Abbey's Road

The Grand Tetons

I met Doug, Liane and their dog, Max, in Big Bend back in February and we followed the same path through parts of Texas and New Mexico for a short while. We’ve managed to keep track of each other’s wanderings throughout the year and we finally hooked up again in Gros Ventre campground outside of Jackson on Friday, 9/15. I owed them a dinner still, so I got there early enough to cook a nice meal and the 5 of us squeezed into my humble abode. There was plenty of room leftover for a few bottles of wine, too. It was much colder than the last time I saw them so we had our heaters running quite often. Liane is a Michigan alum so on Saturday, they had me over to watch the ND-Michigan game. We watched the game inside their much more spacious motorhome as the snow flakes were flying outside. If you didn’t hear already, Michigan pretty much embarrassed ND. Thankfully, they were gracious winners, and hosts. Max and Abbey really didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

Sunday morning we woke up to 4 moose in the campground. Thankfully, Abbey didn’t get a good look at them, but the next morning we were walking in the woods near the campground and she started running all of a sudden. I stopped her right away with the leash, but when I looked up I saw a big bull moose running away. I was surprised, but real glad, that it ran away from her. The weather finally warmed up on Monday, just in time for Chris’ arrival.

Last year when Chris came out we spent most of our time in Yellowstone and only a few days in Grand Teton NP and Jackson Hole. So this year we decided to spend more time in Jackson and the Tetons. On Tuesday since it was a clear day we rode the old tram up to the top of the ski area and took a nice hike. October 1st is the last day to ride the tram because they are tearing it down and building a new one. When we got back down to the bottom, we hit another Jackson Hole landmark, the Mangy Moose, for lunch and a Moose Drool. It just seemed too good to pass up. On Wednesday we drove up to Yellowstone to check out Old Faithful and its nearby geysers again. Old Faithful didn’t seem quite as amazing the second time around, but it was still pretty cool seeing all the hot springs and some of the other geysers spouting off.

We got a surprise the next morning waking up to snow, though it was only an inch or two. It was cloudy and cold so we made our way back down to Jackson and spent the rest of our time there. We got more snow in Jackson, but by the weekend it finally warmed up again. I was happy I got a new propane heater because we couldn’t plug in at the campground and the blower of the furnace kept wearing down the batteries. The new heater doesn’t use any electricity at all and most nights were too cold to go without it. I don’t think they have a very long fall here. The leaves have started to change and the aspens are turning a golden yellow. It really is beautiful.

One day we drove over the Teton Pass into Idaho and checked out the up and coming boomtowns of Victor and Driggs. These towns are both less than a thousand people, but supposedly they are building homes like crazy there. I think they are mostly second homes for people who can’t afford, or don’t want to live in, Jackson. Victor is little more than a few blocks long but they have a high-end furniture store, an organic bakery and an market with lots of organic stuff. We couldn’t figure out where their customers were coming from, but apparently the town is growing like crazy. So you better hurry if you want to get in on the boom before it gets out of sight. We talked to one girl who has lived there for 10 years and had lived in Jackson for 10 years before that. She said she could never live in Jackson because “there are way too many people there.” I thought Chris was going to lose it.

People in this area are almost as crazy about fly fishing as they are in Montana. Driving through town you see drift boats (for floating down the rivers) in nearly everyone’s driveway. The high price of outfitters and guides, and the cold weather, deterred us from giving it a try. I’m sure my brother-in-law, Tim, will be dumbfounded when he finds out I didn’t fish at all in Montana or Wyoming. One of these days I’ll have to give it another try. We did get to check out a lot of Jackson’s restaurants. They weren’t that great but it sure beat cooking and they all seem to have a great selection of beer on tap. I even found one I like better than Moose Drool – Mighty Bison brewed in none other than Victor, ID. I guess Victor has that going for it too. On Monday morning Abbey and I dropped Chris off at the airport and got ready for my two week stint with Habitat. More on that next time.