Jackson Hole

Friday, August 21, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

I had a pretty lazy day today After hiking nearly thirty miles the previous two days, decided to take the day off and knock around Jackson and the campsite a bit

The day started with a drive toward Jackson. Near the Jackson Hole airport, I am able to get good internet connectivity, so I stopped at a turnout situated where the famous pictures of the Tetons were originally taken and uploaded pictures and postings from Yellowstone.


Jackson is a cute little town on the edge of the mountains. They have this central park area that has huge arches made from antlers at each of the four corners of the block.









Next stop was Jedidiah's House of Sourdough, a restaurant in Jackson which had been recommended to me. I opted for the Hungry Man's breakfast - three eggs, bacon, hashbrown potatoes, and three mini sourdough pancakes. It tasted like heaven on a plate after many mornings of Cliff Bars, cereal or when I cooked them, cold eggs and bacon (since it was freezing outside at Yellowstone). I rationalized that I had burnt enough calories the day before and ate so little (since I was so tired after the hike) that I had it coming. They had this jelly - maybe Ioliaberry or something like that. Waitress said it was a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. Any way, squirtted this onto the sourcakes and they were delicious. Highly recommend Jedidiah's and their menu has interesting newspaper stories from the early days of Jackson to entertain you while you are waiting for your food.

After Jedidiah's, wandered around Jackson a bit. Never been to Aspen but imagine its something like this - lots of art galleries and trendy western clothing stores. I didn't add much to the Jackson economy though buying a couple of straps for my sleeping pad and some lens cleaner for the camera.

While in Jackson, I did find a health club and ask them if I could borrow their scale to weigh in and see where I am on my weight loss objective. They were very nice and directed me to their locker room. It wasn't a good doctor's office scale like I would have expected but one of those floor scales. Getting on it, I was surprised that it registered below 200 pounds. Moving it around on the tiles a bit, I could get it to register different weights, but never above 205. I went out and told the guy I didn't believe his scale and he went back there with me and weighed himself and thought it was actually weighing a bit high. So, its anyone's guess, but it looks like I might have already dropped another ten pounds or so since I left Fort Worth.

My rafting trip is not going to happen. I called the company to see if they had a space available, which they did. They were not willing to match my last minute price I wanted to pay and worse yet due to the low water this late in the season, they are putting in 25 miles and 2000 feet of elevation downriver, so I didn't think it would be worth the money they were asking. Prior to heading up, I had contacted a fly fishing guide about doing some fishing as a backup, so after the raft trip fell apart, I called him and unfortunately he is booked up through next Thursday. I went into a fishing outfitter there in Jackson and got a couple of names to check into that are on the way from here in the Tetons to Glacier National Park, which is my next stop. Maybe something will work out there, because I would really like to try fly fishing while I am near Idaho and Montana.

So, now I need to plan the next few days and timing things to be in Banff on the 31st with the hopes of meeting up with Debbie for a few days. I might stay here in the Tetons a couple of extra days and attempt a backcountry overnight hike. I passed a couple of their designated areas on my Solitude Lake hike and it wasn't quite as challenging as I had imagined. I am planning on driving into one of the Ranger stations and see what they can recommend for me and if there are any permits left available.