At last we were hiking up Garnet Canyon at a very non-alpine 11am. Really not the best time to be heading up to do a climb in the Tetons, but the forecast for the day was all right, and we decided we'd watch the weather carefully and decide as we go whether to hop on the climb. At the very least we would get in a good hike. (Note: We also thought about continuing up so late in the day on each pitch of the climb. However, at each of the belays we could see that it would be reasonable to quickly rappel down to shelter if the weather deteriorated, and the clouds stayed at bay, so we kept climbing. This route is not very committing.)
Probably one of the highlights of the day was a rather bizarre encounter on the trail. A drop dead gorgeous gal in her late 20s was hiking up the trail, wearing nothing but very bright, sleek, skimpy workout clothes. She was fit enough that as we caught up we could tell she was hiking much slower than she could, and the light clothes really weren't necessary for how hard she was working to hike at that pace. However, she was holding hands love-dovey with a guy maybe 5-10 yrs older, dressed in trashy jeans and a dirty sweatshirt, looking like he belonged on the couch at home with a bag of chips more than on the trail, as he was panting with exhaustion. As we raced by she complimented us on our solid hiking form (Whaat? First time I've ever heard someone say that as I passed), the guy said something in passing along the lines of us being crazy fast (which we weren't) and Thomas heard her telling her companion that actually she often hiked as fast with her girlfriends. Thomas and I were amused and confused at the bizarre contrast of the couple. What was going on there?
As we neared the Meadows, we realized that even with the beta from MountainProject, Teton Rock Climbs, and A Climber's Guide to the Tetons, we still could not identify the arete. The descriptions were somewhat vague, and the aerial photos we had were very difficult to match with the steep perspective of the south wall of Disappointment Pk. We couldn't even place ourselves in the photo.