July 14, 2012
Jackson Hole...Day One:
It is so great to be back in Jackson Hole...it is such a beautiful place with the mountains jutting up to heights of more than 13,000 feet, the Snake River winding its way through forests and verdant hay fields, and the natural beauty of the elk refuge which stretches for miles into the hills beyond Jackson. What makes the Tetons so spectacular is that there are no foot hills, no lower slopes that create a transition to the giant rock faces and sharp peaks...these mountains rise up without pause from the lakes and plains that lie at their feet.
The origin of the name Grand Tetons is a matter of dispute (almost entirely among Puritans) but almost everyone agrees that they were named by French members of a North West Company expedition around the turn of the 19th century. Upon seeing the prominent peaks rising dramatically above the landscape, the Frenchmen remarked how much they looked like large (grand)...um...well...teats (breasts, translation: Tetons), which makes sense particularly if you consider it was named by Frenchmen who had been out in the middle of the wilderness for months...at that point everything was probably looking like parts of a woman...gotta love the French.
Anyhoo....Last night we had a wonderful night, sharing a delicious dinner and great conversation until well past our bed time. Even Molly was ready to turn in...
This morning we're greeted by a nice, cool, cloudy morning...perfect weather to take a nice long walk with Molly. Kip and Lin's neighborhood lies in a valley and this area was once a ranch. It has great wide vistas, a creek that ambles through, and plenty of natural areas in which to stroll. Molly gets a chance to exercise her Labrador instincts as she bounds through the tall grass sniffing out wildlife, and occasionally hopping in the creek (and, of course, shaking off the water while standing next to us...!).
We decided to head into town since it has been quite a while since we have visited Jackson, and much appears to had remained the same. This morning we get to see the farmers' market that takes place on Saturday morning around the town square...so it's a little busier than normal at the moment.
The town square is the classic quadrangle right in the heart of the oldest part of Jackson. The arches at each corner of the square are really remarkable...they're made of elk antlers that are shed by the elk each spring and collected. Some are used for these arches, and some are sold in an auction that benefits the Elk Refuge and the local Boy Scouts troop who put in the time and energy to collect them. The auction brings in about $90,000 dollars from bidders wanting the antlers for furniture, decoration, jewelry and other handcrafted items. The biggest bidders for the antlers...? The Japanese, who believe that the powdered antlers are an aphrodisiac...really...we're not joking...
The town tries to maintain the old western feel, and they do a really good job. An old time stagecoach will take you on a tour around town, but be careful about what time you get on this stagecoach...in the early afternoon every day this coach gets held up by outlaws amid a hail of (fake) gunfire...! Here, the stagecoach is passing in front of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar...known best for the seats at the bar which are actual saddles! The bar has silver dollars inlaid in the surface...but there are not a million of them, sorry.
It is always so amazing who you run into in out of the way places...here, I had a chance to chat with an unusually cheerful-looking Abe Lincoln! What makes this even more noteworthy is that Mr. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, which was 25 years before Wyoming became a state...maybe he was in town on his way to see the huge statue of him on the highway between Cheyenne and Laramie (it is the largest Lincoln head in the country after all...).
And lookee here...we got a chance to talk physics with the great one, Albert Einstein! After a few minutes of lively banter, we were able to get clear on that whole E=mc2 thing...that made the whole trip worthwhile...
Jackson is perhaps best known for the Jackson Hole ski resort which is up the highway several miles, but the Snow King sort is also right here, just on the edge of the town! Like so many other towns known for skiing, the summer time is actually busier with tourists who are drawn to the area for the scenery and activities like hiking, camping, river rafting, and cycling. This is also a very popular stopping point for folks on their way to or from Yellowstone National Park, so there are typically many RV's around.
The day has turned out to be just perfect...high 70's, sunny, light breeze...a perfect afternoon to have lunch outside at a small cafe...
After lunch we're off to see some sights on our way to dinner and an early evening performance by the symphony. So we head north toward Teton Village, the cluster of hotels, condos, shops and activities around the Jackson Hole resort. The drive north provides those great landscapes again...
We arrive at the village and see the lift house for the gondola that takes skiers and hikers to the top of the mountain. This ski hill is known for its vertical drop...the top of the mountain reaches 10,450 feet, and has over 4,100 feet of vertical drop. It also has one of the toughest ski runs in the world, known as Corbett's Couloir, which starts out with a 30 foot free fall into a narrow chute...yikes!
Today in Teton Village there is an antique and crafts show going on so we mosey (that's old west speak for "walk") around a bit. Interestingly, we come upon a vendor who is from Nepal and is selling items that we just saw a few weeks ago
in Nepal...! So of course, we struck up a conversation about Nepal, and ended up buying some beads for our jewelry business...
Because we have an early symphony to attend, we decide to get an early dinner in Teton Village. The village is quite built up with condo buildings and hotels, but they have retained courtyard areas like this to create some space for folks to walk and enjoy the outdoors. We have a nice dinner on the deck at the Mangy Moose bar and restaurant.
We have a little time to kill before the concert, so we stroll around the village a little. At the base of the gondola lift we see signs indicating that there is a private party at the restaurant at the top of the mountain...and in each gondola car there is a bucket with chilled champagne In it, and two glasses...nice way to get to the top of the mountain!
Also at the base of the ski hill near the gondola is an activity area for kids...the first is a kind of bungee contraption that let's kids fly up into the air and do flips while attached to a harness and two bungee cords. Up the hill a little bit is a day camp set up for kids, which includes a teepee. This area at the base of the hill is a real hub of activity...
The performance hall where the symphony performs is also located at the base of the hill, and it is quite a nice facility. Being the fundraiser that he is, Michael has to check out the donor wall (and jot down some names of major donors). Everything in this place has a donor plaque it...the bricks in the walkway, the walls of the performance hall, the seats inside the hall, the indoor/outdoor patio area, and the gardens that surround the building...we didn't check, but we bet that even the bathrooms are named!
When we get inside, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra is just taking their seats and tuning up. The orchestra is made up of regulars who play with the Jackson symphony, and guest artists from other orchestras who come to play during the summer. Tonight we will be celebrating romanticism as Maestro Donald Runnicles leads the orchestra through pieces by two giants of Austrian music. The first piece is the 'Unfinished Symphony' by Franz Schubert, and second piece is the Seventh Symphony by Anton Bruckner. According to the maestro, "These are two of the great symphonic composers who, in their embrace of the epic and the intimate, epitomized romanticism." the Schubert piece was good, but the Bruckner piece really rocked the hall with huge brass and kettle drum crescendos. During the second piece, we had a grand time watching the triangle and cymbal players...who sat through the first two-thirds of the concert watching from their chairs, then stood, hit one note at the crescendo, then sat down and watched the entire rest of the piece...we all agreed we could master those instruments...Intermission was outdoors on the covered patio outside the music hall...and they have this great system that allows you to order your drinks and snacks before the concert and they will be waiting for you when you come out to intermission! That's a great system!
After the concert, we returned home a little more cultured than when we had left...and it had rained while we were inside the concert hall so we lucked out there too!
It was a fun day in Jackson, and we have one more full day to enjoy...tomorrow we plan to take in some of the beauty in nature around us...
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