A Grand Birthday

As we left the parking lot at 3:30am, the sky was filled with flashes of lightning and the ground was wet from the evenings rain storm. The storm was supposed to move through the Tetons before sunrise, but there was another storm scheduled to hit the Tetons in the afternoon. As we started hiking, I warned the group that today was probably not the best day for trying to summit the Grand. We had been planning the birthday summit for a couple of months and no one was willing to abandon the mission in the parking lot. We decided to at least hike to the lower saddle. We would then check out the weather from there and if we had to turn around, at least we gave it shot.

We reached the Lower Saddle at 8:00 and were happy to see blue sky in the horizon. We knew we would have to hustle to the summit, but we were confident that we could summit and make it back to the Lower Saddle before the afternoon thunder storm hit the Tetons.





We made the summit at 12:30. It was crystal clear at the top. We could see the storm building in the south and decided to high tail it for lower ground. As we hiked down to the Lower Saddle, the sky grew darker and golf ball size hail started to attack the Tetons. We were so happy to see that the Park Service shelter was open. We made it inside before the storm really hit and enjoyed lunch while the storm pounded the Tetons outside.


We arrived back at the parking lot at 7:00pm. It was one of my favorite birthdays I have had in a long time. Thanks guys! Happy Birthday!