Ed

We’ve officially been on our trip for two weeks. We’ve had two showers, covered 2200 miles and spanned 5 states. We have also summited one really tall mountain- the Grand Teton in Teton National Park, Wyoming. At 13,770 feet tall, the Grand is the tallest in the Teton Range.

We left Portland and the gracious hospitality of Casey’s friend Greg on a Thursday afternoon and the miles ticked by quickly as we made our way across the state and into Idaho. In Idaho, we were lured into the Sierra Trading Post outlet where I got a spiffy new tent. The two-person tent we had been using was somewhat small for two people and two large dogs, so it seemed like a worthy investment. We drove into the night, and found a sweet campsite just outside of Wyoming where we spent the remaining hours of the night. The next morning we drove across the border into the beautiful state of Wyoming. Wyoming is bursting with the season of fall. Reds, oranges and yellows pop out of the mountainsides and excite the eyes with fresh color. We dropped the dogs off at a 12-acre ranch that boards horses and dogs. They seemed stoked to get to run and play with the other dogs there, but it was sure hard to leave them! Due to the nature of our activities for the next few days however, it would have been impossible to have the dogs with us.

We arrived in Jackson and headed to the park to get our backcountry permit and choose a route to climb. We decided to do the Exum Direct, which takes you 2500 feet up to the summit of the Grand. Shortly after getting our permit, we got a call from my Aunt Lori who happened to be in town, visiting from Colorado! It was absolutely great to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle Jeff who treated us to wine and a delicious sushi dinner and ice cream for dessert.

The next morning, the real business began. I have never backpacked, or done any alpine climbing and we were about to do both. We packed up our bags and began the eight-mile trek up the mountain to set up base camp. I felt tired almost as soon as we started; my small backpack was loaded down with my climbing gear, the tent, my sleeping bag and sleeping pad and a bit of food for the next few days. At around the two-mile mark, we met Ed.

Ed was sitting down by a trail sign taking a break and we got to talking. Ed is 43 and was born with Cerebral Palsy. He walks with his knees bowed inward, but that does not stop him from hiking, skiing, and living each day with determination. He told us that his goal is to climb the Grand one day. His friend told him that if he can make the hike up, she will lead him up the rest of the climb. So Ed is training to be able to do the hike so he can achieve his goal of climbing the Grand. Upon meeting Ed, I felt ashamed of the thoughts that had been running through my head about how tired I was and how hard it was to hike. Here I was, young, fit and with a healthy and able body, complaining about hiking in one of the most beautiful settings on earth, and sitting before me was a man who got up each day and chose to walk this trail despite the difficulties it presented him. A smile appeared on my face. Talking to Ed was making me incredibly happy. This guy is rad. We talked a bit more, and proceeded up the trail. Ed kept us behind us as long as we could and eventually faded out of sight. When we sat down on the side of the trail to rest, Ed caught up to us again. Ed told us that this was the furthest he had been up the trail so far. He was debating whether or not he should keep hiking or turn back for the day. He told us about his struggle with differentiating between being wimpy and being stupid. We talked about pushing yourself and where to draw the line, when not to cross that boundary into a dangerous place. The same can be applied to climbing, sometimes it is good to go for the hard move, or try the hard route. On the flip side, sometimes it is not worth the risk and getting in over your head would be irresponsible and dangerous. Ed told us about moving to Jackson from New Orleans, and how the altitude was overwhelming at first. He told us of his progress up the trail and about skiing in Jackson Hole. Having Cerebral Palsy hasn’t slowed Ed down one bit. If anything it has made him a stronger, more determined person. Ed found out that we would be summiting the Grand on Chelsea’s birthday. He then wished Chelsea the most sincere, heartfelt and genuine happy birthday I have ever witnessed. He was truly excited that we would be completing such a cool feat for her birthday. Ed told us that if we were ever in Jackson during the ski season, we should look him up in the phone book and he would take us to the slopes. We decided to continue up the trail further, and wished Ed luck, not knowing whether he had decided to continue up the trail or turn back.

Another mile up the trail, we reached a junction in the trail and we decided to stop for lunch. We plopped down on the side of the trail, happy to put down our packs. After eating, I turned and saw Ed coming up the trail! “Is that the junction sign?” he asked. “I want to kiss it!” Ed came triumphantly up the trail and sat down right next to the sign. “I did it!” he exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to reach the sign.” It was truly a great thing to witness and I was just as stoked as Ed. As we parted ways, Ed back down the trail, and us continuing up, Ed wished us luck on our climb. “Say hi to God when you get to the top!” he told us as we headed up the trail.

I now hiked with a new determination. I was inspired by Ed. Every time I got tired I thought about him and his will power. Finally, we reached the place where we would set up our base camp. I set up my new tent, we cooked some Top Ramen, and we went to bed while the sun was still up so we could get plenty of rest for our climb. On Sunday morning, we woke up at 4 AM and packed our backpacks. We started hiking up in the dark with our headlamps. We hiked through the wind, past the guide huts at the top of the Lower Saddle and to the base of our climb. The sun came up as we started, but it was still bitterly cold! The first pitch was a struggle- cold and windy it was hard to grip the frozen rock. As we came over the crest of the first pitch, we were greeted by sunshine! From that point on, the climb was much warmer and more pleasurable. Climbing with three people meant that one person would lead the pitch and the second two would simul-climb it. Chelsea led the second pitch, I the third, and Casey linked the fourth and fifth. Chelsea finished up the lower section of the Exum with the lead of the sixth pitch. At this point, we were about half way done. We sat at the top of the Lower Exum and ate some snacks. Then it was time to start the upper half!

The Upper Exum is considerably easier than the Lower so we decided to simul the whole thing. This meant that all three of us were tied into the rope at the same time. The first person is tied into the end of the rope, the second person is tied in about half way, and the third about twenty or thirty feet behind them. The first person starts and places gear. The second person starts climbing when the rope gets taut and unclips the rope from the gear that is place and reclips it beneath them to the third person’s rope. The third person climbs behind, not climbing too fast so that the rope remains taut the whole time. They pick up the gear and put it on their harness. We continued up this way for an hour or two, covering about 1000 feet of climbing in that time.

Towards the top, we got a little lost trying to find the route and ended up going a slightly different way than we might have been supposed to, but nonetheless we soon reached the summit! I was exhausted but so psyched! We were so high above everything around us and the view was amazing. We howled and hollered into the open sky. Since we reached the summit later in the day than we had wanted, we had to start our descent quickly. We did two rappels and then started hiking down, but apparently were in the wrong gully. After some traversing, another rappel and lots of hiking we found the correct trail and started the steep descent. Exhausted, we finally reached our tent at 11 PM after being on the mountain for about 18 hours. I crawled into my sleeping bag and fell asleep.

Yesterday, we woke up to clouds and wind and realized how lucky we were to have perfect weather for our climb. We packed up camp and started the long hike down the mountain. On our way we met three rangers who were going to pack up the guide hut because the season was over. We had summited the Grand on the very last day of the season. Excellent! The hike was smooth and fairly quick, although I was extremely sore. I was so happy to make it to the parking lot (and to the bathroom!)

We spent the remainder of the day moseying around Jackson and then got an excellent offer from our friend Steph, a Cal Poly alumni, to stay at her house for the night. We got a nice hot shower, got to soak in a hot tub and hang out with great company, and sleep inside a house! Thanks Steph! Now we are packing up the car, going to pick up the dogs and head to City of Rocks in Idaho.

Thank you Wyoming ☺