Summit Buck Mountain 11938'

Start this ascent at the Death Canyon Trailhead in Grand Teton National Park, at 6807' elevation.  Allow for 12 hours.  In the first two miles, it is important to be mindful of bears.  Follow the trail for about 1/2 of a mile, and just before the third foot bridge, an unmarked use climbers' trail referred to as the Stuart Draw trail turns north (right).  Take this trail through some dense forest, making sure not to lose it as you have to cross over or circumnavigate a few fallen trees.  You will come to a meadow of thick brush, for which a pair of long socks or long pants would come in handy to protect your legs from overgrowth.  The trail is faint but easily followed across this meadow to an area of erratic boulders, and from here the trail is easy to keep again.  Thankfully, I had cell service and the trail is distinct enough on Google Maps satellite imagery to know I was in the right place.  My full route is here.

Continue through more dense forest, until about 8000', when you should cross Stuart Draw itself, a creek that meanders down from the snow fields below Buck Mountain.  Follow this steep trail until 9000', at which point you will come to a wide open cirque.  Directly in front of you will be steep impassible terrain.  You can choose to trend left (southwest) and follow the creek up a steep couloir, or trend right (northwest) and follow a trail up the steep face to your right.  Both routes are very steep.  The northwest face will feature substantial boulder-hopping, a method I find preferable to the steep dirt paths of the southwest couloir.  

Either way you go, it will require some watchful route-finding to make sure you end up at the ridge before Timberline Lake, which sits at 10300'.  If you choose to camp, a permit from the backcountry office is required and you can set up by the lake.  Try to stay about halfway between Static Peak to your left and the unnamed peak to your right as you approach the false front before the lake.  Gain the ridge to the northeast of the lake, and from here take some time to visually inspect the East Face and the summit route.

There is a couloir to your northwest, on the far right side of the face of Buck Mountain.  Follow a use trail up to its base, and from here decide, based on your equipment and its snowpack whether to ascend the couloir or follow the trail around the left side.  Both will be steep.  Once above the couloir, you can choose the East Face route or the East Ridge Route.  The East Ridge is more obvious (just follow the ridge up to the peak, ducking to the left and under a large bite in the ridge about two-thirds of the way up.  During this section, you may find yourself looking over an uncomfortably large cliff from time to time, depending on the specific rocks you choose to travel on.  The East face, however, contains much less exposure, but can be difficult to navigate if there is still snowpack.  I found a way up and down that didn't involve touching snow in mid-July, but I only knew this was possible because I carefully inspected the route from down below by the lake.  

From below, the face looks a lot steeper than it is, and you will find the scrambling up the face to be very enjoyable third-class terrain.  Some of the rock on the ridge is fourth class for their high amount of exposure, even though the moves required are mostly easy third class.  Whichever way you take, the last two hundred or so yards are easy scrambling.  Take in the spectacular views from the summit, and now that you've seen the whole ascent, you should know, as I did, the route you yourself will be most comfortable with descending.

Simply put, the later in the season you go, the easier you can make this ascent, because there will be more sections of rock available, meaning the higher chance you'll find a low-exposure easy scramble.  The earlier in the season you go, even if you look up from the Jackson Hole valley and see gaps in the snow, the more difficulty you will have finding a route you feel comfortable with.  Most of the face rock is climbable by a weekend hiker like myself, it's just a matter of how comfortable you are with using your hands for easy scramble moves and putting yourself in exposed areas.

I believe this hike is a fantastic beginner scrambler's gateway into the upper Tetons and into more exposed terrain.  Come on a good night's sleep and have a patient mind as you find your way up this remarkable summit.