 |
Rock climbing in the Southeastern USA
|
Trip Reports - 8/21/00 Tetons, WyomingWhat I did on my summer vacationSubmitted by Lisa Limper I went out west for the first time (other than Salt Lake City) for vacation Aug 21 to Sept 2. I had met a pretty famous mountaineer named Jack Tackle when he was here in Nashville in April, and somehow a two-day trip to climb with him evolved into a two-week solo adventure (hey, I’ve never seen Yellowstone…..). The day before I left, he called me to tell me that he had just gotten out of the hospital with viral meningitis, having contracted it at the end of a two month climb in Pakistan. He said he was feeling too bad to take me but would recommend someone else from Exum Guides to take me, and no, not ALL of Montana was on fire, just major portions. He ended up recommending three guys, two of whom I had heard of (most girls get Cosmo, I get Rock and Ice…) so I called Exum and arranged to go with his first choice on Aug 29-30. I spent the first two days in Bozeman Montana taking a Wilderness First Aid class. It was a lot of fun, but I want to go back and take the 10-day Wilderness First Responder class someday. The next day I got to hike at Hyalite Canyon and Reservoir. It’s part of the Gallatin National Forest and is 15 minutes south of downtown Bozeman. There is a lot of rock climbing and ice climbing in the area; in fact my guide in the Tetons had named a lot of the ice climbs because he did the first ascents. Anyway, the next day, all of Montana went on level 5 fire closures, which means no access to any public land. I was very lucky to get to see that place!! The next three days were in Yellowstone. What an amazing place! Then I headed down to the Tetons, and after a week in the tent was very much over sleeping on the ground, so booked a night at a bed and breakfast in Jackson. It was great! The next four nights I stayed in the Grand Teton National Park at the Climber's Ranch. The Ranch provides accommodations for climbers at the foot of the Tetons. It has a large covered cooking and eating area, bathroom and shower facilities for men and women, and a library, and 8 cabins that house from 4 - 8 climbers in each. Housing is coed, so you're never sure who your roommates will be. For two nights, I was in the cabin with two guys who had just graduated from UF in August and were touring the country for a month. What are the chances?? I went to check in with Exum the day before my climb and they told me that Jack was feeling better and would be able to take me. I was very glad! The first day we did a combination of the basic and intermediate schools, and some extra stuff. First thing in the morning, we hiked up a long trail and got up on the rocks to climb. We set our packs down and were talking about equipment and knots, and all of a sudden, here comes momma black bear with two cubs. We weren’t on the trail, but up on the rocks, and she came up after us because she smelled the sausage that Jack had brought for his lunch. So here we are on this rock outcropping with a 300-pound momma bear five feet away. So he pulls the lunch out of his pack and throws it down the rock. She goes after it and we tied in and went up the rock. He said that in 19 years of guiding in the Tetons, he’d never seen anything like that happen. So that was exciting, first thing! We climbed all that day and I got to rappel 130 feet, twice. Once you got over the fear of stepping off the edge, it was a blast. The next day we were going to climb a place called Baxter’s Pinnacle but got rained off the mountain about 300 feet from the summit. It still was so awesome and I learned so much from him that it was amazing! I said that I had never been more scared or had more fun at the same time in my whole life. (One of the guys I train is an aspiring country singer/songwriter. When I told him that, he said, “So, it’s kind of like falling in love!” I may be a song co-writer! haha)
I stayed and hiked a few more days. That is the prettiest place I have ever seen but my
thin Florida blood would freeze come November! Lisa is currently living in Nashville, Tennessee Grand Teton National Park |