Here we are…

So, internet connectivity is still a thing, or rather not, in much of the area we've been for the last week after arriving in the Hole called Jackson. My apologies for not having followed up on my earlier blog but suffice it to say we've been busy as the beavers we see in the ponds, and yes, my better half did see not just one, but two bears, both black, and that's made for one happy camper. Since we were up this way twice last year, once in the summer and then again in the Fall I'm working especially hard to take pics and shoot video that gives a different perspective on this area than my summer video or Fall video from last year. We've gone out of our way to do and see things we haven't done or seen before and it still amazes us how much this area offers even after trips spanning more than thirty years.

Finally got up to the top of the Jackson Hole ski resort via their tram yesterday. It’s spectacular and very rugged but I think the view from the top of Aspen is the prettier and more photogenic. Still, the chance to eat waffles at 10,000 feet while taking in the wonderful view is hard to beat. We then took “The Cirque Trail” down to the Bridger Gondola. It’s only a 2 plus mile hike but the first 3/4 miles down from the summit are not for the feint of heart. As the warning sign says, it is indeed steep, there are some airy exposures, and sections call for more down-climbing than actual hiking. All the brave (or foolish) folks who read the sign and then proceeded down the trail anyway eventually admitted to being

surprised at how challenging the upper trail was. The trail winds adjacent to Corbet’s Couloir which is an almost vertical ski line down from the tram for folks looking for the quickest but certainly not the easiest way from top to bottom. I’ve never skied Jackson Hole and up until yesterday had no idea as to what I had been missing, given how spoiled we are skiing-wise in Colorado, but the terrain here is like nothing offered in Colorado and the rise from base to summit is the most of any American ski area. From the top the cars on the roads at the bottom look like they would from an airplane and in fact the planes landing at the Jackson Hole airport are actually below you when viewed from the tram summit.

Still, bear in mind, that sentinel just to the north - the Grand Teton - still rises more than 3,000 more feet in elevation so I can only imagine what the view from up there must be. 

Today we rode part of the Continental Divide route out of Flagg Ranch along the road to Grassy Lake and managed to find one of the prettiest campsites I’ve ever come across in a lifetime of searching for the perfect site to pitch a tent and lay your head. Someone was nice enough to leave not only firewood but also a fishing pole just begging to be cast into the clear blue waters below. This site

rivaled some of the sites we had along the Alaska Highway and I thought those could never be beat. 

The usual areas you might suspect as being crowded are as busy as ever (the town of Jackson, Jenny Lake, etc.) but if you step off the straight and narrow you’ll quickly find yourself standing still in the forest just listening to the sound of… silence. At one of the campground programs they put on nightly the lady ranger asked the audience what our “most special place” was. Most of the crowd volunteered specific locations - the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Yellowstone, Acadia. All truly spectacular and yes, very special places but for me its not a specific place but rather a way of being that I only have found when out, and usually all alone, in nature. Forest or desert, hot or cold, wet or dry, on land or at sea, nature offers a sense of connectedness that I have never experienced even when surrounded by people. For me there is no ‘in the middle of nowhere’ - as I tell my wife, who thinks its weird that you could stick me in the ‘middle of nowhere’ and I’d be perfectly happy, I’ve never been lonelier than when in a crowd so give me the peace and quiet of a forest glade, or the babbling of a flowing brook, or just the whisper of the wind sawing through the pines overhead, and I’ll just say thank you, thank you very much.

Tomorrow we plan on putting the kayak and paddle board to more good use. We took them for a dip on Slide Lake (a hidden gem frequented by the local bears and wolves) the other day and they were so happy they’re begging for more so who are we to argue? If we get up at the C.O.D. (crack of dawn) we might be able to beat the crowds to String and Leigh Lake. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been on these bodies of water so its about time for another visit. And then if there’s time we can float the Snake river which is always a special treat on a hot August day. But who knows, we’ll just have to see what the morrow brings…