Hike Out on Thursday

The Hike Out

As we arrived at the Lupine Meadows trailhead, the sky opened up and it began to rain in earnest. We returned our bear canister to the Rangers, to find the visitors center a very busy, populated place, unlike our experience on Tuesday morning.  Found the Motel 6 in Jackson, and relaxed and cleaned up for the remainder of the day.

From the Valley Floor

Obligatory Stop at the Visitors' Center

We spent Friday exploring and shopping in Jackson.  ON Friday evening, I drove up to Teton Village, to visit with a former student from Salisbury, Robbie Pfunder, who now works at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort as a mountain bike guide.  He did a few tricks for me on his trials bike.

We flew home on Saturday morning.  Frank and I split up at O'Hare, as he was flying to New York and I to Hartford.  I ran into the Plunketts, from Cornwall, Ct in the terminal.  They were flying home from Nashville.  After chatting in the departure lounge, when it was time to board we discovered we were in the same row on the plane! Small world.

Five Minute Review

When we got to the Wall Street ledge, we made the decision to not continue easier terain to the summit, but instead made the step around to the ledge and started back down.

High on the Grand

Heading down to the Lower Saddle

From Mountain Project, view of our route.

Wednesday - Climbing Day

Got an early, but not super early, start.  A party going fast and light passed our camp as we were finishing breakfast. On the move by 6:00, we made quick work of the snow-field above to get to the lower saddle.   The fixed rope we had read about was not in place, but there was a clear track across the snow slope, and we donned our crampons to cross to the saddle.








Moved along the Black Dike to the base of the climb,  We had read a lot of posts about folks starting up too early, or missing the start and going too far, but we found the right ramp and found our way to the base of the chock stone chimney.

The climbing went well, though not without incident.  As I struggled to get though the chock stone chimney, my day pack was getting jammed, so I tried to pull it off and get though that way.  Bad move, as I dropped it to the base of the climb.  Fortunately, it was at the very start of the route, so I retrieved it and switch to my approach shoes and stowed my rock shoes in the pack.  This time I slipped through the opening with no problem.

At the base of the Black Face, the rope coil fell off the pedestal we were standing on and got jammed in a crack.  I had to down climb and free it, then chimney back up to the start of the pitch.  The face that followed was amazing!  Steep and exposed, but with excellent rock and holds so plentiful it was like being in the gym.

I should also add, that the altitude (over 12,000 feet) was making itself felt.  At each belay, I would be fine, but as soon as I stated climbing, I was panting like a dog.

Moraines Camping

As we arrived at the Moraines, at 10,800 feet, we were looking up a steep hike and snowfield that had to be crossed to the Lower Saddle, another 800 feet above. We were so beat, that we decided to camp at the Moraines, instead of continuing to our original intended destination.  There was no-one else there, so we didn't feel we would be interfering with anyone else's camping plans.  In the morning, we would be unburdened, except for summit packs, and be rested and fresh.

Hiking In

Jenny Lake Ranger Station / Visitor Center

The hike in was about 6.5 miles, gaining over 5000 feet of elevation.  As we planned to camp, we were carrying fairly heavy packs. Our intent was to go to the lower saddle, though as I will explain, we fell a bit short of that. Because the airline misplaced Frank's luggage, we had to go to the airport at 6:00 in the morning to retrieve it - fortunately it had arrived - and got started about 9:00 am.  We knocked off the first three miles in a couple hours, but things got more rugged as we went on.

Early Miles

Starting Up Garnet Canyon

As we entered Garnet Canyon, and approached the Platforms campsite, the terrain became very rough, with numerous large and small boulders mixed with some snow cover.  At times, we were able to follow a hiker's trail, or tracks in snow, but often we were just picking our way through and over the boulders. This was followed by multiple switchbacks up the right side of the canyon, past the 'Caves' and finally to the Moraines campsite.

Counting Down

Yesterday we went over to the  Gunks for a shakedown climb up Middle Earth (5.5 - 5.7, depending on your guidebook).  Also  simul-climbed three pitches of fourth class terrain to get used to the system. We use this on most sections of the Upper Exum, and transition to standard belay tactics on the technical pitches.

Head to Bradley Airport on Monday morning.

Flying to Wyoming on Monday

Tomorrow, we hit the Gunks, to brush up on our Trad skills and dial in some simul-climbing on easy routes.  Monday, I fly out of Bradley.  Frank and I are on the same flight from Chicago to Jackson. The plan is to fly in, pick up a vehicle and chill at a hotel and check out Jackson in the evening.  Tuesday morning, we get our permits at the Jenny Lake Rangers' station, and begin the hike in to the Lower saddle.

Pitch 3 of Three Pines, photo from www.mountainproject.com