Note: I apologize for the layout issues. I'm not sure what's going on with the text and photographs, but it's not laying out like it's supposed to. I will come back and fix this when I have more time.
Right behind Charlie’s house is Snow King Mountain (or as he calls it, a hill). There is a strenuous 2 mile switchback hike up to the top, climbing 2,000 feet in elevation. We decided to hit the trail early, wanting to beat the heat and not waste the day. I stopped frequently to catch my breath and ran out of water by the time we reached the top. Andrew and Charlie had to stop and wait on poor, pitiful (and once again noted), out-of-shape Kate. I cracked jokes about myself and we laughed a lot, but we made it to the top. It really wasn’t that bad of a hike. In comparison to some of the other trails around us, this was mellow. However, I can tell that I am becoming more acclimated to the altitude, so I am making progress.
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| Jackson, Wyoming from Snow King 'Hill' |
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Patiently waiting for me to finish playing with the camera.
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After, Andrew and I headed to Teton Village, just 12 miles from Jackson. We were planning on riding the bikes because it’s an easy ride, but for the sake of time we decided to drive. Several people recommended we eat at the Mangy Moose. I was expecting sky rocketed prices, but they were actually very reasonable and the food was good. Andrew ordered a burger and I had a veggie wrap. We walked around the village, checked out the shops, and watched the downhill mountain bikers coming down and the tram going up. It’s a neat little place, definitely worth checking out. One of the apartments/hotels had a huge hot tub on the second story – I can only imagine how nice that must be with 5+ feet of snow surrounding you in the winter time.
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| Entering Teton Village outside of Jackson, Wy. |
We left the village and headed towards The Pass which is a road that goes over one of the mountains. As we came out of the village a bit and I was able to get a view from a distance, I noticed a huge, almost perfectly circle shaped cloud hovering over the mountain. It was so intriguing and this picture really doesn’t do it justice. I should have made Andrew stop so I could have attempted a better picture.
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| Neat cloud formation |
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Walton Ranch (owner's of Walmart). Over 100 acres for sale: $175,000,000ish.
The reason we headed towards The Pass is because Charlie told us about a mountain bike trail that he really wanted Andrew to ride and we check it out. We drove up the 10% grade mountain about halfway until we came to a rock pull off with a few cars in it. We got out and walked over to the trail, where two kids were getting ready to hit the first two jumps. The trail is somewhat of a skills course, but everything is optional, you can just ride to the side of the huge rock and bypass it if you want to. The first 15 feet of the trail were a little intimidating to me. Andrew seemed pretty stoked about it though. He and Charlie made plans to ride the following night, so for now, Andrew would have to wait.
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| Step Mom on Jimmy's Mom at The Pass |
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Step Mom on Jimmy's Mom at The Pass
We started back towards Jackson. While looking out across the water while crossing the bridge, I spotted a moose, so we turned around to get some pictures. Andrew has really taken to photography since I’ve had my ‘toys’ out, so I gave him the telephoto lens and let him get the shots of the moose while I shot with the camera Charlie has been letting me play with. |
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| While crossing the Snake River we saw a moose! |
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| Captured with the telephoto lens. |
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| The moose drinking some water. |
Once we got home, Andrew and I had a chance to get showered off before we headed for downtown. Charlie’s house is very close to everything, so we were able to walk everywhere. We went into some of the gift shops that were still opened, saw some very impressive art, and walked through an amazing rare gifts shop which housed things such as a 50,000 year old mammoth tusk and all types of fossils. It was very interesting and expensive.
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| Stuffed western squirrel. |
After getting a good feel for downtown, we headed back to the house for a few minutes to eat a quick, cheap dinner and change shoes before headed to Snake River Brewery, a small brewery where our friend works. Snake River has an awesome atmosphere. The design is spot on and the local metal art on display and for sale throughout the building really adds to the feel. The home brews are cold and flavorful. I tried a stout, which I really enjoyed and Andrew had an IPA called Pakos, named after a husky mix of one of the brewer’s a few years back. The dog passed away several years ago and the brewer’s wanted to honor the pup, so they made a beer after him. The significance of the story is that the dog apparently had one eye that was really different, hence the “eye” (I)PA. The story behind it was pretty cool I thought. Pako was the only dog ever allowed on the brewery’s premises.
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| Snake River Brewery |
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| Brew Pub |
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| My stout and Andrew's IPA - yummy! |
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