Ascent of the Grand Teton, 1972 (also the Middle Teton)

We toured more of California, including the Bay area, and then drove back to the Tetons, by way of Seattle and the Canadian Rockies. Not a straight line, granted, but in Seattle was the REI store (the only one in those days), and I needed to buy climbing gear; and Canada's great Jasper and Banff National Parks seemed not all that much out of the way. Gas was about 40 cents a gallon (not adjusted for inflation nor changes in disposable per capita income). We didn't climb or hike in the Canadian Rockies--which are stupendously beautiful--but just did some scenic driving and day hikes and reconnaissance, figuring we were sure to return. We did, some years after moving to Montana in 1996.

FWIW, I have always been proud of my very low six-figure REI membership number. Present-day clerks appear to be impressed. Or maybe just deferential or nice to persons of age. Sometime in the 80s, en route to soloing the South Teton and Cloudveil Dome, I met member #4, who was apparently a former REI VP for research and development. I didn't bother to show him my card.

Anyhow, on arriving back at Jenny Lake, I went to the climbers' ranch and, via its bulletin board, found two other singletons interested in climbing in the area. One was a recent high school graduate--his father was superintendent of Sequoia NP--and he had just climbed Mt. McKinley. The other was a recent graduate of the Air Force Academy, en route to training and flying SR70s. He had done some Colorado climbing and obviously was fit. And smart. I was the organizer and elder of the group, at age 25, and clearly its least experienced and skilled member. It was as close as I ever got to being Lord Hunt.

Anyhow, it worked. We hiked up to the Lower Saddle, camped over-night there, climbed the Middle Teton the next day, camped again over-night on the Lower Saddle, then climbed the Grand the third day and hiked all the way back down to Jenny Lake. Exhausting but exhilarating. I can't say my memories of it all are crystal clear--they have been overlain by many more experiences in the Tetons and Winds and other mountains. But it was still the high point of my roped climbing career, brief as it was.

Teton midships: the Middle, the Grand, Mt. Owen, and
Teewinot; from the vicinity of Lupine Meadows

Upper reaches of the Grant Teton; our route, very roughly,
was the left-side ridge, the Exum Route

From the approach up Garnet Canyon, a view of the Middle
Teton; note the line in the middle, a black diabase dike; part
of the route goes up it...

Looking back toward Jackson's Hole

Alpenglow on the Grand, from the

Lower Saddle

Climbing up the black diabase dike on

the Middle Teton

Me on the summit of the Middle Teton: an electrifying
experience

The Grand Teton, from the summit of the Middle

Sunset phenomena on the Lower Saddle

Sunset over Idaho

Climbing up the Exum Route: a view of the Middle Teton

Looking down on the Lower Saddle, between the Middle

and the Grand

The one action shot of the climb...I think I led this pitch,
then handed the belay over to the Air Force guy

At the summit of the Grand, looking south down the range

And to Bradley and Taggart Lakes, and Jackson's Hole

Teewinot and Jenny Lake, and Jackson Lake beyond