Sunrise over Grand Teton, as seen from the summit of Middle Teton in late August 2025.
I set out to Middle Teton a little after midnight. There were several groups I ran into early on that were still coming down from their late afternoon and sunset summits, but otherwise the trail was empty. As I approached the scrambling portion, there was a little bit more route-finding, but nothing crazy, and I appreciated not having to watch out for rockfall from climbers above (as there weren't any).
I got to the summit at dawn and was surprised by how close I felt to Grand Teton. The headlamps of the Grand Teton climbers seemed to snake up the mountain-side and the valley below seemed to carry their voices. But the headlamps would quickly die out in the growing dawn light and the wind would put a hush over the valley as the sky took on a pink glow. The sunrise came slowly, and seemed to emerge from where the Snake River met the horizon. It provided some beautiful color to the mountain-side and incoming clouds, going from faint pink, to bright red, to deep orange before the sun dipped behind the clouds for good.
