Hike Grand Teton via Owen-Spalding Route Grand Teton National Park, WY

Sep 06, 2022 — The iconic Grand Teton! Who would have thought a dumb Jersey boy like myself would ever be doing a thing like this, unguided? I'm actually coming up on my first road trip's 10-year anniversary, which was when I first laid my eyes upon this impossibly cool mountain, so looking up at it now played with some fun memories. The camping situation surrounding Jackson WY is a mess, so we booked a few nights at the AAC cabins at the base of the mountain and couldn't have been happier with the convenience and comfort it offered.

The morning of the hike, Chris, Matt, Jon, and I grabbed our bags and set out at an hour so early I can't even remember the time and began the climb for the Grand Teton via the Owen-Spalding route. I'm not a fan of early starts, but the dreaded B-word would have been a far worse alternative. Backpacking seems to be the option many prefer, but we didn't want to worry about overnight permits in Grand Teton National Park, and I quite dislike the activity. Despite waking up early and making quick progress to the base of the technical climb, starting later than backpacking parties meant we had to wait for hours in line to complete the route. To me the trade-off was well worth it, but I'd say you should be expecting to wait regardless of the time you start. That is, of course, unless you plan to freesolo the route, in which case you get a fast pass. Bravado from folks on the internet saying ridiculous things like "you're not a true climber if you don't solo the OS route" has led to more risky behavior in the mountains, and although I'm sure the many people who passed us lowly non-climbers using *gasp* ropes while we waited in the conga-line were experienced mountaineers, a popular route like this boasting how "easy" the climb is could mean a future of accidents. Don't be pressured into thinking you need to freesolo to be competent, ever. Anyway, that all said, the Grand is a wonderful route and with the right skills and company, it's a glorious experience. Chris, our valiant, gorgeous leader, got us through the technical stuff safely as always.

The Owen-Spalding route is the standard, least technical option for summitting Grand Teton and was our choice for the day. Reportedly YDS 5.4, the rock is solid and the route-finding often complex. After setting out from the Lupine Meadows Trailhead, we proceeded to the Garnet Canyon Trail as it made long switchbacks up the lower slopes of the Tetons. Only a half hour into our hike, we started noticing small white flakes in the air. Snow? No, it was far too warm. Ah, ash from wildfires. Lovely. We only briefly considered the health of our lungs and the scratchiness in our throats before deciding there was no way we'd be turning back and continued on, pretending we weren't actively and quite voluntarily decaying our respiratory systems.

The sun began rising shortly after we entered the mouth of Garnet Canyon, just in time to see the stunning introduction of the route to come, as well as the surrounding granite monoliths and the vertical black dike on the face of Middle Teton. The trail became a bit more difficult to follow as it led through a boulder field (Class 2), but soon emerged into an area known as "The Meadows". This is one of the overnight camping options, evidenced by tents scattered about. I'd been this way on a previous trip to Middle Teton, but the route to Grand Teton diverges from this slightly more popular trail before entering The Meadows. A less obvious trail leads to the right and begins ascending a quickly steepening slope. Fortunately the route is easy to follow here, enough Grand Teton traffic creating a clear trail. After gaining elevation, the trail continued generally northwest as it hugged the base of some cliffs and ascended above a notable waterfall. A bunch more vertical gain on tight, eroded switchbacks (nothing exceeding Class 2) brought us to the mouth of a wide boulder field. At the distant end of this extended obstacle we could see what's commonly known as the "lower saddle" of the route. Reaching it was less difficult than the boulders suggested, the majority of the way there being on a reasonably-cairned or carved trail. One section got a bit trickier, requiring some Class 2/3 rock-hopping on massive boulders, but it was short-lived.

A few hundred feet below the lower saddle, we encountered the first real scrambling of the day, a Class 4 headwall made easier using a fixed rope. Above this, the trail continued to the lower saddle, where another set of tents were strewn about. I breathed lightly, happy I wasn't one of the poor souls who spent the night. It was cold enough 5000 feet below in our cabins, thank you very much. The lower saddle is the low point separating Grand Teton from Middle Teton, and marks the start of the true route-finding and scrambling for the Owen-Spalding route. We headed north along the ridge, taking a pretty clear trail that didn't exceed Class 2 for a few hundred feet. The much steeper face of Grand Teton loomed above, the route a bit difficult to discern from this low. However, once we inched higher along the ridge crest, the weakness we would be using became more obvious. Keeping left, Class 2/3 fun scrambling led through a very wide gully and up to about 12500'. Here, a short ledge led to the right and through a rabbit hole. A Class 3 move along another ledge brought us to the next set of fun Class 2/3 scrambling. We were all enjoying ourselves immensely, completely thrilled at how fun the route was going so far. With only a few more short Class 3 moves and a few more hundred vertical feet, we reached what's known as the "upper saddle".

The upper saddle marks the beginning of the technical portion of the Owen-Spalding route. A Class 3+ move brought us up a short (somewhat exposed) headwall just past the saddle. Just ahead we could see a striped wall that would serve as our rappel spot later in the day. Also ahead was a nice accumulation of about 12 climbers at the first crux of the route, marking the beginning of a series of obstacles that hangs out over thousands of feet of exposure using a delightful crack in the mountain face. We did this portion as three short pitches, mostly because the parties ahead of us had also chosen to do so and we wanted to keep moving, even if only a few feet, in an attempt to forget the brisk mountain air. All the waiting made for plenty of time to make new friends and giggle, so I can't complain too much. However, all the waiting at high altitude triggered Jon's rectum to do what rectums do. After using a wag-bag incorrectly, my yells/squeals of disgust/delight at the smell embarrassed him immensely because I'm a horrible friend. He made haste to triple-pack his wag-bag into multiple sandwich bags, so hastily in fact that he didn't bother to even remove a full PB&J from one of them. This absurdity only bonded the cluster of slowly freezing climbers more... except for maybe Jon. Sorry, Jon.

The first obstacle was the "belly roll", ten feet of easy climbing up to a side-shuffle over a large boulder (or if you choose, a beached whale-like move over it). Next was the "crawl". The start of the crawl was comprised of a 20-foot horizontal traverse using a wide crack for hands and ample footing. The crack here was wide enough that some could likely straddle it. The third short pitch marked the end of the crawl. It had moves similar to the beginning of the crawl, but had less good feet and felt more slabby. This meant a bit more exposure and reliance on the big crack for hand use in order to feel secure.

Past the crawl, the route wrapped into a chimney feature known as the "double chimney". Chris decided to head directly up the more cruxy set of moves. Alternatively, keeping left leads through the easier of the two chimneys. Both options lead to a lovely wide ledge where we could prepare for our next pitch. Our options here were to head directly up using "Owen Chimney" or skirt to the right and take the "Catwalk". I poked around on the absurdly exposed Catwalk and decided I wasn't interested, mostly because I couldn't see what was to come. Owen Chimney looked like a more fun, blocky, and less exposed option. Plus, it could be protected more easily than the Catwalk. Thank you yet again, Chris. Accessing the Catwalk could be made easier by ascending Owen Chimney a few feet and then leaving it on the right. We just headed up instead, and it was quite a bit of fun. Owen Chimney and the Catwalk both lead to a wide ledge where many were gathered at the base of the final pitch, "Sargent's Chimney". We would return here later, since at the far end of the ledge was where we'd find the rappel to get back down to the upper saddle.

The Sargent's Chimney pitch led up a wider and more open chimney compared to Owen Chimney, and was a bit less difficult. Still happy to be on a rope, we all made our way up in sequence. At the top of the pitch, we encountered an adorable, tiny child who seemed way too chill about the entire ordeal, patiently waiting her turn to rappel once we'd gotten up. Ridiculous. The final few hundred feet to the summit were characterized by lovely Class 2/3 scrambling using a variety of different route options. It's a bit tricky to locate the top of Sargent's Chimney on the way back down, so pay careful attention to the scramble. After enjoying the summit views for probably not long enough, we backtracked and rappelled through Sargent's Chimney, traversed the wide ledge, and then descended from the main rap area. Our 60m dynamic line was enough for both raps.

Grand Teton is one I'll definitely remember, but might not repeat. While the route and scrambling was some of the most fun I've experienced in the mountains, the waiting around was a bit of a drag. I couldn't be more happy to have gotten to the summit of this incredible hunk of rock.