The Flatiron

As you know, I don't seem to stay in one place for too long. The end of the summer seemed to come so quickly and looking back on all my adventures from the past couple months, it all seemed like a colorful dream. I really loved it out in Jackson, but it was time to come back to the east coast for the fall so Adam could finish up his degree at UMaine. Just because the summer is over doesn't mean the adventures have stopped...

3 AM came fast - so fast that I didn't even feel tired as I shut off the alarm and got out of bed. Adam and I had packed most of our gear the night before so all we had to do was get dressed and make some breakfast. By 3:15 AM we were on the road on the way up to Baxter State Park (our friend Kyle came too). Our plan for the day - climbing the technical alpine route "the Flatiron" up to the summit of Mt. Katahdin, the tallest peak in Maine. In order to climb technical routes up the mountain, you have to check in at the ranger station at Chimney Pond by 8 AM, to ensure that you have enough time to safely summit and make it back down. We were first in line at the park gate, so when it opened at 6 AM we parked and made the 3.3 mile hike from Roaring Brook to Chimney Pond.

The Flatiron route from Chimney Pond to the summit of Mt. Katahdin.

A close-up of the crack on the main face of the slab - the hardest section of the route.

After checking in with the ranger and refueling with some granola bars, we started out on the less traveled path to the summit of Katahdin. There is no marked trail leading to the climbing routes, but a "herd path" wraps around the side of Chimney Pond and leads up a water drainage to the technical rock. Once we climbed up various sections of steep rock intermingled with scree fields and scrambling we made it to the base of the large face slab. Before we started to tackle the hardest pitch of the route we took some time to enjoy the gorgeous view and eat our sandwiches. We had already been awake for about 10 hours and had been hiking and climbing for a little over half of that time. 

Adam and I scrambling up a section to reach the base of the slab. (Photo by Kyle)

Adam went first, traversing out onto the base of the slab until he reached the bottom of the crack, where he built the anchor. Next, I tied in and traversed out to the anchor, hauling Kyle's rope behind me. There was a small ledge - if you could even call it that - which Kyle and I were able to stand on to belay Adam as he began to lead the crack pitch. My hands were sweating just watching him make his way up this difficult crack. I was actually doubting at this moment if I would even be able to climb this... we aren't crack climbers! There aren't many opportunities to crack climb on the east coast so we just haven't had the chance to perfect the art of crack climbing - which, believe me, is it's own art within the realm of rock climbing. Despite this, however, Adam did an awesome job leading, and set up the next anchor. 

Kyle and I at the anchor while Adam gets ready to lead the next pitch of climbing. (Photo by Adam)

Looking down at Chimney Pond from our belay ledge - that's the drainage we followed up from the pond.

My turn was next! There is no feeling like the one you get when you step out onto a steep slab of rock - nothing but the friction of your shoes holding you to the wall and thousands of feet of exposure directly beneath you. But I was only aware of this for a moment - before long all I was thinking about was the placement of my hands and feet in order to make my way up the crack. 

Me seconding the crack pitch. (Photo by Kyle)

After another pitch of climbing, we were almost to the knife edge. We had a bit of easy climbing and scrambling but due to the extreme exposure we couldn't unrope so we simul-climbed to save time and climb faster - which is when we are all tied into the rope at the same time. The first person sets a piece of gear and the last person takes it out. 

Looking up at Knife Edge - almost there!

Looking down at Kyle and Chimney Pond while simul-climbing.

Finally, after many hours of hiking and climbing, we reached the summit! We took in the beautiful views, broke out our food, and switched over from our climbing shoes to hiking shoes.

This was only the halfway mark - we still had the entire descent ahead of us. We packed up our climbing gear and started the hike back down to Chimney Pond. By the time we made it back to our car the sun had set and we were completely exhausted. It was such a long day, but probably one of my favorite climbs to date.  

Wild Iris Weekend

Last weekend Adam and I made a trip out to Lander, Wyoming to climb at Wild Iris, "one of the most beautiful rock climbing areas in America with some of the fiercest short climbs anywhere". There are so many different walls with endless amounts of sport climbs, which made it hard to leave at the end of the week. We couldn't have picked a better spot though. There were numerous campsites parallel to the crag, which meant we literally rolled out of bed, walked 5 minutes down the trail, and was at the base of the climbing wall. Saturday we took it easy and explored around the crag a bit. It was overwhelming trying to pick out climbs because we wanted to climb it all!
We warmed up on a route called Phat Phinger Phrenzy (5.8), which was a blast...

One of my favorite climbs of the weekend was a route called Ride Me Cowgirl (5.10b), which has some awesome mono pockets and all around fun moves...

Steph and Ryan Visit!

The first weekend of August Stephanie and Ryan came out to visit! Their first day here we went for a hike around String Lake and up into the lower part of Paintbrush Canyon. The whole hike, we kept passing hikers who warned us of a grizzly bear that was hanging around the trail, however, we never seemed to cross paths with it.

Steph and I crossing the bridge on String Lake.

Steph and I at lower Paintbrush Canyon.

We spent the night camped at the Gros Ventre campground down in the valley, where we made dinner and enjoyed a bottle of Ryan's homemade wine around the camp fire. The next day I took them for a hike part way up Death Canyon. They were able to see some pika and other neat wildlife of the area.

Steph and I on the trail up through Death Canyon. 

Their last day we woke up early and made our way up through Yellowstone for the day. We stopped at the hotsprings and visited the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Steph and Ryan at the Grand Prismatic.

Steph and I at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Welcome to Miami

A few weeks ago a group of at risk teenagers from Miami, Florida came to Teton Science School for a 9 day wilderness therapy retreat. They were kids that have some sort of social disorder, behavioral issues, or anxiety disorders and as a result, partake in weekly therapy sessions (including rock climbing therapy) back in Miami. This group has been known to be one of the most challenging groups to work with, and, although it was challenging at times, it turns out it was my favorite group I worked with all summer.

Our group of kids from Miami, FL at the beginning of the program (ages 11 to 17). 

Myself, Katie E., Josh, Joe, and Matt McGee - the instructors and supervisor for the program.

It was really interesting working with these boys because they came from such a completely different world than I am used to. They are so disconnected from nature and their environment living in the city and constantly absorbed in their cell phones or i-pods. As we got to know each other more, they were in disbelief by my separation from life as they know it - they cringed when I said I had never heard of their favorite rap singers and that I did not have a T.V. to watch Saturday Night Live. We took the group on a couple day hikes to get used to elevation and on a canoe trip in Grand Teton National Park. The whole week culminated with a 3 day backpacking trip to Alaska Basin and the summit of Static Peak (11,303 ft). Prior to this retreat, most of the kids had never even been hiking before, so the idea of surviving out in a tent without technology (which is a main part of these kids lives) was pretty overwhelming for some of them. After hiking only 30 feet down the trail from the parking lot our youngest boy burst into tears. Josh and myself ended up carrying all the contents of his backpack in addition to our own belongings - and let me tell you, a first time backpacker from Miami does not pack lightly. Luckily this reduced his sobbing to only a slight sniffling and we managed to coax him all the way up to Alaska Basin, which was a huge accomplishment for him. Our first night a few of the boys were able to see their first shooting stars ever. They couldn't believe how many stars filled up the sky - in Miami they said you can't even see the sky most of the time.

Alaska Basin - the area we set up camp during our backcountry trip.

My tent and the gorgeous view I woke up to every morning while camping in Alaska Basin.

Our second day we woke up at 4:30 AM  - before the sun was even up - for an alpine start up Static Peak. The younger kids stayed behind with Katie and Joe while Josh and I led the group of older kids up the trail to try and summit their first real mountain. It was really amazing to see these kids who were constantly trying to maintain their "tough guy" and "cool" image work together and push each other so that they could all make it to the summit as a team. Some of the boys really surprised me by how supportive they were and their ability to show this softer side.

Wild lupine

One of the major highlights of our hike up Static was snow! Many of the kids, having lived in Miami all their life, had never seen snow before. They made their first snowballs ever (and got in trouble for hitting me with one), which was a pretty neat experience to be a part of. They even got the chance to learn how to glissade down steep snow, which wasn't the most graceful thing to watch. They disregarded the idea of breaking in order to slow down, so when I started down the snow after they had all gone they were amazed at how in control I stayed.

Glissading down a small patch of snow - one of the boys waiting for me at the bottom. 

The group did great and we all made it up to the summit of Static by early afternoon (with a bit of coaxing and complaining). Many of the boys play lacrosse on their high school team - they commented on how they had thought they were in really great shape and they couldn't believe how much they were huffing and puffing to make it up that mountain. I think it was a humbling experience for them - they seemed to have a new respect for the mountains and felt really accomplished when they did make it to the summit.

On the summit of Static Peak - pointing to the top of the Grand, which we had a great view of.

This was the most rewarding week of work - after working with these boys I feel like I may have made an impact (even if it was small) on their lives and how they view the world. It was definitely an emotional roller coaster. The last day the boys reflected on how big of an impact this trip has already had on their personal struggles they are dealing with. The boys who had tried so hard in the beginning to be "tough" were finally showing their true emotions and shedding tears in front of the entire group. In fact, one of the counselors that brought the group explained how he was a student on this trip last year and because of his experience here, he was able to overcome his anxiety problem, got taken off his medications, and is now a counselor for other students. 

  

After some exciting adventures, it has been nice to just relax with some low key activities. I went with my roommate Em and another intern, Jacob, to hike up to Laurel Lake - a beautiful glacial lake tucked up in the mountains. There is no formal trail going to the lake (only a herd path) so not many people know about it or hike to it.

Jacob, Em, and myself on a hike up to Laurel Lake. 

Sitting and enjoying the sounds of nature at Laurel Lake. 

I also did some bouldering and slacklining in town with some friends. People usually like to stop and watch (some people aren't sure what we are doing). Some ask to try it and are amazed at how much harder it is than it looks. 

Me slacklining at the bouldering park in town. 

Em and I having a slackline war - you both start on opposite sides and walk toward each other (the first one to fall loses). 

I also tried out a new climbing spot: Rock Springs Buttress, which is actually on the side of the Jackson Hole ski mountain. It is an amazing granite wall with amazing multi-pitch sport climbing. 

Looking down the canyon on Rendezvous Mountain - the rock face on the left is Rock Springs Buttress. 

The very steep trail going down from the summit to the climbing wall (that tiny speck below the big rock on the left is me!). 

The Grand Teton: A tale of mountain adventure

Only seconds after starting down the trail at Lupine Meadows a grizzly bear and two of her cub's walked out on the trail in front of us. We should have taken fate's warning and went home right then, however, a thick sense of adventure courses through our veins so we continued on our journey and thus, I recount this epic tale of adventure (or perhaps misadventure). 

I packed my backpack as soon as I got off work and waited for Josh to come pick me up. Josh, Adam, Jacob, and myself were planning to hike up to The Meadows (9,400 ft) in Garnet Canyon that night. Our goal was to wake up before sunrise and get an alpine start to climb the Grand Teton (13,770 ft), the tallest peak in the Teton Range. Jacob was planning on hiking around the meadows for the day while waiting for us to descend because all the routes up the Grand require technical climbing and he is not a climber. After getting off to a late start (7ish pm?) to begin with, our bear encounter only prolonged time spent before we got on the trail. We were forced to get back in our car and drive to the climber's ranch to start hiking from a different trailhead in order to avoid the bears.

Ominous clouds followed us up the trail that first night, however, we were lucky we only got rained on the slightest bit.

Eventually we were cruising up the trail. About halfway up the switchbacks to Garnet Canyon Adam came to a short stop and I crashed into the back of him - there was a huge bull moose standing in the middle of the trail. We quickly backed up, allowing the moose some space due to his unfriendly response to our presence. The moose was not moving and we were losing sunlight, however, there was nothing we could do but wait. There was no way we were going to walk any closer to that moose. After a good 15 minutes the moose started walking down hill off the trail and we were able to cut up off the trail and make a wide enough circle around the moose before connecting back up with the trail. We made much progress up the trail after this, but we were soon left to finish the hike by headlamp, as the sun had set and stars were beginning to blink into sight. We finally arrived at the Meadows and began looking for a relatively flat spot to pop up our tents. We were crossing a snowfield when we all stopped dead in our tracks. There were two glowing eyes at the bottom of the snowfield among some small willow plants. Are you kidding me?! As a wildlife ecology major I am usually overly excited with wildlife viewing opportunities - I was not amused. By this time our imaginations were running wild with all the possibilities of what creature these eyes might belong to. Adam started walking towards the eyes, trying to investigate further while we all held our breath and waited... As soon as he got close he began laughing. It was two reflectors on someone's tent that had been catching the light of our headlamps. 

We were exhausted so we slapped together our two tents. The golden moon appeared to be almost full and sat in the sky just above the canyon walls. We finally got to bed around midnight, although it was a relatively sleepless night, as we had three people crammed in a two person tent and the lack of a flat surface meant that we were constantly sliding down to the foot of the tent. We woke up just before sunrise and backed a light day pack for our summit attempt. 

Josh, Adam, and I packing up at our tent at first light on the morning of our summit attempt.

Adam, myself, and Josh starting up the trail - the first rays of sunlight hitting the top of the peaks.

We made great time on the trail and stopped to harness up by the late morning. We were climbing the Petzoldt Ridge route, which is rated 5.7 (although this is an easy grade Teton climbing is notorious for being much more challenging than the average ratings and the exposure of these climbs are extreme). The technical climbing was really exciting - the exposure really gets your adrenaline pumping. There are thousands of feet of vertical exposure as you look down, which is much different from your average sport climb. The rock was beautiful granite, although there was a good amount of loose rock, which made everyone cautious when climbing above others. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until we got to the second pitch of the climb and we saw huge storm clouds rolling in. The weather in the Tetons is highly variable and changes super fast. Weather comes in from the southwest, which is blocked by the mountains, and, as a result, allows storms to easily sneak up on you. Exactly this happened - we heard the first roll of thunder and I felt a bit of panic. A granite peak - in fact the tallest granite peak - is not the place you want to be in the middle of a thunderstorm. I suggested that we bailed right then and rappelled down, which would mean losing some of our personal gear, since there were no rappel anchors at this point. Adam said that if we kept climbing a few more pitched up there would be a bail site of a route called Wall Street with a fixed anchor so we would not have to leave any gear behind. We agreed on this and kept climbing up. The climbing was fairly easy, however, the sky was getting darker and the thunder was getting closer. We finally reached the top of Petzoldt Ridge and it started hailing. We were so close to summitting, however, it was just not safe with the weather conditions to do so. We did not see the rappel anchor for the Wall Street bail route and the weather was not holding out any longer for us (hail and thunder) so we started building our own anchor to rappel off of, which was not a quick undertaking. We ended up having 4 rappels (which meant building 4 different anchors) in order to get down from the technical rock. We were happy to be back down on the trail (although it is still loose steep scree rock, which is not the easiest to travel over) and it was no longer hailing. The thunder seemed to be getting farther away as well. Our only problem now was that it too much longer to rappel than it would have from the fixed anchor so we were running out of daylight. We were once again hiking back to our tent in the dark. Josh and I were both suppose to work in the morning so we had planned on hiking all the way out that night, but we were all exhausted and hiking in the dark exhausted just did not seem like a safe idea so we hunkered down for another night in the Meadows and at first light (another relatively sleepless night) we packed up and hiked out to the trailhead. As soon as we had service we called Jacob and my roommates so that they knew we were safe (they also notified our boss so that they knew we would be a bit late). Josh and I picked up breakfast burritos on the way back to campus - they were by far the BEST breakfast burritos we have ever tasted. Sitting through our staff meeting that day I could barely keep my eyes open from the lack of sleep in the past 48 hours. That night I slept like a rock (and for work the next day I had to day hike a 14 mile route up to Alaska Basin). Word got around the school about our epic adventure and thus began my reputation, as my fellow instructors would say, as a "total bad-ass". 

(The next chance we get we are going to try again and hope for better weather so that we can actually summit!)

Glissading!

Here's a video that Adam took of me glissading down the Middle Teton... just got my hands on it and thought you might get a kick out of it! Enjoy!

Camping Trip in Yellowstone

A couple weeks ago I brought my first group - 11 eighth and ninth graders from Pennsylvania - to Yellowstone for 3 days of exploring and 2 days of camping. What an exhausting three days... but despite the lack of sleep we managed to pull off a fairly smooth trip that the kids really enjoyed.

The first day we packed up the vans and drove from Jackson up to West Thumb in Yellowstone, where we explored the geothermal features, including hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. 

A hot spring at West Thumb, Yellowstone.

A mud pot at West Thumb, Yellowstone.

We also stopped at Dragon's Mouth, another great geothermal area. 

Dragon's Mouth is a hot spring measuring 170.2°F.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is roughly 20 miles long and was formed due to erosion from the Yellowstone River, which is the longest undammed river in the continental U.S. We hiked the South Rim Trail up to Artist Point, which gave us amazing views of the Lower Falls as well as the rest of the canyon. The falls is twice the height of Niagara Falls. 

The view from Artist Point looking down the canyon at the Lower Falls and the Yellowstone River. 

The following morning we woke up with the sun and headed up to Lamar Valley, which is known to be a great place for viewing wildlife, especially wolves. Multiple coyotes crossed the road on the drive up to the valley and a few bison herds grazed in nearby meadows with their young. Once we made it to the valley we walked up a small hill overlooking the valley where a group of people were already congregated. I knew there must be wolves in the valley because Rick McIntyre, the leading wolf biologist of the Yellowstone area, was on the hill with his spotting scope set up. (You can always spot him easily by his bright yellow car parked alongside the road. I met him when I went to Yellowstone two summers ago.) Sure enough the alpha female of the Lamar wolf pack was crossing the valley below with a fawn in her mouth. You could see her with your bare eyes, however, watching her through the spotting scope was amazing - you could see the beautiful details of the animal. Shortly after we realized that there was another wolf on the hill behind us - the alpha male of the pack. He is a beautiful dark gray as oppose to the female which is a light gray to white color. 

A beautiful male elk we passed while driving. 

Bison grazing in a meadow alongside the road.

An adorable baby bison catching up with his mother.

A pronghorn pausing for a moment among the sagebrush - they are the fastest land mammal in North America, reaching speeds up to 60 mph.

After our excitement in Lamar Valley we hiked out to Trout Lake, where we saw Rainbow Trout and Cutthroat Trout swimming up river to spawn. It's amazing what these fish are capable of and the amount of energy they expend to spawn upstream - swimming up small waterfalls and against strong downstream currents. 

Trout Lake

Trout swimming upstream to spawn.

In the afternoon we hiked up Mt. Washburn, which rises 10,243 ft above the west side of the canyon looking down in to the Yellowstone caldera. 

Summit of Mt. Washburn.

The view looking down from the summit of Mt. Washburn. 

Climbing Middle Teton

On my day off last week I climbed up the Middle Teton, the third highest peak in the Teton Range (12,804 ft). We took the Ellingwood Couloir route up the south side of the peak. At 5:00 AM we started out on the trail from the American Alpine Club Climber's Ranch in Moose. The sky was lit up with the most spectacular sunrise - bright pinks and purples. Two elk grazed in the open meadow, fleeing as we made our way up the trail. The forest was alive with the singing of many morning songbirds and only the tops of the highest peaks were golden with the morning's first rays of sunlight.
We hiked up through Garnet Canyon, reaching the Meadows, which was still covered in snow.

Me starting up the snowfield at the Meadows with Garnet Canyon in the background. 

Looking up at part of the Middle Teton from the Meadows. 

Once we got past the Meadows, the snow became steeper, so we strapped on our crampons and exchanged trekking poles for our ice axe. 

Kick-stepping our way up, we slowly but surely made it to the top of the saddle and had an amazing view looking down on Icefloe Lake, the Teton's highest elevation alpine lake. 

Looking down on Icefloe Lake (still frozen over) from the top of the saddle.

From this point we turned sharply to the right to start directly up the side of the peak. After scrambling up some loose rock, the terrain turned to 4th Class and it was back to traveling on snow - the steepest and hardest section of the climb. 

Scrambling up the loose rocky section of the route. 

Back on the snow, making our way up the couloir.

At around 2:00 PM we finally reached the summit! 

USGS summit marker!

View from the top of Middle Teton looking into Idaho.

Sitting on the summit with an amazing view of the Grand to the right.

From the summit we had amazing views of the Grand, which is directly next to Middle Teton (and 1,000 ft taller). We ate lunch and started back down, heel kicking down the steep couloir and then glissading down the rest of the snow fields, which was a blast (although my butt was numb by the time we made it to the base of the last snow field)! 

Descending the snow couloir - ice axe in one hand and a trekking pole in the other. 

Once we made it back to the canyon, the last of the hike out seemed long since we were tired. We made it off the trail and back to the climbers ranch parking lot at 7:00 PM - a 14 hour day, exhausted but definitely worth it.