Let me paint you a picture to illustrate our double life of the past several weeks: it’s a sunny, breezy day and we’re driving down a flat dirt road in the middle of Nowhere, Idaho on our way to Somewhere, Wyoming. We’ve just left the City of Rocks, a well-kept secret with expansive and accessible desert spires perfect for cragging. Chalk covers our clothes and we can’t remember the last time we showered. We’re munching on baby carrots that are surprisingly still somewhat edible, driving with the windows down to keep fresh air flowing through our stench-filled car. Suddenly, Michael’s phone rings (we have reception here?). On cue, the windows go up, Michael spits the half-chewed carrots out into his lap, and, in his deep, professional voice answers “Hello, this is Michael.” He then proceeds to negotiate (and settle) a massive case. It was a transformation that would make Superman jealous.

And that captures it. About half of the time, we’ve been getting intimate with public libraries and taking care of necessary and uninteresting things. Luckily, the other half we’ve been able to experience some wild and new places in Cowboy Country.

Michael overlooking the City of Rocks

Before going to Wyoming, the most notable wildlife encounter we’d had was seeing a bunny cross the trail in Lake Louise (true story!). On our first night in Wyoming, a moose picturesquely roamed by the stream next to our campsite. At our next rugged (free) campsite on Shadow Mountain, we hung around our campfire with a beautiful, healthy and fluffy fox who had clearly received his fair share of s’mores. Fat marmots played their kazoos for us as we neared their dens dug along our hiking trails.

Our campsite on Shadow Mountain with the Tetons in the background

And then there were the bears. On our scramble up Teewinot in Grant Teton National Park I was pleasantly zoning my way up the trail when I turned a blind corner and came face to face with a Big Mama Bear. We freaked each other out, both leapt backwards, and despite all of my Bear Aware training I screamed and cried HOLY S&*! Itsabearitsabearitsabearitsabear! Michael, in proper textbook fashion that would make an Eagle Scout proud, told me to chill out, calmly talked to the bear, and led us around a different way. I was much better the next time we saw a mama with cubs… but that first one was HUGE.

Teewinot was an unexpected highlight. With afternoon storms predicted, we scampered up the 6,000 foot elevation gain to find clouds swirling majestically around the wildest side of the Grand Teton. The pictures speak for themselves.

Taylor on Teewinot with clouds swirling around the Grand Teton

“Teton Dancing”

The next morning during breakfast, Michael stumbled upon an advertisement in The Alpinist and shouted “HEY! Check this out!” Lo and behold, it was taken exactly where we were just the day before…

We attempted the Grand Teton during a somewhat-unsure-but-good-enough weather window that followed. With the weather being unseasonably wet and cold, we first acclimatized by doing some creative route-finding up the snow and ice-plastered North Ridge of Middle Teton. Just FYI, rock shoes are like mini slip-‘n-slides when wet and are terrible in the snow. It’s

also quite cold for the toes.

Sunset over the Tetons

With one summit in the bag, we started out the next morning with our stoke high, supercharging our way up to the col where we would climb the full Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton… until we reached the col where an apocalyptic west wind literally knocked the stoke out of us. We promptly donned every article of clothing we had (5 layers!) and told ourselves to tough it out. Yes, the temperature was below freezing; yes, we were at almost 13,000 feet; and yes, the wind was blowing hard with gusts around 50 MPH as we attempted an exposed ridge with large packs… but this is The Grand – we have to climb it! A few pitches from the top, with frozen toes, bleeding and numb fingers, and wind gusts blowing the constant leakage from our chaffed noses into the skies below, we had a heart to heart. This was not fun; in fact it was downright scary. And with that, we turned around and had some wild alpine rappels back to the valley where The Grand looked deceptively calm and peaceful. We will be back.

Part of the descent down lower Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton

From Jackson, we continued our Tour de Crags by climbing in Sinks Canyon near Lander, Wyoming for almost a week, enjoying mostly sunny skies – a break from our bad habit of chasing bad weather across the Western United States. With limited time remaining before traveling abroad, we wanted a capstone backcountry experience. We got it in the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range.

The lake at the bottom of the Cirque of the Towers with fall colors in full swing

The Cirque of the Towers is a crown of awe-inspiring and daunting peaks shooting for the skies at improbable angles above a series of alpine lakes. The fall colors were in full swing with the aspens highlighted in brilliant yellows and golds against a cobalt blue sky. With the best weather we have had all trip, we were able to successfully complete two routes named in the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and the traverse that connects their summits (Pingora to Wolf’s Head) on the first day. The routes were a climber’s dream, except for the few panic-inducing moves to get around a series of towers standing between us and the summit of Wolf’s Head. Okay, I might have cried and/or gone through a small fit of rage at the unavoidable risk and exposure, but not for too long, and then we were back to the good stuff.

Taylor following Michael up “The Sidewalk” on the traverse between Pingora (in the background) and Wolf’s Head

Belaying around the towers on the traverse to Wolf’s Head

Unfortunately, after one windless, sunny, and otherwise perfect day, good weather became elusive once again. We were able to continue the traverse of the towers up and over Overhanging Tower and The Shark’s Nose while watching clouds slowly but surely begin to build. Not wanting to be on the tallest thing around in a thunderstorm, we called it a day. Silver lining: the dense, soupy clouds and rain made it a little easier to leave those beautiful spires the next morning.

Michael kicks back for a moment on the summit of Overhanging Tower

Grey skies over Warbonnet near our camp

Camping under the stars and the sentinels

Immediately we were driving driving driving through Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Idaho again, and Washington to get back for a temporary stint in the “real world” of work, showers, clothing repairs, enjoying the incredible hospitality of our friends Shawn and Liz O’Rourke, hanging out with Michael’s brother, Scott, and his girlfriend Shannon, attending the AMAZING wedding of two of our best friends (Matt Ellis and Kelsey McFarland), and preparing for Part II of The Plan: Nepal.