Grand Tetons, part 1

Thursday morning I began the long drive to the other side of the state to Grand Teton National Park. I arrived around sunset and had to scramble around to find a campsite. While I didn’t get the most scenic spot, it would do for the night.

Friday morning I moved to new campground on Jackson Lake and made camp. I then proceeded to hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. The hike was easy but treated to me some great views of Jenny Lake, the Tetons, and a fantastic waterfall. Once I had returned from the hike, I made way my to the Exum Mountain Guide office and signed up for a private rock climbing lesson for the following day. If all goes well and I impress my instructor enough I will be climbing the Tetons on Sunday or Monday.
I met my guide, Peter, at 8am at the Exum Mountain Guide offices and we proceeded to take a short ferry ride across Jenny Lake to the Hidden Falls area where we would be spending the next 7 hours. Peter began by discussing body placement and the different features of the rock that I should take into account when climbing. From there, we moved on to practicing several knots that we would be using throughout the day. Once I was comfortable with that, we started climbing. I would watch as Peter lead the way up crevices, cracks, and seemingly smooth rock faces, placing protectors on the rock along the way to prevent us from falling to our demise. Once Peter was in a safe area where he could spot me, I would begin my ascent. We did three separate climbs that varied in difficulty and necessary maneuvers, completely humbling me and giving me an entirely new respect for rock climbers. To cap off the lesson, I repelled down from the top of "Open Book" twice, each providing a 120 foot free fall, with nothing preventing me from being pancaked at the bottom but my right hand controlling the speed of the rope passing through my harness.

After the lesson, Peter said that I was prepared to do several different climbs in the Tetons, so before leaving the area, I signed up to climb Baxter's Peak on Monday morning. I then made my way to Climber's Ranch where I could pay $5 for a shower...and it was well worth it. It had been at least a week since my previous cleaning and after all the hiking and climbing I had been doing, I could barely stand my own stench.