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.
- 0717_more_people_climbing 2850 visits
- 0719_way_out 2131 visits
- 0720_rocks 1999 visits
- 0721_pointy_gear_left_at_high_camp 2061 visits
- 0723_tent_and_trail 2328 visits
- 0724_more_peaks 2227 visits
- 0728_wildlife_at_high_camp 2117 visits
- 0735_looking_for_food 2021 visits
- 0737_marmot_2 2147 visits
- 0740_climbing_snowfield_for_middle_teton 1947 visits
- 0742_vegetation_again 2055 visits
- 0744_platforms_sign 2124 visits
- 0745_more_potential_climbing 1987 visits
- 0746_dave_at_crux 2163 visits
- 0747_turnoff_again 2190 visits
- 0750_yet_more_wildlife 2547 visits
- 0751_rundle_like 2266 visits
- 0753_the_grand 2037 visits
- 0756_boulders 1991 visits
- 0762_dave_cleaning_iceaxe 2183 visits
- 0764_back_at_trailhead 2009 visits
- 0765_scars 2134 visits
- 0767_climbers_ranch_view 2281 visits
- 0768_aac_climbers_ranch 2508 visits
- 0770_bikes 2064 visits
- 0771_ranch_and_tetons 2244 visits
- 0772_bouldering_at_climbers_ranch 2509 visits