Last Day of The Grand Tetons Tour - Day 7

 Lower end of Jackson Lake with the Grand Tetons in the background.

  

Saturday, July 25th, was the last day of our Grand Tetons tour. It has been a fantastic week. Each day was very different from the day before, except that the Grand Tetons was the common denominator. The Tetons are huge and can easily be seen for miles and miles away. Each days mileage and challenges were independent of the others, yet the beautiful scenery tied the days together in a tourish kind of way. For me, this was the trip of a lifetime. Although, I am hesitant to say that because I have been on some great adventures and I know there will be more. There will be more adventures, more tours and more trips of a lifetime.

The following account is of our last day on the tour. I didn't take as many pictures the last day because we basically backtracked the route from Thursday's ride. There was one change, however, that cut out about 10-12 miles or so. Instead of taking a left at Dornan's and heading back to Kelly, we took a right and got back on the bike path that leads straight to Jackson.

After breakfast in that glorious Mural Room, we had one last map meeting and then we were free to leave. Coming into The Grand Tetons National Park on Thursday, we crossed the Jackson Lake Dam. Cliff asked me if I took pictures of it and I had not because at that point, I was just too pooped. This was about 47 miles into our ride that day and once we crossed the dam, we had that last grueling hill. So, I promised myself that I would stop on Saturday and take some.  And you can see those below. 

The pictures above show the east side of the dam....where it turns into Snake River...the river we rafted down for 10 beautiful miles.

The west side of the dam looked like this....the Grand Tetons in the background.

The pictures doesn't do the mountains justice. I mean these things were Gorgeous with a capital G. Majestic with a capital M and Breathtaking with a capital B.

I'm quite sure when Katharine Lee Bates penned the words to America the Beautiful, she had visions similar to those above.

Although we had only been riding for a couple of miles, the parking lot area had signs for the restrooms and Pete and I thought.....may as well. We have about 15 miles to the nearest restroom. The Dam people had the restrooms hid very well. We couldn't find them. But.....never fear! Have you ever heard of the green room? LOL!!  No? Well then, you need to learn about the green room. It's one of the top tricks of the trade. Comes in mighty handy.

The first 15 miles or so back down were hilly. We passed Lake Jenny again, but decided not to stop for pictures. The way she had it figured, if we didn't stop as much to take pictures, Elaine would make her flight out with time to spare. We had already taken so many pictures of the area that we would be taking duplicates, anyway. So we pedaled on and on..... After Lake Jenny we were soon heading into some flat areas and it got windy. We handled it. We were veterans now.

This is Snake River and the river that we rafted down. On the left, just beyond where the tall trees start is where we got off the raft. Across the river, on the right is Dornan's. The river is so shallow that you can see the stones on the bottom.

We had just passed the visitor's center and just over the bridge is Dornan's, but we didn't stop there, either. We passed under a small tunnel and continued right....we were now on the bike path that leads straight into Jackson. It was windy still, but the terrain was mostly flat. Along both sides of the path, wildflowers were growing. They were pretty, but I think we missed their peak by a week or so. However, there was something blooming with yellow flowers...and I think it may have been goldenrod. Goldenrod wreaks havoc on my sinuses. So I fully expected to get stopped up, which of course I did....within a few hours. 

Sorry, I got sidetracked. 

Anyway, the path continued like this for a few more miles. And just like that, we were at the road where Elaine would turn off and head to the airport. We stopped to say goodbye to Elaine and then  Pete and I continued on to Jackson.

Pete, Elaine and I had been talking about how quickly we had gotten back down from the Tetons. We were trying to place everyone on the tour. We came to the conclusion that we may be the first ones to arrive back. I was excited because that meant that I could tell Cliff that I didn't finish last, that in fact, we were the first ones to arrive to the end. So the closer we got to Jackson, Pete was so kind to let me take the lead. And we road into Jackson with a smile on our face....not really knowing if we were the first ones back, but because we had accomplished so much in a short few days. We were so proud of ourselves for having made such good time.

As we rolled into the finish, we were greeted by Sid and she said, "Yay, you win the yellow jersey"! We were the first of those to ride the entire 36 miles back from the Grand Tetons!

In just a short time, the others started rolling in, too. Every one was congratulating every one else. We were reflecting on the week and marveling at the beauty that surrounded us. And then it was time for our farewell lunch of salad and sandwiches, cut up veggies and hummus, chips and salsa and cookies. It was just right!

 Farewell Picnic, Jackson, WY

That's Pete and Maxa on the left.

We all said our goodbyes, with promises of keeping in touch or looking each other up, if in the area. Laurie, a tour guide, shuttled those to the airport that were catching flights out that afternoon. And the few of us that were staying overnight at the Ranch Inn, walked the half-mile to the hotel. I spent the rest of the day alone. After getting cleaned up, souvenir shopping and later....dinner at a local organic, vegan café called The Lotus, it was time to call it a day...to call it a week and to call it the trip of a lifetime.

 

Total miles today: 36.7

Total miles for tour: 153.3

Total riding time: approx. 14 hours

Total calories burned: approx. 9000 cal. +/-

I'm going kayaking now...talk to you later,

Laurie

Rest Day At Jackson Lake Lodge And A Raft Trip - Day 6

There was no riding today. Our little legs needed rest. But never fear....we had a great day of activities planned. 

Willow Flats

It all started with breakfast, again, in the Mural Room. It was a buffet at it's finest. Anything and everything you can imagine. Delish! The view wasn't too shabby, either. 

View from the back deck of the Mural Room in Jackson Lake Lodge.

Pete, Elaine, Wendy, Maxa and I decided to do one of the shorter hikes. We hiked "Lunch Room Tree" trail. It was a short one, but the views were, once again, breathtaking. After this short hike, these ladies were in search of a different trail with a different view. I, however, was extremely fatigued and just needed to rest. We were going to be riding 30-plus miles the next day. I went back to the room and pampered myself a little bit. I washed my hair, read my latest John Grisham book, "Gray Mountain" and then had lunch.....tuna salad & crackers and a banana. 

 Wildflowers seen on the hike.

That afternoon, there was a good chance of rain. If the rain held, we were supposed to have a BBQ on the banks of the Snake River and then go for a 10-mile-long float trip down the river.

The rain held! Holler!

And y'all, dinner was the bomb! Those guys know how to do a BBQ. 

The Menu 

Grilled Steak

Grilled Fish (I forgot what kind)

Corn on the Cob

Baked Beans

Mashed Potatoes

Salad and Rolls

Lemonade

Dessert was a Huckleberry and Peach Cobbler cooked over the grill in a cast iron skillet.

Picnic tables were dressed out with red and white tablecloths. 

 I burned more than 2500 calories the day before. So...ummm, yeah, I ate it all!

View from the river bank of the Snake River.

 Our raft was huge. I think they said it could hold 20-25 people.

That picnic, the food, the backdrop of the Tetons along the banks of the Snake River and eventually the float trip down river was my second favorite thing on the tour! It was incredible!

This is how you navigate a raft through the technical parts.

So, as you may have already guessed, the rain held for a bit.  Even though there was thunder in the distance, we made a collective decision to go for it. We loaded into the raft and set sail, I mean set out on our expedition, I mean we floated down the Snake River. 

And I am so glad we did. 

The river was very shallow and was lined with the most beautiful, smoothly rounded stones. I just wanted to fill my back pack and take 'em home. We saw a Bald Eagle, Blue Heron, Common Mergansers (ducks), a Beaver, a Raccoon, a Mama and Baby Mule Deer and, and wait for it........a Moose! Totally worth the trip. I've been wanting to see a moose, since Whitney moved to Colorado. Finally, I had to go to Wyoming to see one.

 Ooooh, Ooooh, Ooooh, Ooooh!  A Moose!!!!

 

Dry.....dry.....and....not dry!  

Now, about half way into the river trip we were moving along swimmingly, until.......it started to rain. At first, I thought "How Rude"!  But then, we started covering up with blankets and rain ponchos and I was like, "OMG!  This is a great adventure!" 

  Here we all are.....before the rain. That's me, on the left, in the green cap.

And then, just like that, it was over. We got out of the boat 10 miles down river near Dornan's Restaurant and near the entrance to the Grand Tetons National Park. We rode the bus back to the Jackson Lake Lodge and said our goodnights. What a great day!

All showered up and feeling well rested, I finished my day with reading the rest of my book and then it was lights out. Sleep was just a shut-eye away.

The next day would be a big day. Even though we would backtrack to Jackson, our route would differ slightly from Day 5. We'll ride 30-plus miles and then have a farewell picnic back in Jackson.

It will mark the end of our tour.

Stay tuned for Day 7,

Laurie 



My Favorite Day...Biking From Jackson to The Grand Teton National Park - Day 5

Photo compliments of my new friend, Elaine. That's me in the center.

This was our view for the better part of the afternoon.

I woke up feeling a little overwhelmed. I talked to Cliff the day before and told him about me nearly bonking and he told me to remember to take my gels and drink Gatorade and that I would be aight! I'm not gonna lie though, I was on the verge of tears at one point. The thought of nearly 50 miles and a lot of that going up had me all worked up. Sid, one of the guides, worked her magic, though. She gave me a little pep talk and some encouragement and I felt much better.

We loaded our luggage on the van, packed our snacks and then went to breakfast. I decided to go back to what I was used to and what I had been eating on my training. I had a bagel smeared with peanut butter and a piece of fruit.

After breakfast, we hopped on the bikes and headed through the town of Jackson, WY. We passed the park with the antler arches and continued out of town. We passed the picnic area where our tour would end on Saturday. It was around this area that we got on the bike path.

The bike path ran along here....Flat Creek, just outside Jackson, WY.

 

Heading north, we were on a very nice bike path. It was mostly flat for a few miles and then we had some gentle hills. We took a right and headed to a little town called Kelly. I believe it was at this point that we could see the Gros Ventre Mtn. range. Once on the road to Kelly, we were off the bike path. But there wasn't much traffic. A few miles down the road, we arrived at Kelly and a cute little coffee shop. The tour van was waiting there and we stopped for some nutrition and to refill our water bottles. 

 

Snack break. That's my bicycle in the center. It looks like it belongs to a bag lady. Lol!

I believe in being prepared. I had a little bit of everything.

 

Coffee Shop in Kelly

Crossed this creek on the way to the flats.

 

Entering the flats.....

 

...we saw a herd of bison off in the distance.

 

Leaving the flats, the Tetons are coming into view.

 

 

After leaving the flats, we were on the highway for just a little bit. Our next stop was Dornan's Restaurant for lunch. However, most of us packed a lunch from the van, which we enjoyed out front of Dornan's. We were now beside the Snake River and near the community of Moose.

 

A little moose humor.



Ominous clouds behind the teepee would be bringing rain.

 

Yes, as we were leaving Dornan's, it began to rain. Just a short ride down the road we ducked into the visitor's center until it passed. After leaving the visitor's center, it wasn't long before we were entering the Grand Teton National Park.

 

 

 

It stayed cloudy and we were dodging the rain, it seemed. And because of the clouds, it was a little cool, too.  It was starting to get hilly now, but the ride was so gorgeous that we didn't mind them so much. Our next stop was Jenny Lake.

 

Jenny Lake

 

Leaving Jenny Lake, we rode through a wooded area. We were advised to watch for Grizzly and Black bears. If we saw any, we were told not to approach them for pictures.....but, to turn our bikes around and ride in the opposite direction. I had no problem with that advice. I was praying we wouldn't see any bears and we did not. I did notice the smell of the forest here. It smelled like Christmas trees. I took lots of deep breaths....it was glorious! Once we cleared the wooded area, we had approximately 14 more miles. They seemed to go a little quicker now and I was so glad because those uphills were challenging.

 

On the flats, we had the winds to contend with but we were able to hold 12-14 mph. On the downhills, 22-27 mph. But the uphills, especially near the end, 4-7 mph. It was tough.

 

 

Further down the road and off to our left was Jackson Lake. We crossed Jackson Lake Dam, but didn't stop for pictures that day. We were nearing the end of the ride and I was just ready to be done. Only a couple more miles, but some hellish uphills were ahead. The last hill....I nearly walked! I actually came close a couple of times, but I could not.....I would not! I had trained for too long and had come all those miles.....there was just no way I would give up! I pushed through and finally made it. Just as we rounded the last curve, there it was....the Jackson Lake Lodge. I'm not gonna lie....riding into the parking lot, I cried just a little. I was so proud of myself. I had spent 3 months training at sea level where the only hill I had to train on was a bridge.....not to mention the elevation. Jackson Lake Lodge is at an elevation of 7000 feet. And then, those couple of tears turned into a grin that I sported for the next half hour. There was a lot of congratulations and high fives. We had just ridden 49 miles. 

 

What a sense of accomplishment!!!!!

 

Today's Total Miles: 49.01

Total For Trip:   116.6 

 



After cleaning up and resting a bit, it was time for dinner in the Mural Room. When you enter the Lodge's activity center, there is a set of stairs in the center that you climb to get to the Mural Room. When you reach the top, you are greeted with this.....

 

 

The Grand Tetons!

 

My favorite day!

 

Be back soon with day 6,

Laurie





 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Biking Grand Targhee - Day 3

 The Grand Tetons from atop Targhee Ski Resort

After a hearty breakfast and map meeting on day 3 of our bike tour, we were shuttled from the condos in Driggs, Idaho to the base of the ski resort at Grand Targhee in Wyoming. Once there, we had choices of what we could do. Some chose to hike up to the top of the ski slopes and some of us chose to take the chairlift. And, we had one lady to go horse back riding.

Views going up and down the chairlift at Targhee Ski Resort, Wyoming. Notice the mountain bike in one of the photos.....you could mountain bike down and this is how they got their bikes to the top. 

These two ladies are my new friends....Pete and Elaine.

 Views of the Grand Tetons Mountain Range from the top of Targhee Ski Resort

I took the chairlift along with my new friends, Elaine and Pete. All I could think of was that movie where three people got stuck on a chair lift in winter and the only way down was to drop. The first guy did and broke both legs and was killed by wolves. I don't quite remember the rest, but I do know the other guy was killed, too. And the girl made it! Ha! At the top, we hiked a short distance along the ridge line and y'all, it was majestic! You could see for miles. And there were quite a few flowers up there too. You could almost hear the oohs and aahs three counties over.

 The wildflowers up top included asters and columbine and others that I don't know. 

It was so nice to see them in their natural habitat.

After we were finished taking in all that majesty, Elaine, Pete and I rode the chairlift back down to the base of the slopes. We were so enamored with our surroundings that we didn't realize we could pull a bar down in front of us for safety. So there we sat...I was white knuckling the side of the lift and Elaine was afraid of heights, too, but we managed to get over it and enjoy the scenery before us. We had lunch at the Branding Iron Restaurant. The veggie sandwich was delicious.

 That's me, Maxa, Elaine and Pete

 Oh, look....I made a newer friend. He was hungry so I gave him one of my cashews.

 White knuckling on the way down....Me....and my new friend, the chipmunk. He loves me.

Now, it was time to head back down the mountain on our bikes. And....have mercy...we had a short, but steep 8% grade hill to climb to get out of the resort area and I nearly puked up a lung, no make that both lungs before making it to the top....not to mention we were at an elevation of 7600 ft. so my breathing was already compromised. Thank goodness it was short and I recovered quickly. The rest of the way was all downhill. I forgot to turn on Map My Fitness until part the way down, but at one point on the bike's odometer, we were going 29 mph. That was fun, but I thought it might be a good idea to slow it down a bit and get things under control. So we slowed down to 22 miles mph. You can't imagine how much fun going downhill was! Today's ride was supposed to be 11.9 miles, but my odometer read 10.6. Close enough, I guess.

If you look slightly to the right, you can see where the switchback is for this downhill portion. So fun!

That afternoon, we were treated to a 90 minute yoga class. I just love yoga! It was so relaxing to stretch those biking muscles. After yoga, we re-grouped at the condo and then left for dinner at Warbirds Cafe situated right beside a runway of a small airport in Driggs. The restaurant looked like an old hangar. Very quaint.

That was our last night in Driggs, so everything needed to be packed and ready to go the next morning. I wrapped up my day with laundry and then it was off to bed. Our ride the next day would be approx 25 miles from Driggs, Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming.

Today's total miles: 10.6
Total for trip:  37.15

Til Day 4,

Laurie