Heaven on Earth

 

Jackson, WY

This was the week we were most looking forward to, as well as where we planned to stay the longest, because it is amazing.

Driving from Yellowstone and seeing the Tetons as the backdrop, looks like a never ending postcard. We were so thankful to see the Tetons on our way in, because towards the end of the week, there was limited visability due to smoke from forest fires.

Limited Visability

We visited Mormon Row, a famous destination for photographers, which is where a Mormon community relocated from Salt Lake City in the early 1900’s. We have a picture when Brady was 4, with Steven holding him in front of the outhouse, so we had fun recreating it and plan to compare them when we get home. Holding an 11 year old looks a little different!  As you can see, the Tetons are barely visible.

Airstreaming in JH

Our campground was in the valley of Jackson Hole. JH does a great job with bike lanes, so we rode everywhere we went. Piper loved boulder climbing in the park, Brady loved walking around the shops, and both loved the independence of biking in town. I was able to go to hot yoga a few days, and Steven ran. We almost felt normal!

Jackson Hole Tram

The Jackson Hole tram is a ski lift in the winter that can take 100 people up to Rendezvous Mountain. In the summer it is used for sight seeing, and hikers. It takes about 12 min. to increase over 4,000ft to around 10,500ft in elevation.

There is now a waffle shop at the top, although it was closing as we finished our hike. They did save us a taste of the Nutella waffles so we didn’t miss out!

We hiked the Rock Springs Trail, which brought us lots of surprises! SNOW! Wild flowers!  Beautiful views! Steep climbing and 4.5 miles of tired legs! Brady had a blast sledding down the snow mounds. We were all glad when we saw the tram again at the end.

Teton Village

At the bottom of the tram is a resort area called Teton Village, which is a great place to hang out in the summer, letting the kids play in the water, or listening to music.

White Water Rafting down the Snake River

We did a half day white water rafting trip and had a blast. It was the kids first time going, since we were waiting for Piper to be old enough. She sat in the middle of the raft and Brady jumped right in paddling, and even rode “the bull,” the front of the raft through several rapids. It was a great family friendly river, fun enough to get soaked but not too dangerous.  We even saw two bald eagles.

The picture below shows our guide, who got bumped off his seat during a rapid.

Hiking at Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake has a boat that takes visitors across the lake to hike to Inspiration Point, and Hidden Falls. We took the boat and then hiked back.

This area is really popular so there were lots of folks there…We incentivized the kids with ice cream for doing such a great job hiking.

Snow King Mountain

We planned to hike to the top of Snow King Mountain, which is another ski resort and about 2 miles straight up, and then take the ski lift back down. But, there were FOUR buses of Chineses tourists dropped off while we were honking. So by the time we were at the top, the wait was nearly 3 hours to ride down. The kids were disappointed but the views of JH were beautiful and the climb down was MUCH easier!

 

Jackson Hole Rodeo

We couldn’t leave town before going to the rodeo! Eating lots of burgers, and going to the rodeo are cornerstones of JH. We had a blast. They do a great job of keeping the kids attention by changing up the activities.

NEXT STOP is Salt Lake City, in route to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park!