The party was made up of (from left to right) myself, the climbing expert; Troy Carter, the impetus behind the trip; Galyn Black, the mountain expert; and Kerry Kampschroeder, the … umm … good friend and jack of all trades.

We flew from DFW to Cody, Wyoming, were Troy’s sister lives. She was gracious enough to lend us a truck in which we drove through Yellowstone Park that night to our lodging. We spent the rest of the evening sorting out our gear and loading the packs.

The next morning, the air was cool and crisp. I love mountain air. We loaded up our packs and headed for the trail. As we came over a rise in the road we got our first look at “The Grand”.

We checked in at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station, got some last minute instructions, checked the gear one last time, and made our last visit to civilization. *wink*

The Lupine Meadows trail starts as a beautiful casual walk through the trees. But the trail, she lies. Soon after this rustic bridge over a relaxing brook, you start going seriously up.

After about three miles of steep, but scenic switch-backs, I began to realize how badly I had over-packed. This seems to be my usual mistake. For some reason, I have this irrational fear of forgetting something (Well, maybe not irrational. I forget stuff all the time.) so I tend to pack everything I think I might need. I had hoped for a 35 pound pack, and had trained with 50. But I’m pretty sure I was toting close to 45 pounds up through that thin air and it was hurting me.

Just when the trail starts to level out and give your legs a break, you round the shoulder of the mountain and enter Garnet Canyon… and the rocks. I’ve hiked on rocky trails, but this takes the cake. It’s a mixture of shale, gravel, and big ol’ rocks, maybe as big as your fist. I was starting to think that my low-top Merrel hiking shoes were a bad idea, but everyone’s ankles held up. (Just to give you an idea of the scale of this canyon, that little speck at the foot of the trees is Troy, who is about six foot.)

We stopped for lunch just before noon at around five miles. We were taking a nice, slow pace (now, after I had burned myself up going too fast at the beginning… stupid me). We were wearing out our jaws on Cliff bars and trail mix when Kerry broke out the jewel of the trip, a real, German, summer sausage. Awww, it was soo good. (You’ll notice Kerry trying to get a signal on his cell phone. We’d been told repeatedly that a cell phone was the best way to get emergency help. We never got a signal during the whole trip, not even at the trail head.)

Just around the bend from where we ate lunch is the first of two boulder fields. I’d read about these in the trail guide, but was still surprised at the size. These are huge, SUV sized boulders and the trail just disappears into them. There seems to be many ways over, under, around, and through the field, but none appear easier than another. (Yes, those are people on the boulders.)

We all decided to get trekking poles for this trip. I always thought people looked silly carrying ski poles up a hiking trail, but let me tell you, those things are life savers. They keep you steady on rocky terrain and act as a second pair of feet while scrambling over boulders. But to me, the biggest benefit was the way the poles provided you with an even cadence as you walked, allowing you to pace yourself and tick away the miles. (Here Kerry scrambles over the boulder field with both poles in one hand. They still work that way too.)

Just a little while after the second boulder field, you can see Spalding Falls making its raucous way down the mountain. There’s a nice wide rest area were most folks stop for lunch. Across the small creek is the Meadows (9200 ft), a beautiful camping area. Our camping site was at the Caves (10,100 feet), at the top of Spalding Falls.

Looming above the Meadows is Middle Teton with its striking, volcanic ribbon. Several of the peaks in this range have these odd black scars which can lead to some very interesting creation science discussions.

Resting at the Meadows is a good idea because the next quarter mile or so of the trail gains a staggering 1000 feet of elevation. The switch-backs to the Caves are grueling. This picture was taken about half way up, looking nearly straight up. You can just make out the red jacket of someone in the trees above. They are on the last switch-back before you make a short traverse to the top of Spalding Falls and the Caves. It was this bit of trail that did me in.

I feel I did a good job preparing for this trip. Heck, I lost about thirty pounds (which needed to be lost anyway). But between the altitude gain (consider that I live at 700 feet), the heavy pack, and my body still not being in good enough shape, I just gave out. On the switchbacks, I started getting tunnel vision, dizziness, and nausea. After resting for five minutes or so, I was able to press on to the Caves, but the damage was done at that point.

The Caves is one of the coolest camp sites I’ve ever seen. You would think that this clump of trees at just over ten thousand feet would be little, anemic things, but they are huge! Much bigger than the trees in the valley below. There are a few small overhangs that have been built up into caves that provide great shelter for one or two sleeping bags, but if you have a real tent, there are several tent sites under the trees to accommodate you.

I brought along a tiny, one-man, bivy tent, just big enough for me and my pack (if I lay the right way). Galyn, Troy and Kerry shared a four-man outside. As I was setting up my tent, I met my neighbor, a fat little Pika just getting ready to hibernate.

Despite my lack of appetite, I hoped that dinner would settle my angry stomach and I’d be able to enjoy the evening. Troy and Galyn broke out the camp stoves and before long we were feasting on boil-bag dinners. I had beef stroganoff and it tasted great… the first time.

The smell of our dinner cooking drew an uninvited guest. A huge marmot popped over a rock looking for some hand-outs. I’ve never seen wild animals so brazen. These little guys have no fear and, from what we read, are real pros at getting into your food, no matter where you pack it. All the camp sites in Garnet Canyon have food hangers built out of dead tree branches and rock cairns. You only have to get your food a few feet off the ground to keep these little buggers out, but if you don’t, the rodents will feast and you’ll go hungry.

After forcing myself to eat dinner, my hopes of feeling better were betrayed. I felt worse. I had hoped to manage my digestive system well enough to avoid leaving anything on the mountain, so to speak. But soon after dinner, my stomach began cramping and I knew that I was going to have to make an unsanitary deposit. (I can’t think of any more delicate way to say poo than that.) Not long after that, my nausea got worse. I found a nice quite spot away from camp to talk things over with my stomach.

When we were working on the logistics of this trip, I was concerned about altitude sickness (A.M.S.). I was confident that we would see some symptoms of A.M.S. given our short acclimatization. I just hoped that it would be limited to headaches. With that in mind, we had all been taking Advil to try and stay ahead of the symptoms. I never really noticed my head hurting, but the other symptoms where pretty clear.

I knew that if I had altitude sickness it would be devastating to our expedition as I could not go any higher and thus could not lead climb the crux of our route. From the Caves, our trail gained altitude pretty quickly and gaining altitude when you already have A.M.S. symptoms can be deadly.

I am always one to give God veto power over my life. I prayed about the situation and asked God to give me a clear sign. If He would allow me to summit Grand Teton, then I asked that he clear up my A.M.S. symptoms. If He did not want me going on, then make the diagnosis clear and I would resign myself His will and descend. Satisfied with that arrangement, I returned to negotiations with my stomach. After a few minutes negotiations broke down and I got to taste that stroganoff again, but it was much less pleasant the second time. Now things were serious.

The decision was made. I had to descend as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the murderous switch-backs provided as quick a decent as one could ask for. In a very short period of time, I could lose 1000 feet and that might be enough to break my A.M.S. Just as night was falling, I took my poles and started down while the other guys loaded up my gear.

Sure enough, by the time I hit the Meadows, my head felt clear and my nausea was minimal. I was weak, but at least I felt better. I was confident that my wits had returned and that I could manage the night on my own. I had just enough light to set up my tent at the Meadows. We talked over what to do next and it was decided that the other guys would make their way up the mountain the next morning. They would get a feel for the rest of the trail and if I felt recovered enough, I would head back up to the Caves. Best case scenario: Our third day, which was supposed to be a relaxed decent would instead be a quick attempt at the summit followed by an immediate decent to the truck.

The next morning I still felt very weak and my stomach was still uneasy. I decided to take my time and enjoy the valley and the perfect weather. I nibbled trail mix and spent the morning trying to keep the marmots from tearing into my tent and backpack. Turns out, my rock-throwing skills are severely lacking.

By noon, I had enough food and water in my system to fuel me back up to the Caves. I took a very slow pace and let my body accept the altitude more slowly. When I got to the Caves, I re-pitched my tent and filled several water bottles from Spalding Spring. These springs put out lots of water, enough to create the impressive falls below. The water is cold and as clean as nature can provide.

After resting for another hour or so, I decided to try out my legs and head up hill. It was early afternoon and I figured the guys would be on their way down from the Lower Saddle (11,600 feet) by then. I took it nice and slow and managed to gain a bit of altitude without any adverse effects. I was only a few hundred feet above the caves when I saw Kerry coming back down. He informed me that Galyn and Troy were making at attempt at the Upper Saddle (13,200 feet), but that he had spent all his energy achieving the Lower Saddle. Seems they had some navigational challenges on the way up. Kerry described the trail from the Caves to the Lower Saddle as being very difficult, steep and rocky, with plenty of scrambling. We descended to the Caves to rest and await Galyn and Troy.

Troy and Galyn made it back to camp late in the afternoon just before the sun slipped behind Middle Teton. They had made it to the Upper Saddle and were able to lay eyes on the technical part of the trail. Having put a lot of energy into their day-two climb and seeing the sketchy conditions above the Upper Saddle, they were not sure a third day summit would be possible. Troy seemed very interested in having a real bed that night and offered to pay for a room for all of us if we descended. The decision was made. We broke camp as quickly as we could, packed up, and headed down. It had taken us six hours to get from the trail head to the Caves. We were hoping to make the return trip in half that time. With the sun now well behind the ridge, it would be very dark before we got to the truck.

Here you can see just how steep the switch-backs are. I am looking down at Troy and Kerry on the next switch and you can clearly see the switch below them. Then next bit of earth visible beyond that is the valley floor, several hundred feet below.

Thankfully we made it through the boulder fields before the ambient light of dusk gave out. We had a neat view of the mountain’s shadow stretching across the valley below.

I can’t imagine navigating the boulders in the dark, but when we were much further down the trail we passed several parties on their way up in the deep darkness, including the park ranger who had checked us in at the ranger station. One party we talked with was planning climb all night and summit the next morning, then descend that day. Madness, I tell you! Madness!

We stumbled into the trail head parking lot around 9 PM. We had completed our decent in three hours, no speed record, but we felt we had gone as fast as we could under the circumstances. Actually the speed record for Grand Teton is three hours round trip, two hours up, one hour down. That works out to about five miles per hour up hill and ten downhill, a brisk jog up and flat run down.

We had a few other adventures that night driving into Yellowstone Park and finding civil lodging. We collapsed into our hotel beds (Galyn sleeping on the floor) and slept hard. The next morning we found ourselves on the shore of Yellowstone Lake and had a hearty breakfast at the buffet near the hotel.

We were finally able to contact our families via cell phone and update them on our situation. As we talked we strolled along the edge of the lake and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

We drove on through Yellowstone stopping a couple of times to see the wild life (include the young grizzly below). We made it back to Cody in time to enjoy a big buffalo burger for lunch and hit the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, which I highly recommend. We met up with Troy’s sister and her family for dinner at Bubba’s BBQ.

Even though we did not achieve the summit, it was a great trip. We got to experience the rugged beauty of the Tetons and come home tired but safe. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to go on this trip. Thanks to Troy for getting the whole idea off the ground. Thanks to Kerry for the great company and support (and sausage). And, of course, thanks to by old buddy Galyn for inviting me on this great adventure.

I’ve created some desktop wallpaper sized images from the trip. Feel free to download these for your own desktop.

1024 x 768
Middle Teton
Spalding Springs
Grand Teton

1280 x 1024
Middle Teton
Spalding Springs
Grand Teton

You can also see more images (most of which are in this story) in the images directory at:
http://www.light-spark.com/share/Teton/