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