Grand Teton lower saddle camping

I will be climbing the Grand in late July and want to go as light as possible. I climbed it once before but that wsa 20 yrs ago & I don't remember all the details.

Are there rock bivy shelters on the lower saddle that would allow us to use bivy sacks and leave the heavy tent behind (hoping we don't have bad weather) or should we just carry a few extra pounds to be comfortable?
I remember it being really windy last time I was there.

There are several protected sites tucked in behind large boulders on the Lower Saddle, and other sites that have pretty significant rock wall shelters surrounding them that you could bivy in. I personally prefer to camp just down from the Lower Saddle in the Moraine area to avoid the non-stop wind at the Lower Saddle.

Scott Morris wrote:There are several protected sites tucked in behind large boulders on the Lower Saddle, and other sites that have pretty significant rock wall shelters surrounding them that you could bivy in. I personally prefer to camp just down from the Lower Saddle in the Moraine area to avoid the non-stop wind at the Lower Saddle.

Thanks. Thought that was the case but wasn't sure. Took a 4 season NF tent last time & was glad because our campsite was exposed and the winds were howling. Weighs a ton , though.

I reserved a spot on the Lower Saddle but might take your advice and change to a spot on the Moraine, if available.

There are actually full on caves at the lower saddle. They are just past the main area where everybody camps at the rock structures. Cross just over the saddle and go downhill slightly and look around for some caves. We found about three of them, with the largest comfortably fitting two people and all our gear and it probably would have been ok with 3 people. We definitely did not take a tent and were very comfortable .

Good luck on your upcoming trip! Hope you have a successful outing.

Why take two bivi sacks instead of something like a firstlight which is just as, if not lighter? Better yet go with a tarp. If you stay in the Caves you could go without pretty easily. I've come to the decision that if I hike all the way to the Lower Saddle I should just do the whole thing in a day. Carrying all my shit to the Lower Saddle is such a PITA. I'd rather hump my crap to the Caves or Moraine and then do the climb from there. I'll have to start out an hour or two earlier maybe but I don't have to carry my entire pack of crap that extra 1000' or mile or whatever it is.

jmeizis wrote:I've come to the decision that if I hike all the way to the Lower Saddle I should just do the whole thing in a day. Carrying all my shit to the Lower Saddle is such a PITA. I'd rather hump my crap to the Caves or Moraine and then do the climb from there.

Couldn't agree more.

We spent the night at the lower saddle two years ago.

Made it up there just in time to get the tent set up and dive in ahead of a big thunder-boomer storm that dropped 2-3" of hail.

The rocked-out bivy site filled with water during the storm but luckily the bathtub bottom on our tent kept us dry during the deluge.

Exum has a hut up there and if you get stuck in a real bad storm and ask real nicely they might let you ride it out inside.

Not sure I'd be willing to risk it though.

jmeizis wrote:Why take two bivi sacks instead of something like a firstlight which is just as, if not lighter? Better yet go with a tarp. If you stay in the Caves you could go without pretty easily. I've come to the decision that if I hike all the way to the Lower Saddle I should just do the whole thing in a day. Carrying all my shit to the Lower Saddle is such a PITA. I'd rather hump my crap to the Caves or Moraine and then do the climb from there. I'll have to start out an hour or two earlier maybe but I don't have to carry my entire pack of crap that extra 1000' or mile or whatever it is.

I don't have a First light or that would be a good option. We have 2 bivy sacks we got to use in Rocky Mountain NP (where they don't allow tents or staked out tarps at bivy sites) and they weigh less than 1 lb each vs. 6 lbs for my 3 season tent and 10 lbs for my expedition tent
Splitting the tent between 2 of us only adds a couple pounds vs. bivy sacks and adds some comfort and mobility, so might be worth taking the tent in case of bad weather.

I am considering staying at Morraine. Last time I camped on the Lower Saddle, winds were horrendous...

A couple of years ago I camped at the lower saddle in my BD Betamid and found a nice site with large rock walls. We had moderate wind but the Betamid held up great. The advantage of going to LS compared to the Moraine is you don't have to carry a bear canister.

If there's any way to grab a site in the morraine, do it.

Buff Johnson wrote:If there's any way to grab a site in the morraine, do it.

Thinking that's a good idea. Thanks.

Totally depends on you fitness level and speed. If you're concerned about making it up and down in a fast time, I want to start a route as close to the start as possible, ie the saddle. If you're fit and quick, then camping down at the Caves is NBD. It does add substantially to the morning approach, and going up the morain first thing in the morning does not sound appealing to me. I will say that the first time up there, we didn't know exactly where the start of the lower Exum was, so camping at the Saddle allowed us to scout out the start of the climb the night before and made the next morning faster. I really liked how we ended up doing it on that trip: we camped at the Saddle, climbed lower/upper Exum, came down to the caves and camped again, and then climbed Irene's Arete. The cave in the Saddle was one of the plushest bivy spots I have ever found.

csproul wrote:Totally depends on you fitness level and speed. If you're concerned about making it up and down in a fast time, I want to start a route as close to the start as possible, ie the saddle. If you're fit and quick, then camping down at the Caves is NBD. It does add substantially to the morning approach, and going up the morain first thing in the morning does not sound appealing to me. I will say that the first time up there, we didn't know exactly where the start of the lower Exum was, so camping at the Saddle allowed us to scout out the start of the climb the night before and made the next morning faster. I really liked how we ended up doing it on that trip: we camped at the Saddle, climbed lower/upper Exum, came down to the caves and camped again, and then climbed Irene's Arete. The cave in the Saddle was one of the plushest bivy spots I have ever found.

I want to get an early start and get up and down quickly, which is why I opted for the Saddle initially. I'm in pretty good shape (but not good enough to do the whole trip in a day- getting too old for that) and a fast climber.

Jim Fox wrote: I want to get an early start and get up and down quickly, which is why I opted for the Saddle initially. I'm in pretty good shape (but not good enough to do the whole trip in a day- getting too old for that) and a fast climber.

Thanks for the post Jim and the info everyone. I'm going up in late July as well - hope to catch a site at the Moraine - at 66 I'm not even considering doing it in a day :). This will be 30+ years since I was first there - a sort of anniversary tour of this - Longs Peak via Stettner - Keiner - and a few other stops for day routes like Lumpy etc that made up the trip I did back then - first year I learned to climb. The wife and I have a picture on top of Triconi Nail we took on our 27th wedding anniversary - would like to get another this year on our 42nd.

Jim, not sure how old you are, or which route you're planning on doing. But umpteen years ago, I did the Lower Exum car-to-car in about 18 hours, carrying a scrawny rack. This was because my partner at the time was a "fussy sleeper." It was a long, long day, but manageable.

OTOH, a few years later, hubby (not a fussy sleeper) and I went to the Lower Saddle on our honeymoon, snagged the lowest (first) campsite we could find and did the Complete Exum the next day. We were completely sheltered from the wind so slept well and were able to leave camp around 6am. Very nice.

Both trips happened in late July.

Have a great time, whatever you decide!

flynn wrote:Jim, not sure how old you are, or which route you're planning on doing. But umpteen years ago, I did the Lower Exum car-to-car in about 18 hours, carrying a scrawny rack. This was because my partner at the time was a "fussy sleeper." It was a long, long day, but manageable. OTOH, a few years later, hubby (not a fussy sleeper) and I went to the Lower Saddle on our honeymoon, snagged the lowest (first) campsite we could find and did the Complete Exum the next day. We were completely sheltered from the wind so slept well and were able to leave camp around 6am. Very nice. Both trips happened in late July. Have a great time, whatever you decide!

I'm in my late 50's but pretty fit. I could probably it car-to-car in a day if I absolutely had to, but I know I'd not enjoy it. Plus, I enjoy camping/backpacking and wouldn't want to miss out on that part of it.

We are doing either the Complete or the Upper Exum, depending on how we feel when we get there. Probably just do the Upper but we'll see.

Jim Fox wrote:Are there rock bivy shelters on the lower saddle that would allow us to use bivy sacks and leave the heavy tent behind (hoping we don't have bad weather) or should we just carry a few extra pounds to be comfortable? I remember it being really windy last time I was there.

Yeah, it can get really windy. Worse, is that it can t-shower some weeks every afternoon. Nice to get out of the soup.

I've used a lightweight (BD) tent a bunch in the Tetons and for the weight and space, wouldn't consider a bivy sack given that tent size platforms are available. Maybe look for a used one?

A couple seasons ago, we knew we were pushing the afternoon t-shower thing. Summitted, and, got down quickly as the first rain drops fell. The deluge hit at the Saddle, and, we spent around 16 hours in a fairly cold, wet storm there. Darn glad to not have bivy sacks and to not have to keep going down (we did a longer route and, yeah, some of us aren't kids anymore...ha ha).

I don't think you can count on getting any prime "cave"-esque spot on the Saddle...being its first come, first served.

Local three day forecast is pretty good. You might hold off and make your decision when you see what kinda weather you're up against.

Take earplugs for the wind. I use sleep aids too. Although, I can usually suffer from low sleep for a night or two and still feel like I can negotiate 5th class terrain, etc, ok.

Brian in SLC wrote: I don't think you can count on getting any prime "cave"-esque spot on the Saddle...being its first come, first served.

Yeah, last time I climbed it we got a fairly late start on the hike up & there was only one "official" tent site left open. It was on the very top of the ridge, not too far from the Exum hut. No shelter at all from the wind. Glad I took my NF Oval 25 4 season tent- really solid in the winds but heavy and cumbersome to set up. Taking a lighter (but still bomber) tent this time.

jmeizis wrote:Why take two bivi sacks instead of something like a firstlight which is just as, if not lighter? Better yet go with a tarp. If you stay in the Caves you could go without pretty easily. I've come to the decision that if I hike all the way to the Lower Saddle I should just do the whole thing in a day. Carrying all my shit to the Lower Saddle is such a PITA. I'd rather hump my crap to the Caves or Moraine and then do the climb from there. I'll have to start out an hour or two earlier maybe but I don't have to carry my entire pack of crap that extra 1000' or mile or whatever it is.

Yup. Last I was on The Grand we left the moraine at 4. On top by 7:30, back napping and then sipping a cocktail and watching the suffer train go past by 11:30.

One more dumb question- I have an UL tent that I'd like to use to save some weight (<2 lbs vs. 7 for my other tent). It's actually pretty sturdy but uses trekking poles and needs to be staked out with multiple guy lines.(Big Agnes Scout UL)
My concern- is the ground at the campsites going to be amenable to pounding in stakes (12 of them) or should I just take the freestanding tent?