Jackson Hole, A Hard Place to Leave

On March 4 we arrived in Jackson, Wyoming for an intended stay of 4 days. Our stay lasted for 6 weeks. Jackson is a hard place to leave. The dominate feature here is the Teton mountains rising 6000 feet straight up from the valley floor to 13,500 feet. These mountains are forever awesome. Clouds, rain, snow, sun play on the rock making every minute a different view. I never tired of looking at the Tetons or of the inspiration engendered.

It snowed often but in this dry climate and spring season it was gone by noon. When the ski resorts closed and snow mobiles were put away, many shops also closed for an owner’s spring break to the desert. Some took the time to prepare for the summer season of visitors for rodeos, music and art festivals, fly-fishing, rafting, hiking, horse riding or biking. This area is an outdoor and wild-life wonderland. It is culturally sophisticated, friendly and for a bonus, packed into awesome and inspiring scenery between 2 mountain ranges.

In this town of 8500 people there is much to see and do. It is a western art center ranked third behind New York City and Santa Fe. Every Monday, musicians from around the country perform at Dornans’ Hootenanny. We heard Carnegie Hall pianist Pam Phillips play jazz at Spring Creek lounge. The historic Wort Hotel featured country and bluegrass just about every night of the week. At the Cowboy Bar visitors don dancing boots for the Texas two-step.

The city library featured local story tellers and nationally recognized speakers on world affairs. We joined a book club for readings on the environment at the Murie Center, once the home of a founder of The Wilderness Society.

Everyday we visited the Elk Refuge to watch 100’s of mountain sheep. We saw elk shed their antlers and the herd gather for migration to higher and cooler protected ground. We watched a coyote pounce in search of a ground squirrel meal. We trekked a mile through the snow to watch the courtship dance of the Sage Grouse. We saw moose and buffalo and deer. And we watched a Grizzly roll in the snow, pick himself up and amble up the mountain.

We settled into Jackson as if we had lived here for years. I found 2 dentists, a masseuse, and a salon. Dale found a ski instructor and tried to ski.

We walked to the post office and to Betty Rock, a favorite lunch cafe and to shops and galleries. The local newspaper kept us informed on the happenings in town and informed with civil discourse on political issues. We found Jackson, Wyoming to be a hard place to leave.