10 Attachment(s)
TR: SE Couloir South Teton
I'm always amazed and humbled every time I venture into the Tetons. Grand Teton National Park is one of the last great wild places left in the Lower 48, and the mountains there embody the adversity and untamed natural beauty of the American West in a way that no other place can. This past week, I had the great privilege to tick off another one of my dream lines in GTNP, the steep aesthetic SE Couloir off the South Teton.
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The red dots trace the path of the line off the summit of the South Teton.
It was cool and clear when my friend and I arrived at the Taggart-Bradley Lake Trailhead early on the morning of April 21. The moon was out, the full moon, which illuminated the surrounding landscape in a milky white light. This was a good thing, as I forgot to bring a headlamp. Anyways, we set off into the park a little after 2:30 AM, hoping to make it to the snowline quickly. However, it was a bit of a slog to reach the point where we could skin continually. This was our third early morning excursion into the park in the last month, and yet we still managed to get turned around on our way to Garnet Canyon. We lost the trail, crossed a river via a narrow log and almost let a poll float away down the river at 3 in the morning, but luckily it was recovered without incident...
We were well into the alpine by the time the sun came up, even with these minor setbacks.
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Skinning above the Meadows
We continued to climb ever higher into Garnet South Fork.
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The Ellingwood Couloir
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Getting higher...
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Looking towards the Middle Teton.
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Our legs were tired, but the lure of the summit helped push us the last few steps to the top.
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Once on top of the South, the sky was a brilliant blue, extending uninterrupted by clouds in every direction to the edges of the horizon. The great peaks of the Teton Range sparkled white, illuminated by the radiant April sunshine.
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Summit panorama!
