Up in Teton Canyon, on the way to the Grand Teton (as the crow flies), just over the state line in Wyoming, lies a Table Mountain. Not as famous as its counterpart in South Africa, but still, a Table Mountain. It's not as imposing, it's not as vast and it's not as picturesque, since it is dwarfed and dominated by the three Tetons not one mile distant. But it still is a hefty climb, offering a 7-mile approach, 4,000 feet of elevation gain and an above-treeline summit of 11,105 feet above sea level.
I climbed it yesterday, after a group of us had started up one of its trails a couple weeks after we settled in. Snow turned us back, although it wasn't a hardcore push to the summit.
I came back and started up the North Fork trail.
I attained the ridge, then scrambled up to the summit.
Up top, I spent a leisurely hour eating dinner, enjoying the views and reading a book.
I descended via the Face Trail, which was the most grueling descent I have ever attempted, with hugely steep grades plunging down 3,000 feet of elevation loss over a rocky, loose trail.
Two hours of leg-punishing descent deposited me in the parking lot, ready for a couple days of recovery, but glowing with the views and accomplishments of the day.
A good 8-hour trip.
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