Notes
I wasn't planning on taking Friday off, but we all decided to get going and leave Devil's Tower in the morning. Then after a long day of driving and working, I chose a campsite and was really left with 1 option to run based on my research. I drove to it and found it was just a long, gravel road. Not what I wanted, so I took the day off and rested for this great run.
Not that I had a plan on which run to do. I just kept driving West and actually took a wrong turn than the route I intended. Fortune shined upon though as I found my way to the Grand Tetons (I could have gotten there from the other way too I guess) and I picked a run that seemed reasonable. It was still difficult to navigate too though as it wasn't marked other than many, many cars in the parking lot.
The start was flat for a bit, allowing some warm-up before the climb. This is apparently a very popular day hike spot and I passed probably a couple dozen groups going up. Most were pretty nice and I got some extra motivation to not slow down after passing them. After the initial gradual incline, the trail and my pace settled into consistency. The trail was just my style, not too steep and not much jumping over things. I did take a few stops; I had reasons besides being tired, but there were nice for recovery.
The first 2 miles went by quickly and I was confident in getting up this thing, getting close got me even more motivated when I rolled by a large teenage group. I didn't go all the way to the top (this was THE Grand Teton after all), but instead reached a lake beneath the peak. After a few pictures, I steamrolled my way down the mountain and many a hiker that would do the whole thing in 6+ hours. Though after 4 miles of descent, I was getting pretty bored of it, plus my left pinky toe wasn't feeling great. All in all a spectacular route.
And almost 3000 feet of elevation gain btw, might be my most ever.