jackson hole mountain guides

This is PART 4 in a 6-PART series about my recent Grand Teton Expedition. For previous posts, here is a pre-trip post a recap, and Day 1 Journal Entry.

When you’re climbing you live in the moment. Don’t anticipate. Think about and focus only on what’s in front of you in this moment. – Julia Niles, one of our fabulous JHMG guides, and also a Mountain Hardwear-sponsored athlete

Kathy and I wake up around 6:30. Jamie and Jeff are already up – we can hear them getting out of their tent. As soon as I get out of the tent, I sniff some coffee. Yeehaw! I follow my nose, and the short path to the kitchen hut, where a few others are up and sure enough, coffee is on and ready to quaff.

None of us slept that great, but that’s okay, it’s beautiful out and we’re going to learn how to climb today.

After enjoying a spinach omelette and some really good, strong coffee, we prepare for a day at the nearby crags.

Our first order of business is to try some bouldering. This is scrambling and easy rock climbing that is not high off the ground. We follow Julia and Nate. One by one we practice bouldering – looking and feeling for holds and places to put our hands and feet to maneuver up the rock. We do this for a little bit and then head for bigger rock.

One of the big attractions of going on an expedition with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides is not only the caliber of their guides and the amenities of their high camp, but its location. There is lots of great climbing just a stone’s throw behind and alongside it. It takes us about 5 minutes to walk to the base of the first wall we’ll climb on, Fair Share Tower.

Here, we put on our helmets and harnesses for the first time, and Julia and Nate instruct us how to tie “figure 8” knots. We practice tying up to our harnesses a few times. Julia and Nate demonstrate belaying and climbing on the route in front of us.

Jeff is up first. He scales the route pretty easily and quickly. Up next is Jamie. Despite his big frame (6’3”, 263 pounds), Jamie loves rock and scrambling on rocks. Immediately he finds his way up the pitch. He looks like he’s having fun. I think he likes climbing better than hiking. Jeff belays him and along with some simple instruction and reinforcements from our guides, he does a stellar job. So far, so good…

Now I’m belaying as Kathy scales the wall. She has no problem. This is fun and not too bad after all, I think to myself.

Then it’s my turn. I’m nervous but reassured to see my teammates have success. I climb on and look for holds and find them and advance up the wall. My soft hands experience some discomfort from the rough rock but overall this is quite fun.

Next we take turns taking a stab at a pitch to the right of our first route. This one’s crux is at the end of the route, and none of our group overcomes it. Except for that part, we are holding our own so far and starting to figure out the basics of this thing that is called rock climbing.

We break briefly to drink water and eat a snack and then head further to our right down a short path to a 3-pitch route known as “All Along the Watchtower.”

In this clip, guide Nate belays as guide Julia leads the first pitch for us:

Next we watch as Jamie makes his way up the first pitch with ease. We all get over the first pitch with ease.

The second pitch is also no problem for Jamie, as he scales it pretty quickly and disappears out of our sight. But Kathy and I look on with a bit of dread. The first move seems tricky to us – our legs are shorter than Jamie’s. It is not clear from where we are standing how we will get past the first move.

A little anxiety crashes the party. My heart beats faster. I am uncomfortable. I wait patiently and shout out words of encouragement and support to Kathy as, after some efforts, she finds a way past the first part. Whew. I yell, “Great job, Kathy! Way to Go!”

Then she disappears out of sight. My rope pulls tight so I know she’s arrived and completed the second pitch. “That’s Me,” I yell. “On Belay,” says Julia. “Climbing,” I yell back, despite my fast-beating heart, apprehension and fear.

I recall how Kathy got through the first move and try it myself, and it works. Bingo, that wasn’t that tough, I think to myself as I advance up a rock wall that is generous in providing holds for both my feet and hands. Quickly I advance, but then suddenly the wall runs out and I’m at the top of the cliff at a corner. Kathy is sitting as compactly as possible in a tiny little spot of rock where on either side is nothing but vertical abyss. It’s breathtakingly beautiful scenery, but it comes at a cost. There are a lot of vertical feet of air separating our beings and the small corner of rock on which we are located and the sights we’re taking in. Holy crap. “Where do I go from here?” I ask Julia and Kathy – anyone.

Kathy doesn’t say anything. She just sits there, as if glued to her little spot on the rock. Julia says “right here.” Well I figured that much, but how?, I think to myself, disappointed that she doesn’t provide the answer for me. The only way is to walk on this short, skinny ledge and then climb/heave myself up over the corner. I don’t think I have the strength but then I’m propelled by some inner strength onto another tiny vacant spot on the rock next to Kathy.

Then Julia and Jeff are yelling their commands back and forth and Jeff’s climb is now under way. Kathy and I sit and watch Jamie start the third pitch in front of us, along the top of the cliff/Watchtower. There are “bunny ear” formations on the top of the cliff and he is attempting to climb his way over the first one to start his route across the top to the other side where a pair of bunny ears jut up. His feet slip. He tries again and slips again. He struggles a little more. He changes his strategy and goes at it another way and is successful.

The final pitch that is before us and causing so much anxiety in Kathy is a 250-foot-plus knife edge ridge with hundreds (thousands? does it matter?) of feet of vertical abyss on either side.

I have never come close to – pardon my expression, please – shitting my pants. But at this moment, I just about shit my pants. Doubt, for the third time today, is rearing its ugly head again. There is no freaking way… I can’t do it. It’s impossible. I can’t. Crap. How am I going to do this? It doesn’t help that Kathy is looking at me with the same dread I’m experiencing. She looks desperate and shows me how the palms of her hands are sweating. Truth be told, I am glad she is up next and not me. I don’t want it to be my turn. Ever.

As Jamie makes his way successfully across the top of the Watchtower to Nate and the “bunny ears” and the end of the route, and Kathy and I sit silently, Jeff approaches from behind. I can tell by his body language and expression that he, too, is surprised and a bit freaked by the corner and tiny ledge that stands between he and where we’re sitting – where the next pitch is to begin.

“Where do I go?” asks Jeff. There’s not much room where Kathy and I are sitting. “Just sit there and dangle your legs over there,” said Julia. Jeff looked hundreds of feet below. “Just dangle my feet?” Jeff asks as he proceeds to do as instructed. The sight of us three trying to be glued to the small corner of rock and compacted as much as we could manage must be a sight that JHMG guides are all too familiar with.

Kathy gets unglued from her safe little spot and starts the route. Reality sets in that my turn will come and I will have to confront the doubts and fear that are doing their best to suffocate me. I watch and take mental notes as Kathy successfully scales the last pitch, which by the way, is about the width of a sidewalk and is generous with holds… but nevertheless on either side of it is hundreds or more feet of air. So although we’re roped in and we are in good hands, and there is plenty to stand on and hold on to, I can’t get this over with fast enough. Thrilling? You better believe it. Try freaking scary. But one at a time, we each maneuver over it.

Next is a 180-foot rappel. Our test here is glaringly obvious: We will need to commit our weight – and trust – to our harnesses, and step off into space and air. Again, fear consumes me. I recall how I was just more scared than I’ve ever been and I yet managed to put that behind me. When it’s my turn, I face the cliff and back-walk down to a ledge where I am instructed to shift all of my weight to my harness by “sitting” with my feet out in front against the rock, and then I am lowered. And it’s fun!

My feet hit the Earth. I feel more alive than I have ever felt. I am invigorated and exhilarated. Or to borrow from some of my climber friends’ vocabulary, “totally amped.” I think my hair is standing on end.

Our lives were never at risk today. We were roped up and backed up and in good hands with two guides and lots of gear and instruction and moral support, doing something thousands before us have done. I knew this up on the cliff and I know this now, but still I was required to be outside of my comfort zone.

It has been a very big learning day. I encountered great discomfort, a truckload of fear and significant doubt on at least three occasions and each time I overcame them and succeeded. This is an enormous feeling of accomplishment. So much so that it I’m thinking today’s experience has been a very worthwhile and fulfilling experience. As I stand here, feet on the ground for the first time in a while, I realize I have just learned a great deal about confronting fear and doubts – oh, and rock climbing, too.

We return to camp, have lunch. Julia and Nate review what we need to pack for tomorrow (Summit day), and what we need to wear. We are instructed to go to bed early because we’ll be waking at 3 am to eat breakfast, and will be departing camp for our summit bid at 4 am with headlamps on.

Before turning in, I ask our guides if we’ll be climbing the easiest route to the summit. Nate says, “We’ll be climbing a route that is definitely not the easiest route.” We learn we’ll be climbing the Pownall-Gilkey route and that “it’s a spectacular route.”

After lounging a bit, we eat an early dinner of pasta, and then Kathy, Jeff, Jamie and I gather around our tents to chill, and sum up the adventure so far.

——————————
We all agreed that the Grand Teton summit would be not be as formidable after today’s experiences. In fact, it now seems like a much smaller mountain, in mind at least, given the tests we faced, and passed, today.

I’m not sure if that’s what the guides had intended with today’s climbing instruction, but at this moment, I feel certain it will serve us well on tomorrow’s Grand Teton ascent. But no doubt, we’ll need to cowboy up for the event.
——————————

I read some more from Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, and then closed in for what would be a short night.

I didn’t sleep a wink that short night, or at least I thought I didn’t. But Kathy, who for sure didn’t sleep a wink, says I in fact did sleep – and snored – for a 15-minute period. The anxiety and eagerness to ascend the Grand Teton was too great for sleep. But it sure was a beautiful star-filled night under which to have insomnia.

It’s 2:50 am, and my watch alarm is about to go off. What will today bring? Will we stand on the Grand Teton’s summit?

CONTINUED… SEE DAY 3-SUMMIT DAY

Thank you to my husband, Jerry, and our sons, and all of my family and friends for their support of this adventure, to Kathy, Jamie and Jeff for going along and sharing such a memorable and challenging adventure with me (and to their families for allowing them to), and to Harlan (my father-in-law) and uncle Gilbert for crewing and providing support in the region while we headed upward into the tall mountains. Also, thanks to Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, especially Nate Opp and Julia Niles, who made our trip more special and remarkable. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Steve Bechtel and Elemental Gym. Steve has been providing training and fitness guidance for the last four months that no doubt helped make this trip a reality for me. Also, thanks to Brunton for keeping my camera batteries charged so I could report on the adventure, and to Bridge Outdoors for outfitting us with “Wyoming Climr” t-shirts.
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This is Part 3 in a 6-part series about my recent Grand Teton Expedition. For previous posts, here is a pre-trip post and a recap.

It is 9 am and we are headed to the Lupine Meadows trailhead. Most of us are caffeinated; all of us are awake, and our eagerness to get the show on the road, after months of anticipation, is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Our guides from Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, Julia “Juice” Niles and Nate “Special” Opp, are waiting for us at the trailhead at 10 am sharp. Our rented backpacks are full, we are clean for the last time in a while, and have covered ourselves in sunblock.

The first portion is a walk in the park. Nothing spectacular, pretty flat and mostly forested. We stop for our first break at 1.7 miles, taking our big, full backpacks off and drinking some water and snarfing a small snack. Then, we’re off again for another 1.25 miles that is beautiful and at a slight uphill grade.

Here we have great views of Bradley and Taggart Lakes and wildflowers of all kinds, as well as huckleberries. After about 3 miles we take a lunch break overlooking the aforementioned lakes. Everyone’s still feeling pretty good at this point, laughing and talking, even. : >

At this point the trail gets more rocky. We’ll hike across a boulder field and rocky, steeper terrain. The views get more spectacular with every step. There are towering granite peaks before us, glaciers, a stream with crystal clear waters and a waterfall. I can’t imagine scenery more spectacular than what we’re hiking through.

So… the scenery is breathtaking. In more ways than one. The altitude is starting to take effect, especially for the flat-landers among us. Kathy, Jamie and Jeff hail from Omaha, NE, situated at 900 feet. I live in Lander, WY, at 5,200′ and am accustomed to hiking at altitude. Julia reminds us to take deep breaths and of the importance of big exhales to get rid of co2 waste.

Here’s a short video clip from the last upward march:

We focus on taking deeper breaths and it helps. We’re sounding like a bunch of obscene phone callers, breathing heavily and loudly.

The sights keep us inspired as we continue slogging up the steep, loose trail with our sights on the landmark – a yellowish big boulder – that our guides promise marks our destination, Corbet High Camp.

Soonafter we arrive to what will be our home away from home for 3 nights. It’s spectacular. There’s no other way to describe JHMG’s Corbet High Camp. There are a handful of tents situated throughout the piles of rocks that make up the area.

We choose a tent situated right under Tepee Glacier under the Grand Teton. The view out of our tent door is of the Jackson Hole Valley, the Middle Teton and a wall known as the Watchtower. Not too shabby, I think to myself. Not too shabby at all.

Julia and Nate show us around. We see the “hut,” a community area where the kitchen and food is kept and they show us how and where to refill our water bottles. One of the most pressing question our group had had to do with bathroom facilities and logistics. There is not a tree or any vegetation in the camp given the rocky and above-treeline terrain. They gave us instruction on the RestStop bags, which one member of our group feared more than the Grand Teton ascent, but I won’t name names. Suffice it to say, it was a pretty brilliant system and proved to work just fine.

After some hors d’ oeuvres, which included cheese and crackers and smoked salmon, and tea, we settled our things in our tents and rested and napped on rocks perched near camp.

For dinner, we enjoyed pasta and salad and good company. There were others in the camp with their guides. We met people from Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, Texas, Connecticut and Oregon. We became acquainted with not only our wonderful guides, but other JHMG guides including Rob Hess, Darren Budlong, Rob Gowler, Steve Quinlan and Sue Miller.

Everyone was tired and fulfilled from what was a beautiful and physically demanding hike to camp so shortly after dinner we retreated to our respective tent sites, where I read out loud from Deep Survival to the others in our group. I think we only made it through the prologue before we all grew weary and headed to bed.

As I lay in my sleeping bag in the tent under a starry sky that night, I couldn’t help but be excited for what the next day would bring: Climbing instruction on the nearby crags and other preparation for the “grand” prize: the summit of the 13,770-foot-tall Grand Teton.

HERE ARE SOME REFLECTIONS FROM MY GROUP ON DAY 1:

CONTINUE TO DAY 2.

Thank you to my husband, Jerry, and our sons, and all of my family and friends for their support of this adventure, to Kathy, Jamie and Jeff for going along and sharing such a memorable and challenging adventure with me (and to their families for allowing them to), and to Harlan (my father-in-law) and uncle Gilbert for crewing and providing support in the region while we headed upward into the tall mountains. Also, thanks to Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, especially Nate Opp and Julia Niles, who made our trip more special and remarkable. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Steve Bechtel and Elemental Gym. Steve has been providing training and fitness guidance for the last four months that no doubt helped make this trip a reality for me. Also, thanks to Brunton for keeping my camera batteries charged so I could report on the adventure, and to Bridge Outdoors for outfitting us with “Wyoming Climr” t-shirts.

(Click here for a pre-trip post I wrote.)

I sit here today rested and showered, a little stiff and sore, and completely exhilarated. You see, yesterday I returned from my successful Grand Teton summit expedition.

For some photos, click here. (BTW, thanks to Jason Kintzler and Brunton. Thanks to Brunton’s solar power and battery pack, I was able to keep my camera batteries are charged.)

I think the best way to blog about my experience is to break it into days. Each of the expedition’s four days held enough hard work, stunning sights and accomplishments to warrant its own post.

As it is, I’m a woman of too many words, and I think one gigantic post will be too much. Add to that, I’m still sorting through all the videos and the almost 1,000 combined photos our group took. So this post will be a general sum of the experience and provide a sneak preview of what will come over the next few days as individual journal entries for each day of the adventure.

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides guided our expedition. In our group was me, my friend Kathy Kloewer, and Jeff and Jamie Johnson (brothers of my husband Jerry). I live in Lander, WY, and the others hail from Omaha, NE. Our guides were Julia Niles and Nate Opp. They were exceptional guides and provided valuable expertise, guidance, wisdom, instruction, moral support, encouragement, great personalities and wonderful guiding.

After a night of camping at Gros Ventre Campground near Jackson, WY, we went to JHMG office to do a “gear check” and to rent backpacks for the trip. We were all very excited for the trip, but anxious too. My hometown of Lander is situated at about 5,200 feet. I often hike at higher altitudes ranging from 7,000-11,000′. In Omaha, Kathy, Jamie and Jeff live and play at about 900 feet. It’s hard to train for such a high altitude, rugged, and physically demanding adventure at 900 feet elevation, but they did their best and I knew that their attitudes would carry them far.

IN SUMMARY:
• On Day one, starting at 10 am, we hiked 6 miles/4,200 feet from Lupine Meadows trailhead in Grand Teton National Park, up Garnet Canyon to the Corbet High Camp, situated at 11,000′. This is Jackson Hole Mountain Guides’ base camp and it’s spectacular. Our tent was right below the Tepee Glacier and we had views of the Middle Teton, Middle Teton Glacier, Grand Teton, Tepee Glacier, Jackson Hole Valley, Lupine Meadows, the Watchtower and many fantastic, dramatic, towering mountains.
• On Day 2 we had climbing instruction. We climbed two pitches on Fair Share Tower and three pitches on All Along the Watchtower, from which we also enjoyed a 180-foot rapel.
• On Day 3, with coffee and breakfast consumed and headlamps on, we left at 4 am over scree, boulder fields, up, up, up, across snow, up a technical route called Pownall-Gilkey, and to the summit of the Grand Teton, where we arrived at 9:30 am and basked in the sun and views for 60 minutes before completing the last 50% of the summit experience – getting down, which is no cakewalk.
• On Day 4, we hiked down, got a shower at Climber’s Ranch and returned to our families and civilization. My husband, Jerry, and our three young sons, surprised us by hiking in the first mile or so and greeted us on the trail. This was a very special moment for me!

THINGS I LEARNED:
1) The air is thin and oxygen less plentiful the higher you go up. Of course I knew this but this trip confirmed it rather quickly. At around 8,500′ I noted a definite change and it got thinner as we hiked upward.
2) “We go slow so we can go fast.” This was advice from one of our guides, Julia Niles. What this means is we didn’t break often and when we did it was brief and with purpose. But we didn’t hike at break-neck speeds either.
3) Efficiency is key on this expedition. Efficiency of energy, pace, momentum, eating and drinking, packing, moving up the rock, looking for solid footing on boulders and scree, and so on.
4) Take a deep breath. In fact, take a bunch of deep breaths. No, let’s make that: take nothing but deep breaths.
5) Slow and steady does work. Nate showed me on the hike in ways to maximize use of our larger (upper leg) muscles while hiking uphill and I watched his heels most of the way up the last 1,000 feet of trail. His steps were so deliberate and sure-footed it was like he was pulling his back foot out of quick sand. I did the same and it worked to preserve my calf muscles.
6) Live in the moment. Don’t anticipate. Only focus on the task in front of you. We’ve all heard these Zen-like affirmations before, but during climbing instruction and our ascent of Grand Teton in particular, this advice proved to be particularly compelling and important. Julia, especially, emphasized this, saying to utilize “present time consciousness,” what we came to call PTC. (This is one of the reasons she’s so drawn to climbing and mountaineering.) And by the way, living in the moment is not my strong point, another reason this trip was good for me.
7) I’ve entered 50-mile trail runs and other ultras and this adventure proved to be the most challenging thing I’ve ever done both mentally and physically. Physically I was in near top shape so the physical effort was not too taxing. But the mental challenges faced in the climbing instruction and on the technical parts of the ascent were very formidable for me, and those in my group. I had doubts on many occasions and dreaded the confrontation of them, over and over again, both on the exposed, high ridge during our climbing instruction and at times during the second pitch of the technical climb while approaching the summit.
8) I had begun reading Deep Survival while on the trip. How fitting. During night one outside of our scenic tent sites, I read out loud to Jeff and anyone else in an earshot, about the emotional bookmarks we collect in our minds. I am certain that my experience on this extraordinary adventure created many new emotional bookmarks.
9) I was uncomfortable many times. Not physically but mentally. It was a major benefit to complete the expedition and develop so much mentally and emotionally in the process. I wasn’t expecting that. And most wouldn’t sign up for the type of fear confrontation that I found on the mountain. I was reminded of the fact that nothing easy is worthwhile. I was completely fulfilled and amazed at what I, and my group, had accomplished at the end of each day. All the while surrounded by truly spectacular scenery in all directions.
10) “Trust your rubber.” I was on the second pitch of climbing instruction when this was shouted from below. It didn’t seem relevant I can tell you that, and certainly it was not very helpful. Not even very funny at the time given I was at a “crux” in my route. Until I understood they meant my shoes’ rubber. The rubber on the bottom and sides of the approach shoes worn during climbing are rubber for a reason. They can smear and more easily find purchase on vertical rock walls. (Oh, now I get it.)
11) Grand Teton is world-famous and iconic. Summiting it is on many people’s life lists. Julia says the fact that it’s inside a national park, spectacular in beauty, and there’s no easy way up it all make it special. While we were in the Corbet High Camp, we met people from Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Oregon, Wisconsin and Texas. Grand Teton is a very special place. I am lucky to have it in my backyard.
12) The Rest Stop bags (wag bags or poop bags) were actually quite a slick solution. Worked magnificently. (More on this part in a future post, though!)
13) Our guides told us on many occasions, “Trust Us.” We did that and took comfort in that. They were pros and we were in very good hands if only we trusted them.
14) Humble pie is actually sorta tasty. 🙂
15) Yes, it was very hard and I was pushed beyond my mental comfort zone, but I would do it all again. I am so fulfilled and will be inspired for years to come by the sights I saw and the things I experienced. So much so that Jerry and I are hoping when our youngest son is 12 (10 years from now), he and our three sons and I will repeat the adventure.

Please stay tuned in coming days. I will post at least four more posts that more specifically highlight the Grand Teton expedition, starting with “Day 1” journal entry.

Thank you to my husband, Jerry, and our sons, and all of my family and friends for their support of this adventure, to Kathy, Jamie and Jeff for going along and sharing such a memorable and challenging adventure with me (and to their families for allowing them to), and to Harlan (my father-in-law) and uncle Gilbert for crewing and providing support in the region while we headed upward into the tall mountains. Also, thanks to Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, especially Nate Opp and Julia Niles, who made our trip more special and remarkable. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Steve Bechtel and Elemental Gym. Steve has been providing training and fitness guidance for the last four months that no doubt helped make this trip a reality for me. Also, thanks to Brunton for keeping my camera batteries charged so I could report on the adventure, and to Bridge Outdoors for outfitting us with “Wyoming Climbr” t-shirts.

From Aug. 1-4, I’ll find myself on a guided expedition to summit the Grand Teton. I can’t believe it, and I can’t wait!

The Grand Teton is a 13,770-foot-tall, rugged, beautiful peak in western Wyoming that I’ve looked at in awe many times. It is the tallest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, and the second highest in Wyoming. It is one of the world’s most beautiful mountain peaks.

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides will be guiding our expedition. Originally my husband, Jerry, was going to be along. It was to be Jerry, his brothers, Jamie and Jeff, and me. But Jerry’s neck is not in good condition and has surgery scheduled in a few weeks and thought it wiser to give up his slot. Taking his spot is my dear friend Kathy Kloewer, also from Omaha.

This is a pre-trip post to whet your appetite for the reporting I’ll provide about what is sure to be trip of a lifetime for us.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS
The headline for the two guys in our group could be Farm Boys Go Climbing. Jamie, 41, is 6’3”, 263 pounds. Jeff, 47, is 6’3”, 225 pounds.

So, in these guys I figure I have some strong farm boys who can carry me down – or up the mountain for that matter – if necessary.

That said, I am a little concerned about whether there will be enough food provided on our trip to satisfy their appetites…

Another thing worth noting is Jeff wears a size 15 “approach” shoe. Already I have called dibs on him as my belayer. Talk about a strong foundation and good stability.

On my recent trip to Omaha, we went over the gear list and when we were done, they asked me “Do we bring our own oxygen, or will Jackson Hole Mountain Guides provide it?” (Oh-Oh, I thought, Had they not read the pamphlet? ) Also, Jeff quipped that the only extra things he’ll bring are a chisel and a hammer for the headstone (with the engraving: “Here lays an old fat flatlander; but he made it to the top.”) At least my team members have great senses of humor.

Although these guys have upped their workouts, it’s difficult for them to prepare for the altitude in Omaha, situated at 900 feet. But what they lack in high altitude training they’ll make up for with great attitudes. They are eager to see some stunning country and appear to be up for the challenge.

And, it turns out they were joking about the oxygen question. Thank goodness.

I won’t provide stats for Kathy’s and my heights and weights because they aren’t notable and because I get to control what is reported here. : >

But two things worth noting about Kathy, 41, is one, she’s a chiropractor, and two, she’s certified in CPR. Oh, and also she’s in great shape. When I visited Omaha in mid-July and went to the gym with Kathy each morning I witnessed her working out on a steeply-graded treadmill – while wearing a 50-pound weighted vest! I’ve traveled to Zion with Kathy for a major hiking trip and she did awesome.

Back to the questions we had about the upcoming adventure… One question that nagged each of us was, do we need to bring our own scoop for our bathroom activities, or how would “going #2” be handled so high on the mountain, above treeline?

Patrick, at JHMG, simply answered this pressing question in an email: “We will supply you with RESTSTOPbags which are used for pooping. All solid waste is carried out of the park, you will bring them down on your last day.”

Well if nothing else this information provided some comic relief as we discussed logistics and preparation for the trip. (We surmised that the system will provide a clever way for everyone to know how regular each of us is based on the size of the RestStop bag we haul down the mountain on Day 4.)

By the way, Kathy, Jamie and Jeff will arrive to Lander, WY, with Jerry’s dad, Harlan, and their uncle Gilbert a couple of days before we depart on our expedition. For good measure, and additional preparation, I have sent them the audio cd, Endurance, by Alfred Lansing, and instructed them to listen to it on the 12-hour drive from Omaha.

Endurance, according to the description on the back of the book, “is the fabulous account of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic adventure that recreates one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded.” It’s one of my all-time favorite survival tales and I figure after listening to the story, the flatlanders in our group will find the Grand Teton expedition more doable.

So there you have it for our cast of characters. Jamie and Jeff will carry us up and down the mountain, if necessary, Kathy will provide chiropractic care and CPR, if necessary, and I’ll be there to report on the adventure.

And, our guide(s), whom we have not yet met, will obviously play an extraordinary and valuable role in our expedition, for which we thank them in advance.

(THANKS TO MARK GOCKE FOR USE OF HIS PHOTOS!)