We rolled into Jackson Hole, Wyoming late Wednesday night, and couldn't see much of anything other than one big elk crossing the road on the dark mountain pass. We woke up to find ourselves in what looked to me like Cowboy Disneyland. The downtown is a quaint, western-themed array of high-end shops, souvenir shops, bars, and restaurants. Instead of horse-drawn carriages or taxis, tourists ride around in mock-stage coaches.
We took the guidebook's advice and walked a couple of blocks from our hotel, The Angler's Inn, to The
Bunnery, a great bakery that featured Mexican-inspired breakfasts and hearty, whole grain treats.
After breakfast, we walked down the main street to the Town Square. The Town Square features giant arches made out of elk antlers collected by local Boy Scouts after the elks shed them (naturally, not by hunting). In the evening, there is evidently a re-creation of an old west shoot-out at the town square, but we decided to skip that attraction.
We walked around town for a bit, collected a few souvenirs, and decided to head out to our destination for the day: Grand Teton National Park.
About a year ago, I had been discussing travel with my dentist, who asked me if I'd ever been to the Grand Tetons. When I said that I hadn't, he remarked, "You really need to take your son there. Everyone needs to see the Tetons before they die."
I told Frank this, and when we decided to take this trip, we put the Tetons on our list, based on this recommendation from my dentist. Just in driving out to the park, I could see why my dentist was so enamored of the Tetons. I am not sure, but I think that line in "America the Beautiful" about "purple mountains majesty" must surely have referred to these mountains. They are majestic, rising over the plains in tall peaks that loom large on the horizon, breathtaking in size and scope.
I recalled the first time I visited San Francisco in the 1990's, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, and wondering where on earth people who lived there would go on vacation, since the San Francisco Bay seemed like one of the most beautiful spots imaginable to me. Now I wonder the same thing about the people who live in Jackson Hole...where on earth would they go for vacation? I'm not sure that you could ever get tired of this scenery, though my camera and amateur photography skills don't do it justice.
On our way out to the National Park Visitors Center, we discovered that this is indeed "where the buffalo roam" when we saw a small herd of buffalo grazing on tall grass by the road. I think the only other time I've ever seen a buffalo was in one of those drive-through animal ranches in Texas where we were accosted by ostriches and some nasty zebras once. It was so nice to see them roaming around on farmland.
The National Park Visitors Center at Grand Teton National Park is a lovely building with high, glass walls that overlook the mountains. There is a natural history exhibit on the park, and a diorama of the mountains and valley to give you a sense of where things are. There is a large gift shop with nice souvenirs of the park, books for kids, posters, and some camping gear. Someone had to sink a great deal of money in this place. Since Dick Cheney's "undisclosed location" is somewhere around these parts, I don't think money is much of an issue to some of the residents.
From there, we drove over to Jenny Lake, where we took a boat across the lake to hike to Hidden Falls. The Ferry Boat is $15 round trip, and if you miss the last boat back, it's about a 3 mile hike back to the parking lot. They told us the falls were about a half mile from the boat landing, up a well-marked path. There were signs to watch out for bear all over the place, but luckily, we didn't encounter anything bigger than a chipmunk.
Maybe it was the altitude, or maybe the onset of a cold, or maybe the terrible physical shape I'm in right now, but that half mile hike seemed to take forever. Alex decided to play scout and run ahead and tell us what was up ahead, coming back to report every five minutes, while Frank and I huffed and puffed our way up the mountain. We stopped frequently to take pictures and let other hikers pass, and despite being winded, enjoyed the hike tremendously.
We finally started hearing sounds of rushing water, and knew the falls were nigh. What we found was a rustic wooden bridge over some rushing water, which was a fantastic scene. I could have stayed there all day, and thought maybe this was our destination, but no, we had a ways to go from there to the actual falls.
We kept on hiking up the mountain, and at one point, Frank asked some people coming down the mountain, "Are there really falls up there? Or is this some kind of elaborate hoax?" After our Yosemite disappointment, we didn't want to hike up and find a little trickle falling off a rock. The hikers assured us that there were falls, and they were worth the trip.
We eventually made it to the falls, and were not disappointed. There was quite a crowd gathered at the viewpoint, and people were resting, taking pictures, and generally, just glad to be there.
Alex had not wanted to go on the hike, and grumbled and moaned that he would rather be watching TV or playing his Nintendo DS than standing around looking at nature. Even Alex was impressed by this scene, and gave it the ultimate compliment, "This nature is not so boring after all."
We stayed a while and snapped a zillion pictures, and then headed down toward the boat dock. The trip down was much easier.
Our boat driver was a bit of a daredevil, and overtook another boat that left before we did, setting some kind of ferryboat speed record in the process. Alex loved that part.
Afterwards, we drove to the Jackson Lodge inside the park, and had an excellent meal at The Mural Room. Outside the lodge is a large terrace that overlooks a nature preserve. A large herd of elk were grazing there in the twilight, and we saw two bears come out of the forest and stalk them. They were pretty far away, but the crowd gathered on the terrace was thrilled to see this, like our very own National Geographic special in action. As Alex said, "This nature is not so boring after all."
Posted using the Sprint Compass™ 597 by Sierra Wireless, generously loaned to me for the trip by Sierra Wireless.
My family took a road trip earlier this summer covering similar territory, so I'm really enjoying reliving it through your posts and pictures.
We pretty much just drove through Grand Tetons on our way into and out of Yellowstone, but if (when?) we go back, I hope we'll spend more time there - the mountains are just so beautiful.
And I think "Cowboy Disneyland" sums up Jackson Hole quite well.
Posted by: Florinda | August 17, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Nice write up. Good descriptions. Jackson Hole definitely is a Cowboy Disneyland.
Posted by: Jack tors | May 06, 2009 at 02:25 AM