Day 76 - Grand Teton to Yellowstone

With a reservation for a "frontier cabin" at Mammoth Hot Springs at the very north end of Yellowstone, over 100 miles away, our group set out for an overview driving tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. But first we had to take the longest ski resort tram ride in the USA up 4200 vertical feet, riding for over 12 minutes, to the top of Rendevous Mountain.

The highlight of this voyage to me was the half dozen base jumpers "flying" off the mountain. They unloaded the parachutes from their packs, put on their helmets, straightened the cords, pulled until the parachute caught in the wind, quickly turned around and jumped off the 10,500 foot mountain. Here's a pic of Steve beginning his flight and two actual flyers in flight.

The views of the surrounding mountains were awe-inspiring. The Tetons could be seen to the north but sharp peaks and ridge-lines extended all around. This being the top of the ski resort, if this was winter, we would've skied down--not. The double blacks at the top were beyond my ski ability. We did take a great group shot and a great jump shot before descending on the tram.

Once down, we piled in the van and I proceeded to drive the boys north on a tour of Grand Teton, stopping first at Jenny Lake, then String Lake then Jackson Lake. After an Elk Chili lunch at the lovely Jackson Lake Lodge, we drove on to... Yellowstone!!

A competition to guess the number of wildlife groups we would pass on the road was won easily by Lanny with his high guess of 20-- we passed over 25 groups, mostly bison. We also passed some interesting mud pots and hot springs before arriving to Mammoth. We settled in, had a late dinner and then enjoyed a late night walk to the Travertine Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.

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Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit. We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white. By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately. As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments. This opening was my favorite. 14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly attained, the end of our 2

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small yet vast.

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