Middle Teton Climb, Wyoming

OK, so I'm only about a week behind updating my blog. Much of the time my evenings have been out of i-range, and other times I was too tired or otherwise busy... so there! Beth and I have been in Napa Valley since Saturday the 29th, for a few days of stay-in-one-place r&r, and we're enjoying the hospitality of the Beaumonts, the slow pace, and the fine weather.

But first, my little escapade on Middle Teton in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

In July I climbed Grand Teton and Mount Teewinot. I contracted a good case of Teton Fever, the only known cure for which is to climb Mount Owen, Middle Teton, and South Teton, thus completing the key peaks of this beautiful range. It is a beautiful, sharp, dramatic range of mountains, compact, endlessly photogenic, and with the pointy summits that confirm you're at the top of a real mountain. When I learned I'd have some, umm, spare time this fall I knew instantly where I would return.

From the left, South/Middle/Grand Teton, Mount Owen, Teewinot Mountain.

Long story short, my plan was to traverse all five peaks (and a couple smaller sub-peaks), repeating my July ascents of the Grand (a North Ridge route this time) and Teewinot in a three-day route called The Grand Traverse. A showy name, indeed, but it wasn't to be! A little snow, a little ice, some rain, guide-scheduling problems, and a guide coming up with a lame leg all conspired to keep me off most of the range, except for a glorious day climb up Middle Teton.

We had a pre-dawn start, blue-bird skies, and moderate temps. Part of what creates some of my climbing objectives is the opportunity to see other summits from my current summit, especially if I'm climbing several peaks adjacent to each other. Here are some summit views from Middle Teton of Mount Owen, Grand Teton, and Mount Teewinot.

Don't Worry, I'm OK.

Don't worry about me, I'm alright. Great tentsite on Jenny Lake, million-dollar view of Mount Teewinot (climbed it in July), steak on the campfire, bottle of beer, Fritos, barbeque sauce, and hot sauce!
Grand Teton, Mount Owen, Mount Teewinot



BRAVO for Josephine, and her supportive and encouraging friend Susan! Josephine and Susan were enjoying a fine walk around Leigh Lake, only seven weeks after Josephine's second knee replacement! They're from Connecticut, and this trip is Josephine's reward for her hard work at rehab. It was her second 1-1/2 mile hike in two days!








I took a beauty of a hike up to Holly Lake, about 13 miles round trip, at 9,450'.

Big Biking Hills in Wyoming Wednesday!

Hoback Canyon, and a double traverse of Teton Pass totalled over 6,500' of climbing in about 65 miles. My legs were feeling it coming up Teton Pass the second time on the return. Yowza, I'm not at home anymore... long, steep climbs, at altitude!

First, Hoback Canyon...


The careful reader will remember that I loved the drop through Hoback Canyon on my drive into Jackson, Wyoming, and I hoped to get back there on the velo. I did!

It's an 8-mile climb, easy rolling grades, gaining a little more than 1,300'. Beautiful scenery, changing leaves, sparkling water (the Hoback River, of course), and a fun descent.




Teton Pass was a totally different climb... a thigh burning cranker from bottom to top! It's the main drag from Wyoming into Idaho, and that climb from the Wyoming side is relentless, almost a steady 10% grade.

I met a United pilot from Boulder, CO, on the way up, and I hope we reunite in Boulder in a month. Here we are at the pass after climbing from the Wyoming side. Rod rented a bike in town during his overnight layover, and charged up the pass!



I then went alone down the Idaho side to Victor, and then back up the pass to return to Wyoming.
Ugly jerseys repel errant drivers.

I'm in Wyoming. So where's Dick Cheney?

My dad was stationed in Wyoming for a while, but that was evidently quite a while after Fort Sanders closed. He was here in the Air Force during the Korean War, helping to protect us and the good Koreans from some other Koreans, all so that someday his grandchildren, and the grandchildren of good Koreans, could all be roommates together at boarding schools in New England. This worked very well, as Will and Brittany can attest.

I heard that Cheney had his house removed from Google Earth. Now that's power. I've been looking for him. I saw a Halliburton pick-up truck, and I'm pretty sure it turned in Dick's driveway, then disappeared, probably part of the Google Earth removal service.

Wyoming is big and fairly empty, and way higher than I thought. I drove all day at 6,000 - 8,000 feet above sea level.
It's not like Nebraska. There aren't any planted crops, and there really aren't all that many herds of beef critters. Lots of sagebrush, wind, sand, and dirt. There are miles and miles between houses or ranches.

I could see I-80 nine miles ahead of me!

If you zoom in wicked tight on the locomotive, you'll see it says "George Bush 41, Presidential Library." Huh? (I don't know if this is related to the whole Cheney/Google Earth thing.)


C'mon, exactly 100? Sounds fishy to me. Btw, Bondurant was near where I saw the Halliburton truck.


I drove north, on a long, rolling descent through beautiful Hoback Canyon on my way into Jackson. Natalie McMaster played on the iPod shuffle... perfect! Looks like I might have to come back on the 'cycle in these next days!


Glad to be in Grand Teton National Park! Geez, haven't been here since July.

Bye Thoms, Bye Boulder. Northbound...

Thoms and me at the top of Berthoud Pass, Colorado, 11,315', on the Continental Divide (for the first of several times this trip!). Kind of a landmark, eh? Water in front of me flows to the Colorado River and the Pacific Ocean, water behind me flows to the South Platte (stuuuudents.... do you remember the Great Platte Valley from my first day in Nebraska?). It was a big climb, about 2,850' of vertical gain in 12.7 miles.




My speed here is estimated unofficially at 75+ mph. Could be a bit less than that, but that's how it felt anyway.

I had a fine time visiting Thomson. He looks more and more like someone who actually graduated from college, and wonders and worries about budgets and tax rates and career decisions and car repairs, and about Maddie-the-girlfriend and visiting friends and buying a new mountain bike and where we should go to dinner. He's a great son, and offers a fine sofa to sleep on, should you ever visit in Boulder... which is exactly where you should visit. We had a good-bye coffee at my favorite corner cafe near his place, bid adieu for a month, and I headed north for Wyoming.

Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning kept me from the summit of the Wetterhorn in Grindelwald, Switzerland a couple weeks ago, and it kept me off the summit of Long's Peak (Rocky Mountain National Park) early on Saturday morning. A scheduling snafu caused my climbing guide to cancel his rendezvous with me, ruling out the more-exciting technical routes up Long's, so I decided to go alone on the normal hiking route (Keyhole Route.)

Perfect timing! The light rain started exactly when I did, in the chilly dark at 2.30 AM on Saturday. The trail starts at 9,405', and by the time I was out of the trees (about 10,000') lightning backlit the high ridge I was heading for. It was windy and rainy, with some hail and some sleet, temps in the low 40's, dropping into the high 30's as I gained altitude. I felt good, and I was making good time. At about 12,100', at 4.30 AM, I met four grad students from CU, and we were all getting jumpy about the lightning and the general conditions. After some sort-of closer lightning, we decided to hunker down behind a boulder and see if the storm passed. By 5.30 it was still blowing and raining, lightning returned to the ridge, I bailed out, and I was taking a shower back at the bunkhouse by about 8! It was disappointing not to summit, but good to know I still can make the bail-out decision, too!
Looking back after sunrise during my retreat. That's Long's Peak in the background, with light snow on the right flank...




Smooth hiking... this isn't a New England trail!



On my way back to Boulder from RMNP, I met Eddie and Carol and their Honda Gold Wing. It's a big motorcycle, but I think it's smaller than the Golf. Eddie and Carol have logged over 20,000 miles of weekend and vacation touring on the big bike the last few years.

I'm thinking of trading in my old-fashioned pedal bike for wunna these motor bikes with the cushy seat.

(with pix) Thursday, Friday, Thomson, Boulder

Ooooh, Boulder, Colorado... one of my favorite places! The best climate, life is outside, great food, interesting people, and the vibrancy, mayhem, and pace of a college town.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon, in time for a bike ride part way up to Nederland on the Boulder Canyon road, while Thomson was at work. It's simple to ride up, up, uphill here, in three of the four compass directions! Awesome routes everywhere. Thoms and I ate at Hapa Sushi (as Beth said, "that figures, knowing Thomson!") (she knows Thomson), which has traditional and revolutionary Japanese food. We quickly bumped into part of the Gould Academy posse out here: Mike Lanigan and Aidan Payson. On Friday I had another great ride, that included a 1,700' climb that starts about a mile from Thomson's apartment! I was chatting with another rider at the top, and it turns out he owns the three Hapa Sushi restaurants... good chuckle, small world.

Boulder is a great place for beautiful cycling and napping horses.



And long, swoopy, curvy descents...

Nebraska Express, Wednesday

I had a beautiful day crossing Nebraska on back roads, reenacting my own Pony Express. Nebraska back roads are as straight as an arrow, less flat than you'd think, and with a 65 mph speed limit. I started the day at about 2,000' above sea level, and very gradually worked my way to over 3,500'.

Who's afraid of those dirt roads?!








And how 'bout this for a vet's name in cattle country?! "Hahhh. I'm Doctor Bob Stear, but my friends call me "Bum'."




Yes, there is such a place.



Corn, soybeans, and the beauty of the world's biggest agricultural factory were ubiquitous!

This feed lot holds 15,000 head of cattle! They fatten up here before their trip to the, ahh, well let's say before they make it to the drive-thru McWindow.
The rancher told me 15,000 head is a "small" feed lot! They range up to about 150,000 head, and I saw one of those big ones, inbound to Yuma, Colorado.



Dennis (the cyclist in yellow) is the happiest man I'll meet on this trip, riding 2,300 miles from Minneapolis to California! We met at the Nebraska-Colorado border, along with a couple from Vermont. Dennis first dreamed of this trip 5 years ago, and he is having the time of his life, spreading his ample good cheer to everyone he meets... what a guy, BRAVO Dennis! Check out his progress on his blog at www.DennisMcCoyBicycling.blogspot.com.


As Eddy Merckx said, Dennis, "Ride, ride, ride."