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Rock climbing in the Southeastern USA
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Trip Reports - Our climb of the Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton 8/4/99Page 1 of 2 (go to page 2)
Summary: Henry Gholz, Jan Engert, and I Busch climb the Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton, but are turned back by unstable weather before reaching the summit. Prelude -- Truth be told, the seed for this trip was planted in me last year. I was training for a climb of Mt. Rainier, Washington, but constantly heard people talk only about climbing in the Teton Range of Wyoming. Everyone seemed to be planning to go there next year. As time progressed, most of those ambitious plans evaporated except for those of Henry Gholz. Henry (of Gainesville, Florida) and his friend Jan Engert (of Washington, D.C.) had both entertained notions of summiting The Grand Teton for years. After discovering this mutual desire, they made all the arrangements and plans, obtaining permits for an August 1999 expedition. Jan would meet Henry in Salt Lake City then drive to Jackson Hole for a climb of the Complete Exum Ridge route on the Grand Teton. Standing 13,770 feet tall, The Grand is the highest of the Teton Mountain range, a formidable challenge. Henry is an avid moderate rock climber (leading 5.8s at sea level), but hadn't been up in the thin air for many years. Jan brought years of mountaineering and alpine skiing experience (including an ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro), especially useful navigating and route finding skills, although technical rock climbing was a recently acquired sport. At the end of May, Henry and Jan, starting to realize how much they had bitten off, asked me (an accomplished 5.10 leader at sea level) to join them to round out the party. I deliberated briefly (about 5 seconds!), before deciding that it would be too great an opportunity to miss.
A description of the area will help you follow our story. The Tetons are a mountain range running north-south through western Wyoming (click here for area map). They are bordered by Idaho to the West, and the great flat valley called "Jackson Hole" (including Jackson and Jenny Lakes) to the East. Practically speaking, the entire area falls within our Grand Teton National Park, and is bordered on the north by Yellowstone National Park. The nearest "major" town is Jackson, although various amenities are also available within the Park itself. The Teton range is strikingly dramatic, erupting from Jackson Hole at about 6000 ft elevation to a massif of numerous peaks over 12,000 feet tall. Past glaciers savaged the mountainsides, carving deep sheer canyons and leaving nothing but pointed rugged peaks in the bedrock behind. Small glaciers still hug the mountains in many places and there are numerous permanent snow fields. At higher altitudes, it is an environment composed totally of windswept rock, devoid of life-sustaining soil, too harsh for all but the most hearty alpine plants and animals. The Grand Teton is positioned toward the south end of the range, standing out above all others as obviously the tallest of the peaks. Looking south, it is connected to the Middle Teton by a broad U-shaped band of rock and scree called the Lower Saddle that sags to 11,500 feet in the middle. The preferred base camp for climbs of the Grand Teton is on the Lower Saddle. To the south of the Middle Teton stands the South Teton. Gullies from the three mountains appear to coalesce into a bowl which spills out to the east as the dramatic Garnet Canyon. The Lower Saddle is approached by ascending Garnet Canyon, with several potential (official) campsites along the way. The Exum Ridge runs 2000 feet from the edge of the Lower Saddle to the summit, and is a popular and classic southeastern route up the mountain (although not the easiest). It is divided into 2 sections, the Lower Exum Ridge (II 5.7) and the Upper Exum Ridge (II 5.4). The Upper Exum Ridge is the most commonly climbed, as it is easier climbing and scrambling to the summit. A long ramp called Wall Street intersects the ridge high up, allowing climbers to bypass the more challenging Lower Exum Ridge route below. Jan, Henry, and I came to climb the entire ridge (known also as the Complete, or Direct, Exum Ridge). The Story - Preparations; Saturday 7/31/99 I flew out from Florida via Salt Lake City separately and met Jan and Henry in Moran, Wyoming, a couple of days before the climb at a rendezvous, the parking lot of the Hatchett Motel. As Jan and I had never met, we spent the next couple of days getting acquainted and preparing for the climb, starting with dinner at this classic western wayside motel. Sunday 8/1/99 After checking out of the Hatchett, we visited a supermarket in Jackson for some last minute items, then investigated the Jackson Brewery and found the local microbrews very tasty. Satisfied, we drove into the park to the American Alpine Club's Climbers Ranch. The club rents simple cabins with basic facilities to climbers at a real bargain compared to commercial prices, and is close to the most commonly used access trail to Garnet Canyon. We spent the afternoon on the cabin porch drinking wine, sorting gear, and loading packs for the next morning's departure. A robust storm moved through that afternoon, dark and menacing, spilling cold rain that chilled the air to a comfortable level, then moved on. The sky cleared, and the summer heat returned to reclaim the moisture. We noticed that storms crossed every afternoon, hinting at what might be expected higher up. We could only hope on our day to go up, the weather would spare us. A last real meal was eaten at Dornan's Pizza and Pasta just outside the park entrance, then the three of us spent a restless night in our bunks.
Mention must be made of our efforts to secure the most optimal campsites. The ideal high camp is the Lower Saddle at 11,650 feet. In April, Henry had called and gotten what was available at the time, a permit for a campsite far below the Lower Saddle, at a location called the Meadows (9300 feet) for the first night of the approach, and then one for a high camp at the Moraine (11,000 feet), about 500 feet below the Saddle, for the second night before the climbing day. There are a limited number of sites available and suitable for camping, and the Park Service rations them via a permit system, with what turns out sometimes to be an incomprehensible and convoluted set of rules. Permits are available both by walk in registration at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station and by reservation ahead of time. Cancellations and open sites are granted on a walk-in basis, and we made several frustrating trips to the station to try and get a walk-in permit for the Lower Saddle instead of the Moraine. But the absurd rules attached to the system at one point led us to be informed that the Lower Saddle did indeed have openings, but only for "two parties consisting of one person in total"!! We settled for the original plan. The Approach;
Monday 8/2/99 Henry and Jan had wisely planned to complete the approach over two days to allow time to adjust to the altitude, as we were all coming from sea level and risked altitude sickness if we ascended too quickly. We would progress expedition style, with time spent at the Meadows (lower camp), then at the Moraine (high camp) prior to challenging the summit. We were pleased to learn that snow gear would not be needed, as it meant somewhat lighter loads. But even so, we would carry climbing gear, two ropes, provisions, camping gear, and all the other things it would take to support a few days of alpine living several thousand feet up in thinning air. We left the Climber's Ranch on schedule at 8:30 after a light breakfast and parked at the Lupine Meadows trailhead, the most popular trail in the park. We hoisted our packs onto our backs, took a few "before" photos, and began the long hike up. It was already getting warm even though the sun had just started its' work. About a mile in from the trailhead, we greeted a small black bear who was so distracted by eating berries, that we and other hikers slipped by 30 feet from him unnoticed. The trail starts off on quite easy ground, then begins to climb up a long rib. It then breaks into a series of switchbacks as the terrain grows ever steeper, gaining a lot of altitude quickly. Two thirds of the way up, a trail breaks up and to the left for the long traverse into Garnet Canyon. Once in the Canyon, the trail surmounts a section full of enormous boulders, crosses a few small snowfields, and winds upwards along the Canyon edge and a roaring glacial stream. It took about 3 1/2 hours to reach our campsite at The Meadows at 9200 feet. We spent the rest of the hot, windy afternoon in camp in the lee of an enormous boulder. A glacial stream cascaded a few feet away and a brilliant snowfield lay just beyond. It was our intent to rest after the mornings efforts, but our growing excitement made that difficult. We watched other climbers on routes nearby, explored, tried to stay out of the burning sun, and were entertained by Henry's readings from "Redeye," a humorous western novel. Clouds gathered late in the afternoon, and the wind picked up, but only a few large drops landed before the small squall moved on. Tuesday 8/3/99 We watched through the night as clouds rolled in and hid the bright half moon. Tuesday morning greeted us with a crimson sunrise to the East, a western horizon of charcoal, and a damp breeze. We ate breakfast, filtered water from the stream, and broke camp. It started raining as we passed the next highest campsite, the spectacular Petzolt Caves (10,000 feet), and we donned rain gear. It would spit on us 3 more times before we reached our campsite at The Moraine at nearly 11,000 feet. The trail grew ever steeper and more rugged, no longer a distinct path in the loose scree and boulders. It was difficult to move quickly due to the lack of breath that followed too much exertion. Slow and steady plodding was the rhythm that worked best. We positioned our camp as high as possible toward the Lower Saddle on the long ridge that comprises the Moraine camping area, and settled in. We rested a while and ate lunch. The weather cleared somewhat in the middle of the day, and we used the opportunity to scout the areas we would pass through the following morning in cold darkness to the base of the climb. From the Moraine, we moved up the rib of scree and rock to a short wall below the Lower Saddle. Here, a heavy rope has been placed to allow quick passage up the cliff through the easiest route. The rock stays wet and slippery, and we were breathing heavily by the time we reached the top. We followed the trail winding up onto the crest of the Saddle through a tight series of switchbacks to the main camping area. Here, there are two fabric "huts" , one for the rangers, and one for the licensed guide service that runs clients up various routes starting from the Lower Saddle. On the far side of the Saddle is a public privy: an open air bucket toilet with one of the most incredible views looking out over the mountains of eastern Idaho (windy also). The Lower Saddle rises to meet the Grand Teton to the north and the Middle Teton to the south. We followed the northern ridge upward, watching for a means of access east that might lead us near the base of the Exum Ridge. Our chosen route was reputed to be difficult to find, but Jan seemed to have a sixth sense and found the best way through the boulders and snowfields. It is amazingly confusing, as there are actually several ridges, pinnacles, fins and other features in this area, and the scale of them is overwhelming and disorienting. To add to the confusion, the route does not start at the base of the Exum Ridge. The technical climbing starts a hundred feet or so above at the base of a chimney. To get to this chimney, one first has to traverse across a seam of black rock scree (known as the Black Dike) and several small snowfields, then follow a long sloping ramp that cuts back across the Exum Ridge at an angle, starting near the base of the next ridge to the east, the Petzolt Ridge. Since we would negotiate the ramp in darkness, we had to know how to find it. It was not obvious, but persistence paid off, and we identified the ramp and a couple of landmarks to help us locate it the next morning. On the way back out, we built two small cairns to mark our trail as well to the base of the ramp so we could find it in the morning. We returned to camp, stopping along the way to glean information from other climbers. A number of parties had turned back that morning from several routes, discouraged by the weather, and those that did go on reported wind, light snow, very cold temperatures, and some rhime ice on the summit. We ate dinner, then were forced to retire to our shelters early to avoid the heavy rain and hail that assaulted us that evening. Our plan was to leave at 2 AM the next morning, climbing the ramp and first pitch or two of the route above in darkness. * end of PART ONE *Grand Teton National Park |
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photo of the Teton Range
Click to enlarge diagram of our
route
See larger photo of the Climbers Ranch
See bigger view of Garnet Canyon
Enlarge image of Meadows camp
See larger photo of high camp
View larger photo of Henry