The climbing plan was a classic: summit the Grand Teton via the Owen Spalding route, a meandering trek to the top of Wyoming’s most famous peak that was first established in 1898. But the forecast for our shoulder season trip was unreliable; heavy with smoke from the fires burning across the West one day, rainy the next. I.e. about as trustworthy as the ropework of one of the Stetson and snip tip boot-wearing tourists at Jackson's Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.
Would it go? Maybe.
First we had to get up to the base of the nearly 14,000-foot peak. Kitted out by Mountain Hardwear, we set off with the Jackson Hole Mountain Guides in mid-September for their last summit attempt of the year before packing up base camp for winter. The initial hike was lovely as far as getting your ass kicked goes: the approach switchbacked through 5,000 feet of elevation gain over six miles of Grand Teton National Park’s early fall foliage.