Up at 5:35, 38 degrees, "It’s Perfect Again."  Numerous coyote howling last night, both solos and groups; 4 groups were quite close (or more likely, 1 group was close, and had 4 howl-alongs).  At the bath-house, I spent a few minutes talking with adults from two of our neighboring groups.  The Scout Troop was Troop 96, Nashville, Tennessee.  The Venturing Crew was actually a Senior High School Group called "The Road Less Traveled" (not sure where from); I was fooled talking to them last night because several of their members were also Venturing Scouts.  We did a quick packup, then finalized our daypacks for climbing.  On the road at 6:55.  Saw a moose off to the side as we headed out of camp.  Another clear, sunny day coming on fast.  Up to the parking lot to "Lupine Meadows at Jenny Lake" (various outfitters and stores in a small village there); the Exum Guides were isolated over a small bridge that crossed Jenny Creek (crystal clear water).  Several other small groups arrived at Exum’s about the same time, and still more were arriving as we left a little later.  Ted and I divided the group into two sets of 5 climbers each, mostly according to experience and/or ability; Group A was Hugh, Thomas, Luke, Neil and myself, while Group B was Al, Charles, Matt, Todd and Sam.  The plan was for Exum to give Group A the "basic" climbing school and Group B the "intermediate" climbing school.  Our guides were Kent McBride (Group A) - late 20’s/early 30’s, about 5’8" or so, very fit looking, guiding with Exum for 5 years; and Brian Harder (Group B) - 40-ish, 6’2", extraordinarily fit (professional athlete), guiding with Exum for 4 years.

After outfitting ourselves with harnesses, helmets and 3 climbing ropes per group, we headed for the "ferry" (actually three 25 foot boats, 29 passenger capacity each).  Group B got the first boat; Group A had to wait about 15 minutes for the second.  As it turned out, we wouldn’t see Group B for about 5 more hours - when we did repelling.  Very pleasant 12 minute ride across the lake; we continued chatting up Kent, filling him in on what we had been doing on this trip, and talking about some of our previous climbing experiences in Colorado and of Mitchell Peak the week before.  At the landing on the opposite shore, there was a fairly well developed trail system leading to various overlooks over the lake and a waterfall.  Our group climbed about 2/3rd’s the way up to the waterfall.  We started off with multiple exercises in bouldering, each a little more complex and a little more difficult.  Kent was a very thorough and patient instructor.  After 5 or 6 bouldering exercises, we learned how to "walk in coils" (everyone still roped together) and headed up past the waterfall (and many tourists) to eat lunch.  I wasn’t that hungry yet, so I ate just a little of the gorp, a fruit cup and some water.  I spent some time talking with Kent - he had been fisherman in Alaska for 7-8 years (running seine nets for salmon).  He had climbed a number of major peaks in Europe and Asia, and knew (or had known) several of the big names in mountaineering, including Alex Lowe and Conrad Anker.  He was pretty much a ski bum in the winter season (but all in all, he seemed very content with his life choices).

After lunch, we re-established our coils and walked up to a rock face, climbing over a split real fence to the left of the waterfall (the fence was apparently to keep the tourists out).  We had to wait awhile on the groups right in front of us (there were 3-4 groups stacked up, and none looked as experienced or athletic as us, so rather slow).  Another group just behind us was being guided by Joe Kelsey - one of the legendary names in Grand Teton climbing lore, and author of Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Mountains, and Wyoming's Wind River Range (Hugh was highly impressed, and in fact Joe was very pleasant, and seemed genuinely interested in our climb up Mitchell Peak).  The climbing in this section was non-technical - basically we worked our way up steep wall faces to convenient ledges; only slightly challenging for us, but we learned much of the techniques and style of group climbing - very valuable instruction.  About 2:00 pm, we moved up to a short repelling cliff with about a 25 foot overhang.  Group B was in residence here, doing their second set of repels, so I was able to get some photos of them, before they left to do a truly technical climb as their last ascent of the day.

Kent then went ahead and showed us the basics of repelling, and we started in.  I managed to get photos of each of our group going over the overhang.  I went last, then used up my last shot on Neil as he was hanging in mid-air; unfortunately, I couldn’t find my last roll of film, so that was it for me for pictures for the day.  [As best as I could figure, I must have lost it when I took my lunch out of my daypack; bummer....]  By the time we had finished our second set of repels, it was already 3:20.  Kent came down with the gear, and after some debate, we decided to climb one more moderately difficult face - about 25 feet of roughly 5.6 or 5.7 class climbing.  Kent set up a top rope, and we all gave it a shot.  There was a fairly tricky overhang to start, then up an easy crack, then a shift to the left to a ledge that cut up to the top at about a 40 degree angle.  Fun, though Thomas did not particularly enjoy the repel down.  With that, we did a quick descent back down to the docks, arriving 4:40 pm - only to run into a long line of tourists at the boat landing; some of the other climbers were there too, but there was no sign of Group A.  Unfortunate, but no-one relished the alternative 2 1/2 mile hike all the way back around the lake, so we went ahead and joined the crowd.

While waiting, we got into various conversations with our next door neighbors, notably a family from Oklahoma.  The dad was a former Scout, and his 5 1/2  year old son was about to get into Tiger Cubs.  He wanted to know what both Hugh and I did for a living, and we exchanged particulars.  Complicating our wait, the mate of the next arriving boat announced that they had run out of gas back at the main dock, so it was going to be an even longer wait.  Guess we should have gone ahead and hiked back after all.  I ran down and asked the "skipper" to make a general announcement back at the main dock, so that people would understand what was taking so long; he promised to do so.  We settled in for a longer wait and continued chatting.  Two boats finally returned, but we didn’t make it onto either of them.  Just then Group A appeared at the end of the line, so another 3 boat wait for them at least.  At least we knew where they were - by this point, I thought they had probably walked back.  We just managed to get on the third boat; I was the last guy.  Just before boarding, I entertained one and all by dunking my head in the lake from the dock - it felt wonderful getting all the dust and grime off my face and hair, plus gave everyone a laugh.  Easy ride back, with a bunch of people talking to our guys about Scouting and our trip (all seemed impressed).

Landing, we bypassed the small snack bar at the dock and headed back to the Exum Center.  I diverted to the vans for a minute, to let Mark know we had returned (at last).  At the Center, we hooked up with Ted and Mike, dumped all our harnesses, helmets, and ropes, then went back outside, and semi-crashed on one of the picnic benches, exchanging stories of the day with Ted, Mike and Mark.  They had spent a decidedly less strenuous day, starting with a tram ride to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, where they enjoyed spectacular views across the "Hole," the valley in which Jackson sits.  They also walked around and watched several para-gliders launch and sail along the range front, riding thermals up and eventually landing in a field near the base of the tramway.  After enjoying lunch in the sun on the deck of the Jenny Lake Lodge, they did laundry, bought more patches, and then waited (and waited, and waited, and waited...) for us on our delayed return.  

We tipped Kent $40, for which he seemed well pleased.  Sadly, I saw 2 other Guides get stiffed right in front of me; their clients seemed oblivious.  I was sorely tempted to run after and berate the 2 parties involved, but instead suggested to Kent (and later Brian) that they put a "Tips Appreciated" sign up, prominently, to educate the clueless; they agreed, but said it wasn’t up to them.  After about 45 minutes, Group B showed up, everyone (justifiably) aggravated with the lengthy delay.  Once we got them settled, we tipped Brian, then headed out to Dornans (in Moose Junction) for a now very late dinner.  Hugh returned all the climbing shoes to "Moosely Seconds Mountaineering" on the way.

There was a private party booked at Dornan’s "Chuckwagon," so Ted had arranged for dinner on the deck of Dornan’s Pizza and Pasta restaurant.  Fortunately, they held our tables despite the long delay; unfortunately, however, they had lost the record of the fixed price menu Ted and worked out in advance.  After some discussion, they instead offered us pizzas, pasta, salad, bread, and drinks.  It was still sunny and (too) hot.  Just as the main course arrived, Guide Brian walked in, and we of course invited him to join us.  Four different kinds of pizza soon arrived, along with garlic bread, spaghetti and drinks.  Brian turned out to be an interesting guy:  a Physician’s Assistant (specializing in orthopedics), many climbs under his belt, a 4th year Exum Guide, and also counseling the current 2nd Place National Cycling Champion.  He was living out of a beat-up van, but was planning to return to school that fall to get a degree in Alternative Medicine and/or Acupuncture.  A very pleasant visit and relaxed meal, and we enjoyed a spectacular sunset over the Tetons (at this point, we were so late on getting to the Grant Village Campsite in Yellowstone, it simply wasn’t worth worrying about anymore - and besides, we didn’t have any formal programs the next day anyway).  Said our goodbyes, and hit the road at 8:30, with the setting sun highlighting the Tetons as we left (and opposing, a nearly full moon was rising over Jenny Lake as the sun was setting over the mountains).

I took over CD duties for this stage of the trip, and played a rather eclectic mix of folk, blue grass and country to keep us entertained (Mike Cross was the most popular, among both the adults and Scouts).  Most of the Scouts fell asleep for the last hour.  As we entered Yellowstone, we could see (in the moonlight) evidence of the extensive fire damage in Yellowstone (burned spires of thousands upon thousands of trees on both sides of the road).  We finally pulled into Grant Village about 10:15 (no one at the Ranger Station), and took another 10 minutes to find our reserved site, off the right side of the circuit access road.  Our site had obviously also been burned off, with lots of dust and ash under foot.  But the (unburned) treeline started just past our campsite (on the left as you faced the campsite from the road).  Our "Group Site" was actually 4 regular campsites combined.  There was a bathhouse directly across the road, which was convenient but noisy.  We fired up 2 lanterns and quickly set up tents, trying to be careful not to stir up too much ash.  I shared a tent with Al tonight.  Everyone was in bed by about 11:00 pm - a long day!  Another chilly evening, but not ridiculous.