Waking up to the darkness on the mountain, there are other climbers moving around getting ready to hike out of camp. I begin to imagine what this day will be like and all the work put in to get here. All of those early mornings of getting up when I really didn’t want to for a run before heading to work. Running is not my thing but it was the best way I could think of for preparing for the altitude of these mountains. Putting training packs on for Saturday hikes to begin to acclimate our bodies to this extra weight. Exercising to build strength needed for climbing. What seemed like endless stairs with a backpack that continued to get heavier and heavier as the climb got closer. Accumulating the needed gear over the past 9 months and using it so we would be more use to it in the mountain. This day is why I pushed through all of this preparation and here it is. Would it all be worth it? Was it enough? I couldn’t tell which was more dominate – my excitement to do this or my anxiety over preparedness. It didn’t matter now. The only thing that I needed to focus on was spending this experience with my family and keeping us all safe while trying to enjoy every piece I could. This may be the last opportunity to climb a mountain for me.
The gear for this day was packed, my layers where on, and I was exiting my tent. The only light besides my headlamp were the houses residing over a mile below. Unfortunately it was cloudy so not even the stars where shining. Rain was forecast for later in the day capping how much time we had to climb. I was the first of our group to reach the main tent housing our kitchen here on the mountain. Water was being warmed for my tea and breakfast burritos being steamed for a little energy to tackle the rigorous trail ahead. A few minutes to use the outdoor bathroom and more of our group had arrived ready to go. We all grabbed something to drink, topped off our water bottles, and mentally prepared to achieve our goals for this day. Each of us had different goals and needed to work together to accomplish them. Our time had arrived to hoist the daypacks upon our shoulders and hit the trail. Every step required careful placement being illuminated only by the lights on our head. This first part was what I looked forward to least as it was maneuvering on loose rocks making up a gravel trail. Surprisingly we covered a large amount of ground and were at our first climbing point fairly quickly.
We connected our ropes and one by one climbed up this first wall of stone. Once above this spot we noticed something floating through our beams of light. Was that snow? It was at this point I first realized how cold it was and that I was shivering. I really didn’t think much about being cold as I knew we would soon be warming up from the hard work yet to come. With all of our climbers off the ropes we continued on the trail to the saddle between Middle Teton and Grand where another base camp existed along with a ranger tent. Reaching this camp a short time later, we all agreed that the views here were incredible but so was the wind. That would be a little more miserable to deal with all of the time. Our base camp was better protected making the environment more enjoyable we determined. From here we continued on the trail as it continued steeply higher to a series of rock walls to the top. Keeping one foot in front of the other we arrived at larger boulders signaling the base of the peak for Grand.
This marked the goal of some of our group and they had reached it as daylight continued to illuminate the landscape around us highlighting the path we had taken. After a few minutes of discussion we decided to split into two groups. One would continue the climb while the other made the journey to camp invigorated by reaching their objective on this morning. While I continued on with my cousin, each group kept in touch over radio so they could know how the other group was doing.
For me, the fun part of this adventure was about to begin. The trail steepened and boulder scrambling started putting my physical abilities to the test. Soon the scrambling was complete and it was time to put on the ropes for more serious rock climbing. This seemed like a good time to take off a layer or two as the sun was now shining and the temperatures rising. I never knew until now how much I enjoy scaling rock walls. Maneuvering from hand hold to foot hold kept a huge smile on my face. Well, until I reached a spot requiring me to climb out, away from the mountain creating the sensation of going to fall off. While it took some time, we made it over this section with a big sigh of relief and continued up. There was no option in our minds of quitting and turning back at this point. Word had reached us that the other group was nearing camp by this time while they had heard we were continuing to climb.
Every piece of the climb seemed easier after this as we successfully navigated these vertical rocks continuing to increase our elevation. I finally relaxed a little feeling great and that all of my work preparing was paying off. Breathing was easier than I expected and remembered from my climb on Longs Peak in Colorado. Higher and higher we climbed and I realized as I looked over at Middle Teton, we had reached an altitude above its’ peak. The only peak higher than we were now was Grand.
Word had come over the radio that the other group was now safely back in camp recovering and preparing for the descent the next day. Unfortunately time was not on our side now. It would be unlikely for us to reach the summit this day as we were about 30 minutes from the time we would need to turn around and head back towards camp before storms once again were predicted to engulf the area. Still we continued higher just enjoying the experience and the scenery surrounding us. By this time our other group was beginning to get a little nervous that something happened as they hadn’t heard anything from us for awhile. We were just trying to keep going and not in a great spot for communication to go through surrounded by stone walls.
Reaching a nice plateau, we decided this would be as far as we would go and took some time to sit and reflect on our surroundings and our climb that morning. We radioed back to the other group our location and the return back was about to begin. They sighed with a little relief hearing all was going well and we were ok.
Taking some time to get a little to eat, something to drink, and taking a few photos from this place on the mountain, we heading back towards the ledge we had just climbed to get here. What seemed like just a few minutes earlier we climbed up this ledge and now we would begin our descent from here. The trip down always seems to be faster and in a short time we were making our way back over the rocks we climbed and were back at the saddle where we split into two groups.
In just over an hour we would be back in camp, finishing our day of climbing on Grand Teton. While we may not have made it all the way to the top of Grand, I felt fortunate to have this experience and share it with my daughters, cousin and his daughter. Adventures like this have a lasting impact for the rest of our lives and just getting this far is an achievement.
Back at camp a guide asked how our climb was. I responded with it being a great experience with lots of beautiful sights. We may have been the least able climbers on the mountain that day but at least we were on it doing what we could. I was glad to be reunited with our group and begin sharing this experience with each other at camp while grabbing some nourishment and rehydrating, waiting for storms that never formed.
