It was time to get back to Salt Lake City for our flights the next day. This necessitated a super-alpine wake-up, so we woke at 7:30AM to see the day's parties on the snow traverse. There was evidence that it was, indeed, a good idea to hang one's food.
Fortunately, these critters aren't very smart and can't reach very high, so you don't have to try that hard to keep food out of their reach.
Hiking went quickly when not carrying extra jars of jam (or, indeed, any food at all), and soon enough we were back at treeline. Above treeline, the morainal terrain looks vaguely similar on many mountains (though there was more moraine here than on other mountains); it's when you go below treeline that you can observe differences in vegetation.
There's a lot of other climbing to do in the area, which is why the guidebook is so large. (It also has lots of historical information.) The crux of the descent is the boulder field at 8800', after which the trail is basically a sidewalk.
This time, it took us 3 hours and a half to get to the parking lot, crossing the boulder field and a stream, which Dave could use to clean his ice-axe. (Hint: don't hang your ice axe anywhere near your portable toilet.) We each paid the AAC $4 to take showers at the Climbers' Ranch---probably a good idea before the 6-hour drive. While I was waiting, I used the bouldering wall there.
We were back in civilization, or Utah's facsimile thereof, in the evening, after a stop at Wal-Mart along the way. Dave seems to enjoy making me to go Wal-Mart for some reason. Once back in SLC, we needed to eat. The theme for this trip seemed to be Mexican food, so we had that again, after which we had the fun of repacking everything for flights again. I haven't seen my base layer since then, but I hear that I might see it again one of these days, if Canada Post and the US Postal Service cooperate.

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0717_more_people_climbing
2735 visits
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0719_way_out
2050 visits
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0720_rocks
1929 visits
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0721_pointy_gear_left_at_high_camp
1975 visits
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0723_tent_and_trail
2232 visits
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0724_more_peaks
2152 visits
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0728_wildlife_at_high_camp
2045 visits
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0735_looking_for_food
1964 visits
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0737_marmot_2
2081 visits
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0740_climbing_snowfield_for_middle_teton
1879 visits
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0742_vegetation_again
1982 visits
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0744_platforms_sign
2057 visits
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0745_more_potential_climbing
1923 visits
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0746_dave_at_crux
2096 visits
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0747_turnoff_again
2135 visits
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0750_yet_more_wildlife
2474 visits
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0751_rundle_like
2196 visits
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0753_the_grand
1967 visits
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0756_boulders
1944 visits
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0762_dave_cleaning_iceaxe
2111 visits
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0764_back_at_trailhead
1931 visits
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0765_scars
2059 visits
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0767_climbers_ranch_view
2210 visits
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0768_aac_climbers_ranch
2409 visits
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0770_bikes
1995 visits
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0771_ranch_and_tetons
2170 visits
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0772_bouldering_at_climbers_ranch
2400 visits