Attempting the Grand

I have always had a desire to climb the Grand Teton someday and although I never really actively tried to find a time to climb it I knew that someday I would get my chance. I had also decided that if I ever did climb it I better make it because I didn't want to do it twice! Well, the good news is I finally got my chance to climb the Grand, the bad news is we didn't make it so I'm going to have to try it again. But it OK!

So our fun began Friday night... Or should I say, Saturday morning at midnight when we left the comforts of our warm home so we could be hiking by 1:30. I wish I would have been wearing a watch so I could keep track of all the times, but I didn't, so I don't know when we reached certain points.

 We all stripped down pretty quick after we started hiking. Crystal and I sporting the spandex pants!

 A really cool night shot Scotty got!

 We made it to The Wall (I think that's what it is called. With the fixed rope) right before the sun came up.

 It was pretty slow moving because of all the ice.

 Looking down onto the Lower Saddle

 We didn't get a lot of Pictures. But this is our descend from the Upper Saddle. Because of all the snow it was very slow moving and took a lot more time then we had planned for. A couple of guides had told us that the Owen Spalding route (which was the route we planned on taking) was very icey and they hadn't even taking anyone on it the day before because of all the snow and ice. We didn't feel like it was worth the risk of trying. Especially since none of us had done it recently or at all. We were pretty bummed.

 Either way it is a beautiful hike!

 Finished! The last 4 miles go on FOREVER!!!

I think from start to finish it ended up taking us just over 16 hours.  Although it was a hard hike. And one I had hoped I would only have to do once. I will be trying it again. It sucked to get so close to the top only to have to turn around. The next time around though I am going to train. I think that will make it a little easier and enjoyable.