on an outstanding day in the mountains, with a fun mix of running, bushwhacking, scrambling and climbing in a gorgeous setting.

water refill below the falling ice glacier

Stay tuned for part II about my go at the teton trifecta (linkup of the grand, middle and south tetons).

Squamish & WA Pass

Bria and I were fortunate enough to align our schedules for a weeklong climbing trip together towards the end of the summer.  Our criteria included: 1) somewhere new, 2) not too hot, 3) predominately multipitch trad, 4) not long/grueling approaches (bria) and 5) close proximity to good running (me).  These factors paired with Bria visiting family in Seattle for a few days (one-way flight while I drove out a few days later) put us on a trajectory for Squamish BC for 5 days with a day at Washington Pass to break up the long drive home. 

Squamish was incredible.  The weather was nearly perfect, the rock and climbing impeccable and by being there Monday to Friday only, we only battled crowds on a single multipitch route.  We exclusively climbed moderate classics, both single and multi-pitch and had a blast.  I ran/power hiked a Chief lap most mornings which was steep, rugged and a really enjoyable way to start each day.  I’m excited to return to Squamish again and highly recommend it as a climbing destination.  Here are a few pictures from Bria’s phone since I was sans camera all trip.

the Chief (photo: bria)

climbing practically right off the shore

endless lay backing up diedre

endless splitters (photo: bria)

mid-day cribbage and siesta towards the end of the week when it got uncomfortably hot

mid-pitch lounging while waiting on slow parties ahead (photo: bria)

random walk off.  i beat up my legs (in a good way) running terrain like this each morning

chips, salsa and beer while watching the sunset on Howe Sound
after a great day of climbing.  tough to beat.  (photo: bria)

WA Pass on the drive home was also fun but very crowded on a Sunday and we were forced to modify our climbing plans on the fly after arriving at the base of our objective (SW Rib SEWS) to find a slow moving party on the first pitch and 4 additional parties cueing up at the base.  After perusing MP on the phone and considering the rack we had with us, we detoured over to the Liberty Bell/Concord Tower col, for a linkup of the Beckey Route (II 5.6 4p) on the Bell and N Face of Concord Tower (II 5.7 3p).  Despite the crowds, the climbing was fun and a very small taste of the great climbing in the Cascades I need to explore in the future.  

selfie from the main tourist overlook

N face concord tower

base of the beckey route 

one of several incredibly tame mt. goats on the trail

one of several reasons to return in the spring with skis (looking E from liberty/concord col)

summit of liberty bell.  hangry and grumpy about the slow party ahead of us
that wouldn't take a hint and let us pass (photo: bria)