One week ago on August 12, Bill and I packed up the Black Panther for the 3 hour drive back to the Wind River Range. The Panther hasn't gotten much road trip action since I moved to Jackson, and it was jonesin' for the open road. We left Jackson around 1pm headed for Big Sandy trailhead and the famous Cirque of the Towers. The first 5.5 miles of the hike are super easy and flat, with the final few miles more strenuous as you cross Jackass Pass and drop into the Cirque.
We'd gotten a glimspe of the Cirque from nearby Haystack Mountain on our last climbing trip in The Winds and couldn't wait to stand within this ring of jagged peaks. When looking at it from afar, I recall thinking it looked ominous, foreboding, a little evil. Razor sharp peaks of granite shooting upwards in every direction. If I had seen lava spewing out of the top of Pingora with thousands of Orcs marching to battle I wouldn't have been surprised.
Warbonnet far left. Cirque far background.
The vibe entering the Cirque was a little less dark, but intimidating none-the-less. As you come over Jackass Pass, Warbonnet is the first peak to greet you to the west. Pingora looms to the north. Wolf's Head's razor-like ridge draws immediate attention.
We found an awesome secluded campsite right beside a small stream and finally shed the packs. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but hiking 9 miles with a pack full of camping gear, food and water; in addition to my harness, shoes and the full climbing rack, still kicks my ass. Dinner was promptly cooked and we discussed next morning's plan over a hot meal and some hot tea.
Camp. South Buttress of Pingora and Wolfs Head.
Our objective was the Northeast Face of Pingora Peak. I always get a little nervous the day before an unfamiliar climb and this was no different. As I said earlier, the Cirque is intimidating. Gorgeous and surreal, but intimidating. I was mostly concerned about time. This was supposedly a 10-11 pitch climb over 1200 vertical feet and there were a few spots where people tend to get off route.
At 4:30am the alarm went off and we quickly cooked some oatmeal and downed some black tea. We were at the base of the climb a little before 7 and encountered another party who was opting to bail because they didn't like the look of the weather. You can bail on rap anchors through the 3rd pitch so we decided to go for it and play it by ear. The first pitch is a long traverse into the crack system; so I lead the first 2 pitches, then we started swapping leads. We were using a 70m rope so we just ran it out where we could. Using our topo we were keeping an eye out for the "off-route traverse", but never really had any route-finding problems. We told ourselves that this was due to our superior, Teton-honed route-finding skills. The crux of the climb is actually 2 options. One is a flaring 5.8 crack and the other is a 5.9 layback. Whichever one you choose, it's the crux of the climb. Bill inadvertently chose the 5.9 layback and cranked through with no problem. After pulling through this section, we realized we were much further along than we previously thought.
Bill above the layback. High on the Northeast Face.
A couple more pitches of easy climbing (through a not so "easy" chimney) and we were on top. We'd done the climb in about 6 hours and 7 pitches. The 70m rope really helped speed the process up. Lucky for us, it had been cloudy, cool and devoid of wind, making communication on the face easy. To make it even better, we were the only group on the route all day. Abnormal for one of the50 "Crowded" Climbs of North America. The icing on the cake was finding a well-used but bomber .75 BD C4 Cam near the summit. I'm a shameless booty collector, snaking nuts and jammed cams when I can. We bumped into an Argentinian climbing guide and his client who snapped a quick photo of us on top.
On top of Pingora. East Ridge of Wolfs Head behind.
Back at camp, we ate some Swedish Fish and napped in the tent until it was time for dinner. That night I slept better than I've ever slept in the backcountry. Out at 11, I didn't budge till my watch went off at 4:30am....then I hit the snooze button and slept for another hour. We finally rolled out of bed and were greeted to an awesome sunrise. The granite rock surrounding camp lit up pink by the sun.
Sunrise.
Camp Alpenglow.
After going through the wake-up process, we started hiking towards Wolf's Head. The East Ridge of Wolf's Head, is an easy (5.6) climb with incredible exposure and improbable traverses around multiple towers. If you rope up for every portion of this climb, you're in for a long day. Bill and I felt comfortable enough going solo for about the first half. Early on in the climb, you go up a 30 degree, 2 foot wide, 300 foot long slab; outer space on either side. Freaking AWESOME.
Negotiating the slab on the East Ridge.
The rest of the climb involves traversing around, over and through various towers on the ridge until you reach the summit. Wolf's Head lived up to its reputation and was nothing but pure fun. I feel it's always good when you find yourself laughing in the middle of a climb. I laughed and smiled often on this one.
I hope this rock holds.
A party behind us making their way through the towers.
On the summit tower of Wolf's Head.
After some always annoying downclimbing through steep gullies filled with loose rock and a few clumsy climbers (one party was prone to kicking off large rocks), we made it back to camp where we chilled for a while before making the long hike out. We were back at the truck in just under 4 hours and soon headed back to Jackson.
Cooling off in one of the thousands of lakes in the Winds.
If you're looking for stellar rock and classic climbs, the Cirque is the place. This is true alpine style climbing. Big climbs in a remote location. But it isn't just for climbers. As with any spot in the Winds, it is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and comes highly recommended to anyone willing to don the pack and hike a few miles.
This past weekend (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday for me) I was able to get on top of two of the Tetons' Cathedral peaks. On Wednesday (Aug. 1), Katie and I made the fun scramble up Teewinot and on Friday (Aug. 3) I guided some friends up the Grand via the Owen-Spalding route.
Since doing Mt. Moran, Katie's had a bit of summit fever and was really wanting to bag another Teton peak. The Middle Teton was considered, but we decided on Teewinot since there is literally no approach to this fun scramble. The climbers trail up Teewinot starts about 100 feet north of the bathrooms in the Lupine Meadows trailhead, and ascends directly up the east face of the mountain. We watched the weather till about 10am, then decided to go for it.
Above the treeline, a seasonal snowfield is encountered and, depending on the time of year, an ice axe and/or crampons may be necessary. We brought along axes but could have easily gotten by without them. After the snowfield, it's basically a scramble up the path of least resistance while staying right of the main chimney on the east face. There ARE a few exposed 4th class moves with high consequence, so bringing along a harness and a thin alpine rope isn't a bad idea. I've had a few friends have trouble finding the true summit of the mountain as there a number of summit pinnacles (Teewinot is a Shoshone word meaning "many pinnacles"). We had no trouble at all finding the true summit, due in part to the awesome new guide book Teton Rock Climbs by local climber Aaron Gams.
Once on top, we were welcomed by breathtaking views of Mt. Owen and the North Face of the Grand. Since I've got the North Face of the Grand on my checklist, it was good to get a up-close view of it. Needless to say, it is pretty intimidating. One thing I noticed was how much steeper the First Ledge looked from up high.
The First Ledge is the high snowfield center of the face above the black water streaks.
A cool panorama that Katie took of me on the summit. The tiny summit pinnacle and massive exposure are pretty exciting.
Katie looking rad in her new helmet.
The decent follows the ascent route back down the east face. We pulled out the rope at the exposed 4th class section for a bit of added safety. A couple more hours of easy downhill hiking brought us right back to the car and we headed to the Q for a buffalo burger, some chicken fried chicken and a Lagunita's Pale Ale. Another great day in Tetons in the books.
I'd previously agreed to take a good friend and a friend of his from New Orleans up the Grand on Friday, so I used Thursday to rest up for the adventure. William and Eric hiked up to the Lower Saddle to camp Thursday night, while I planned to leave the trailhead at midnight and meet them at the lower saddle around 3:30am. I left the parking lot just after midnight as planned and was at the meadows in 1hr 15 min, hiking most of it by the light of the massive full moon. When I got to the saddle, the temp had dropped significantly and the wind was howling. William and Eric's Kmart tent apparently wasn't doing the job as I found them bivied on the ground huddled behind some rocks. I don't think they got very much sleep that night. This proved to be just the beginning of an interesting trip up the Grand.
We let the a few of the guided parties get a little ahead of us, then started making our way to the Upper Saddle. The wind didn't show any signs up letting up as we squeezed through the Eye of the Needle and continued scrambling. At the Upper Saddle, we roped up and led the traverse across the famous Belly Crawl. This is where things got weird. Upon building an anchor below the chimney and setting up the belay, I heard the thunder of rockfall echoing towards me from the Enclosure with different people yelling back and forth. I knew William and Eric were out of harms way, but the first thing that came to mind was that someone had somehow slipped at the Upper Saddle and fallen down the Black Ice Couloir. I was sure something terrible had just happened.
Almost ready to break down the anchor and bail altogether, I heard William yell that Eric was ready to come over. I belayed Eric over to the anchor, then started bring William along.Then another wave of rockfall was heard. For some reason, people at the rappel stations above the saddle kept showering the upper saddle with rocks. A guide yelled up to them to, and no more rockfall was heard. Soon, Exum guides and their clients politely passed us at the double chimney.
The rest of the the climbing to the top went as planned, although the wind and the number of people on the route made it a bit frustrating. After a short chill session on the summit, we started making our way back down to the rappels. I think Eric wanted to kiss the ground when he finally touched down on the upper saddle. The rest of the trip was standard. Steep hike down to the lower saddle, negotiating the fixed rope down to the moraine, and the seemingly never-ending hike back to the car.
I was really impressed with how well Eric performed. William had been up before, so I knew he would be fine, but I was concerned about the change in elevation for Eric. Coming from below-sea-level New Orleans to climbing The Grand in 2 days is no easy feat, and he did it with style in New Balance running shoes (which were completely shredded by the end of the trip) Congrats Eric!
Eric Sella (left) and William almost back to the lower saddle.
It's Tuesday, which means it's my Friday and almost time for another adventure. With the next three days off, Bill and I are headed back into the Wind River Range to the famous Cirque of the Towers. Our objectives: the Northeast Face of Pingora Peak and the East Ridge of Wolf's Head; both of which are included in Roper's Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. Hopefully I'll be checking back in a few days with a couple more peaks under my belt. Until then, chill out to the smooth grooves of Steely Dan as you imagine yourself cruising the open road with the windows down:
