Hiking Table Rock

Chris and his friend Matt hiked Table Rock last weekend, and since it would be a shame not to document this extremely manly excursion, I am posting pictures for all to see. They are in no particular order, but I'll explain a few. There are a couple of Matt on the trail (since Chris was taking all of the pictures with his camera, most of them are of Matt) and I put these in so you could get an idea of exactly how steep the trail was. Chris said that they climbed straight up the mountainside and he felt like he was on an endless stairstepper machine. The views of the Tetons were amazing, and I think that despite the fact that he was unable to walk for the next couple of days, he was glad he went. You might be wondering why they are carrying 40lb backpacks when they are only going on a day hike? Yes, I asked the same question. I told Chris that he was going to seriously regret taking such an unnecessarily large pack, but he insisted that it was all important gear and they had to have it. After he returned from the hike he informed me that they only ended up using the camera, one water bottle, and a few snacks. Apparently they could have survived with one ten pound pack instead of 80 pounds between them. BUT.....the fact that they were manly enough to hike with those packs should not be dismissed, as Chris has continually reminded me. They weren't able to hike to the top because the snow became increasingly deep, and since everyone coming back down was wearing ice climbing gear, they decided not to risk the rest of the hike, which I am glad about. All in all, they pushed themselves a lot, there were spectacular views, and nobody got eaten by a bear. Success!