Jackson Hole Mancation

Thursday:

Brent arrived at my place in the afternoon.  We loaded up my truck and blasted out towards Montana.  The drive was fairly uneventful aside from some traffic over Snoqualmie Pass.  Hit up some gas and food in Cor de lane, then on through Missoula.  Around then, some massive thunderstorm cells started brewing overhead.  We were treated with a few good flashes of lightning that I was unsuccessful in capturing with my camera.  Our tentative plan was to find a place to pull over and sleep, perhaps in sleeping bags.  Since it was mid-summer, I figured this to be a fairly decent plan.  When my windshield wipers were on full blast, and rain pounded at the roof of the Tacoma, I reconsidered.  We found a rest stop about 20 miles from Butte and got some sleep inside the truck.  We both woke up just before sunrise due to the cold.  

 

Friday.

After making use of the rest area's facilities we hit the road again and got some breakfast treats at the Butte Safeway.  Then we hit HW191 south towards Yellowstone National Park.  Brent hadn't been there before, and it seemed like we had some time to spare.  However when we hit West Yellowstone, we were faced with a traffic jam with several old model vehicles from a car show.  We nearly turned around about a mile after the gates due to the walking speed traffic flow, but after about 15 minutes of that things started moving as cars pulled off the road.  Then we were just faced with the RV's that crawled at an infuriatingly slow pace.  We were able to get out and visit Fountain Paint-Pots and witness some active geysers.  It was nice to stretch the legs as well.  The crowds were pretty insane though.  The line for the outhouse was about 60 feet long.  We then continued our way south.  Due to several slow RV encounters in our lane, we realized that we would have to hurry to our rendezvous in Jackson Hole.  We didn't make any other stops there, and had to get creative in passing slow vehicles.  Then there was a section of road that was closed down to one lane, and we sat there for a good 10-15 minutes before we were able to continue through.  The view of the Tetons were nice, but the lighting was flat and boring for photography purposes.  We eventually made it to Jackson Hole and met up with Kurtis, Mike, and Dave A. at the bike shop.  From there we went to the river rafting place and met up with the McEntire clan.  We quickly signed the waivers, boarded the bus, and departed to the Snake River.  The bus picked up a troop of boyscouts on the way, who later joined us on our raft.  It was quickly apparent which group of males were more mature due to our shenanigans and raucous laughter.    

At the end of the rafting trip we were all hungry enough to discuss cannibalism at great lengths.  We then found a BBQ place where we gobbled down food with great enthusiasm accompanied with many sorts of inappropriate dinner conversations.  We then meandered around town for a bit and explored the town before making our way to the movie theater and watched the new Wolverine film.  After the movie we picked up some groceries and departed for the hotel at the Grand Targhee Resort.  It was a bit longer than anticipated, but we made it and fell asleep soon enough.  

Saturday:
In the morning we slept in a little but hit the breakfast buffet pretty hard.  There were plenty of mountain biking trails in and around the resort, and didn't seem to merit an hour+ drive back to Jackson Hole to hit up the trails out there.  Instead we ended up getting lift tickets to ride up to the top and ride all sorts of trails all day.  There was some 50/100 mile race going on, but we still had access to several trails.  I had bad luck with flat tires that day, and had to use 4 or more patches and a spare tube.  I'm glad I had my little CO2 canister which helped pumping up a 29" tire.  The trails were a bit aggressive, and over lots of jagged rock.  My forearms got sore from working the brakes all the way down.  Even though I had front suspension, there was still enough violent force over time to make your arms feel like Jello.  We rode until lunch, had some snacks and lots of water, then hit up more trails.  The lifts closed around 5pm, and we were able to get up one last time.  Except Brent who got a flat tire the previous ride and had to walk due to the lack of a patch kit or pump.  Thankfully, no major injuries.  Just bumps, scratches, and bruises.  After we got done riding we hit up the pool and hot tub.  Then came dinner at the restaurant there at the resort.  No sense in driving a half hour to the nearest town and see what they had there.  We were subjected to hearing praises to the magical meatloaf that Dave had ordered.  After dinner several went back into the hot tub, while others caught up on naps or just relaxed a bit.  Later on we ventured out on a night hike to watch stars and meteors.  Kurtis kinda freaked out with various critter noises in the bushes, which he was then properly ridiculed.  

*note* My record for current events stops here, and the remainder is based upon a 3+ year old memory.
 

Sunday:

Got up and had breakfast again with the crew.  Took some pictures of the group together, goofed around a little on bikes but got all packed up.  With the entire day to spend heading home, we didn't want to take the typical I84 conveyor belt, so we decided to adventure on some other less seen roads.

We went the Driggs-Victor-Swan Valley - Idaho Falls - Butte City - then north to Challis - Saloon and Missoula where we hit up Costco and food.  From there it was an uneventful drive all the way along I90 home.