During the week long trip, we hit up Driggs (ID), Victor (ID), Wilson (WY), and Jackson (WY). We rode in Targhee, rode Teton Pass area, and also rode around Jackson for a couple of days. We climbed for a 1/2 day in Darby Canyon (just south of Driggs) on some short limestone cliffs that looked and climbed on the chossy side. You could visibly see where holds had fallen off.
We also managed to get a nice hike in up Teton Valley up towards Devil's Staircase....we got rained on a bunch one night (snowed up higher that evening as the temps dropped).
We camped in multiple spots on both the east and west side of the Tetons...Targhee, Teton Pass, Teton Valley, Jackson area...We liked the west side better as it was a full on Disney-esque experience as soon as we hit the east side and rolled into Jackson - we could get out of town proper fast enough....whilst on the trip we saw things we don't usually get to see everyday : bear, moose, bison, bear, elk, bear, bear, bear, and ohhhh, did I forget to mention BEAR?
The re-occurring theme seemed to be bears, bears, and bears! Our first encounter was when we headed over to Atherton Lake campground and shortly after we arrived the unofficial camp know-it-all came over to let us know there was some bear activity...by the time he rolled around, we had already been approached by about 3 different people at our campsite because our campsite had the best view of the foraging bears that were just on the other side of the road up higher on the gulch. As it turns out, there were 3 black bears poking around about 150 yards above us.
We decided to err on the side of caution by not cooking (despite the wifer's insistance) that night and having the bear spray and car key/alarm on hand just in case they decided to meander and explore into our camp. It was a rather restless night with the mind on acute alert for any suspicious sounds throughout the night. I woke up several times with the car alarm in hand in case we needed to scare them off with the panic button. As it turns out they left the camp alone (or were very commando and un-noticed).
It turns out that would be the first of multiple bear stories along the trip...that day we rode over by Snow Lion Mtn in Jackson where there is a good trail network. The wifer and I took turns riding so one of us could hang with the dogs while the other rode...then flip flopped so we would both be able to ride....not to go into too much detail (more ride reports and pix to follow in subsequent blog updates) but I saw what appeared to be a grizz at a fair distance up the canyon on my ride and the wifer ran into a lady who said she had just seen a small black bear during her ride.
Because we did not get enough of being scared and terrified by bears, we returned to the scene of the of the prior night's camp to witness more bear'ish buffoonery....We decided to again take the prudent route and not cook...no reason to tempt fate (although you could argue we were by returning) - the night was quite enough but the following morning treated us to those same bears poking around just above the campground...they were maybe 30 yards from where we had set up camp the night before. It was neat to watch them from a distance but a little nervy to think about how close they might have been during the night....I could have sworn that I heard some footsteps in our camp that night and they darted into the bushes when I rustled around inside the tent...I did not think much of it during the night but it really made me wonder upon seeing those black furry critters so close the next morning. It is a good thing we had been camping for a few days by now and our body odor probably deterred them from getting too close!
The next morning. we packed up and headed over to Shadow Mtn to ride where someone had warned us there was a lot of bear activity in the area. We carried bear spray and talked/yelled/whistled while riding so as to not surprise the bears in the woods. The wifer took her turn first then I did my loop when she got back...between the time she rode and the time I rode a bear had dropped a fresh dookie right in the middle of the singletrack!!!
All in all it was fun to explore a new area...we met a dude named Wally (think that was his name) who was quite the character...among the most notable things about him was that he had at one point tried to domesticate a mountain lion...he told us of the declawing at birth and how they could not trust it around kids or scared folks or else instinct might get the better of the kitty...
specific ride details upcoming with pix...
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