Alpine/Mountaineering

Friday August 22th.

I believe my alarm went off sometime in the 7:00 hour. I don't know for sure because I told it to be quiet and went back to sleep. Another alarm went off at 8:15 and I knew it really was time to get up now. I had to convince myself, then Jason, but we dragged ourselves out of bed and into the car so we could start the days adventure.... actually hiking, for the first time on the trip.

Thursday August 21st.


It was 7:30 and I woke up to the sound of hammers. I suppose this is the problem with living in a newly constructed development. I don't know how anyone does it. I fought off the notion that I should get up for another half hour and then worked my way into Travis' office where he was already at work, being distracted by Jason. It would have been fun to hang out for a bit, but we knew it was in our best interest to get to the Tetons as soon as possible in the hopes of getting our backcountry permits. We hit the road at around 9:00, excited for what the day would hold.

The 4 hour drive from Logan to Jackson was a fairly interesting one. It was my first time driving through Logan Canyon, the first time in a long time I had seen Bear Lake, and then there were all the small towns dotting the route. Occasional roadside stands of Buffalo Jerky. We got to follow the Snake River for several miles through the mountains, watching rafters go over the rapids. Before too long (at least in hindsight) we were entering Jackson. We were both hungry, but decided to head straight to the ranger station to have the best chance of getting a permit.

Then we got a little lost.

It wasn't my fault this time. We weren't going to predict this one. But this knowledge didn't help the sting of disappointment we felt, and it certainly didn't help us figure out what to do now. I sat on the floor of the log cabin known as the Jenny Lake Ranger Station, and leaned up against the wall. I stared ahead, thinking. Occasionally my eyes would glance to the right and stare down the conditions board. "Owen-Spalding: Icy, crampons recommended for descent. Full alpine conditions". I wasn't in the mood to slip on verglas and fall off the Grand Teton. My crampons were more than 200 miles away. We were just not prepared.

Jason broke my trance: "Don't you really need to pee?"

I had forgotten. I stood up and we walked out of the ranger station. I intentionally left my backcountry permit on the desk.

I'm in pain. It's not what you think.

So it took a few months. At least I did it... Be sure to watch the annotations. It's like the old VH1 pop-up videos, only less enlightening.