Road Trip Yellowstone

by Dina Mishev

  ROAD TRIP 2 THE WEST BANK

  On the west bank of the Snake River, things are a little quieter, although not in winter when the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) uses bombs to do avalanche control on its ski slopes. Only a 15-minute drive from downtown Jackson, the communities of Wilson and Teton Village feel like another world, and make Jackson look like a metropolis. Wilson might have only 1,000 year-round residents. Teton Village is even smaller.

  R Park

  Fishing, floating, or swimming in one of the three ponds at R Park just past the Wyoming 22 bridge over the Snake River, you’d be hard pressed to guess the area was a working gravel pit for 20 years. If the original reclamation plan for the 40 acres—a developer wanted to divide it into three parcels and build an 8,000-square-foot spec home on each—had happened, it’s possible the site would still have three ponds, one for each house. You certainly wouldn’t be able to swim or fish in any of them though, at least not without getting arrested for trespassing. If the developer had had his way, you’d also be denied a walk along the site’s 1,000 feet of Snake River frontage.

  But luckily none of this happened. In 2011, local conservation groups purchased the 40 acres from the developer, and, because their goal was to turn it into a public park, they set about seeking community input on a design and the amenities it should have. The rehabilitation of the land and completion of the park took 5 years.

  In addition to the ponds, which aren’t just swimming holes for people, but important habitat for wildlife like swans, geese, osprey, porcupine, and moose, the park has five play berms. These are in lieu of artificial play structures. “Studies show that children not only need more time outdoors and in nature, but also need that time to be less structured and less scheduled,” says Elizabeth Rohrbach, the park’s director of development and communications. In winter, the berms offer some of the best sledding around. In summer, they’re sites of old-fashioned King of the Hill games. rendezvouslandsconservancy.org

  LOCAL LOWDOWN CONNIE KEMMERER, Owner Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

  One of the owners (with brother Jay and sister Betty) of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort since 1992, Connie Kemmerer grew up ice-skating, not skiing. The first time she took the tram to the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain she was in her 20s and her family didn’t yet own the resort. “It was such a huge experience to get to the top of a mountain like that; I was blown away,” she says. “And then I was grateful to make it down the mountain alive. I really wasn’t a very good skier.” Connie did learn to ski after she had kids. “I learned to ski alongside them.” By the time her family bought the resort, she says, “I was a good enough skier to ski the mountain, but still had plenty to learn.”

  Q: Such as?

  CONNIE KEMMERER: I trained with an instructor to ski Corbet’s (a double black diamond ski run that requires a 10-foot jump at the very beginning). I was determined to do it. I think I’m the oldest person to go into Corbet’s three times in a row.

  Q: Why’d you do it three times in a row?

  CK: To see if it would diminish the fear of it.

  Q: Did it work?

  CK: No. It’s always scary. Also, jumping in the second time, I hit the wall and my skis fell off before I ever hit the ground. Afterwards, [world extreme ski champion] Doug Coombs, who was climbing nearby, told me I only missed making the turn by an inch. Of course, after that I had to go again, it was like getting back on a horse.

  Q: Favorite places to ski?

  CK: I like to ski off the tram, the gondola, and Teton lift, but as long as I’m skiing on the resort, I have a feeling of responsibility. I like skiing in the backcountry because there I feel free. Four Shadows is probably my favorite run anywhere around the resort. You get the adventure of hiking up [Cody] Peak and then it’s always scary to jump in over the cornice.

  Q: Who’s the better skier—you or Jay?

  CK: Me! I’m more of a daredevil. I’ve always felt more at home in the mountains and doing sports, adventuring, than around people. I’m sort of shy around people.

  For 5 years after its 1966 opening, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort sold lifetime ski passes. One hundred and thirty people bought them. When the resort celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2016, 60 of these passes were still in use. Jacksonhole.com

  Via Ferrata

  The Tetons are the birthplace of American alpinism, and Teton climbs and summits continue to draw alpinists from around the world to the valley. It is partially because of this history (and partially because JHMR co-owner Connie Kemmerer is herself an alpinist) that the Tetons are home to the first via ferrata on any US public land. Italian for “iron road,” a via ferrata is an aided, protected climbing route. There are iron rungs drilled into and affixed to the rock and also a steel cable running alongside the route so that climbers can clip into them to prevent falls. There are several via ferrate at the top of the Bridger Gondola at JHMR, in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

  Because it doesn’t require the level of skill rock climbing does, a via ferrata allows inexperienced alpinists the opportunity to try the sport. These via ferrate have the additional benefit of being at the top of the gondola, so no uphill hiking is required to get to them, although none of the via ferrate at JHMR are accessible to anyone who’s afraid of heights. Near the end of one “beginner” via ferrata, there’s a 123-foot-long, 24-inch-wide suspension bridge as high as 80 feet off the ground. The via ferrate rated intermediate and advanced take you up to a prow with serious exposure. While there are additional hand and foot holds, these routes feel as exposed as the golden staircase pitch on the Upper Exum climbing route on the Grand Teton. Jacksonhole.com

  Teton Pass

  At 8,431 feet, Teton Pass is a rare weakness in the toothy, 45-mile-long Teton Range. Native Americans were the first to find and use it to cross between the valleys on either side of the mountains, but, of course, Teton Pass wasn’t official until fur trader and explorer Wilson Price Hunt “discovered” it in 1811 while on his way to the West Coast. He had previously scouted the Snake River as a route out of the valley, but thought its rapids “mad.” Hunt deemed going up and over Teton Pass easier. He was right. The pass is still the most direct route into and out of the valley.

  The first road over Teton Pass opened in 1918, but it wasn’t until 1938 that it was plowed in winter. The current highway opened in 1969. Today thousands of commuters drive over the pass daily—many people who work in Jackson Hole live in Teton Valley, Idaho . . . and hundreds of people ski it.

  Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is only 20 minutes northeast of Teton Pass and is often rated as one of the best ski resorts in the country. But the skiers and snowboarders who play on Teton Pass are of a different sort: They don’t use lifts. Teton Pass is the heart of Jackson Hole’s backcountry ski scene. Here, any day between late October and May, you can stop in the parking lot at the top and watch athletes strap skis and snowboards to their backs and hike 1,800 feet straight up Mt. Glory on the north side of the pass. Once at the top, they’ll step into their skis or boards and choose from dozens of different lines down.

  Skiers go to the south side of the pass too, but in this area, they use specialized boots and bindings and affix climbing skins to the bottoms of their skis rather than hike. It’s the same as Mt. Glory in that they have to climb to the top of any line under their own power before they can ski it. The reason for all of this work? Fresh powder.

  While Teton Pass might be one of the country’s most easily accessed backcountry areas, this fact does not diminish the danger of backcountry skiing. Avalanches happen and people have died in them while skiing around Teton Pass. Several local groups offer various levels of avalanche safety classes. Classes are multiday and include classroom time and lessons in the field. jhavalanche.org

  LOCAL LOWDOWN ANDY AND KICHAN OLPIN, Owners of Wilson Backcountry Sports

  Jackson Hole has more gear shops than you could visit in a week, but only one is at the base of Teton Pass: Wilson Backcountry Sports. Andy
and Kichan (kee-shan) Olpin opened their shop in 1993, and you can still see them there almost every day (except Sundays, when it’s closed, and in the spring and fall off-seasons when the store is open but Andy and Kichan are off mountain biking in Moab).

  The couple, who met dancing at the Mangy Moose Saloon (one of the original bars in Teton Village), still gets out skiing 2 to 3 days a week. Of course when they ski, they ski the backcountry. From Wilson Backcountry Sports’s front door, you can be at the top of the pass in 10 minutes.

  When asked what are their favorite pieces of gear, Andy responds, “Our bikes and our skis.”

  When asked for a good half-day ski itinerary for someone new to Teton Pass, Andy says, “It depends on the individual—we try to suggest appropriate tours for what the skier is looking for and what is right for their ability and skill set. But for the first time on the pass, it is always good to check out Edelweiss [a low-level incline slope] and get the lay of the land and Edelweiss is usually a safe option.” You should never head anywhere in the backcountry on skis, snowboard, or snowshoes without the proper equipment and training. wilsonbackcountry.com

  Walk or bike up the original road over Teton Pass—it’s closed to motorized vehicles—and you’ll see that today’s route is a superhighway. This first road over Teton Pass opened in July 1918 but wasn’t plowed in winter until 1938. This road was the only way to get over Teton Pass until the current highway opened in 1969. Since the new highway opened, the original road was renamed Old Pass Road and is a favorite with locals seeking a quick nature fix. Crater Lake is just over 1 mile from and about 500 vertical feet above the Trail Creek trailhead and has a lovely bench to take a rest on.

  Hungry Jack’s General Store

  Jackson may have an Albertsons, K-Mart, Smith’s, Whole Grocer, and Lucky’s Market, but only Wilson has Hungry Jack’s General Store. At 2,500 square feet, it’s not big, but it’s got everything from Campbell’s soup to clothing. And then there’s the canoe hanging from the ceiling.

  Clarence “Stearnie” and Dodie Stearns bought the Wilson Market in 1954, when it was across the street from its present location. The couple, who met while working in Yellowstone and married in 1949, changed the name to Hungry Jack’s and expanded from a grocery store to a general store. It moved to its present location in 1967 and it’s possible an inventory hasn’t been taken since.

  One of the few general stores left in Wyoming, you can walk into Hungry Jack’s for a banana or beer and walk out not only with those items, but also a whole new outfit . . . if you can find your way out. While stores traditionally organize their aisles in a grid, Hungry Jack’s aisles are a labyrinth of concentric circles. Within the circles are groceries, 60-pound buckets of Wonderful Wyoming brand honey, western-styled, handmade Cattle Kate silk scarves, Carhartt pants, Woolrich shirts, and Lost Horizons wool hats and gloves.

  The hanging canoe—a wooden Old Town model that belonged to Elt Davis, a ranger in Grand Teton National Park in the 1950s—and other memorabilia scattered throughout the store speak to Stearnie and Dodie’s lives. (Stearnie died in January 2015 at age 94.) The couple were avid canoeists and the store sold canoes for decades. Stearnie started paddling at age 16, guiding muskie fishermen in his home state of Minnesota for $3 a day. The belt hanging above an old pair of telemark skis on a wall belonged to Stearnie. He was the first paid professional ski patroller at Snow King and only one of two patrollers from the northern Rockies to be chosen to be on the 1960 Olympic Ski Patrol at Squaw Valley. The belt on the wall is the one he wore while working the Games. Stearnie and Dodie both have lifetime passes to JHMR.

  Stearnie and Dodie sold the store to their daughter and son-in-law, Jana and Kevin Roice, in 1989, and the young couple knew better than to mess with anything.

  Nora’s Fish Creek Inn

  Come to Nora’s Fish Creek Inn for Jackson Hole’s best breakfast—everything from trout and eggs to banana bread French toast, huevos rancheros, and biscuits and gravy—and linger for the people watching. Long before the James Beard Foundation recognized Nora’s in 2012 as one of “America’s Classics” and Guy Fieri featured it in 2014 on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, locals from construction workers to congressmen and cowboys knew how special this place was and sat elbow to elbow at its U-shaped bar. They still do. Nora’s isn’t just Jackson Hole’s best breakfast, but also one of the valley’s most authentically local restaurants. Opened in 1982, today it’s run by Nora’s kids, Kathryn and Trace. norasfishcreekinn.com

  Stagecoach Band

  “You have the privilege tonight of hearing the worst country western band in the US,” band manager Bill Briggs used to tell the crowd gathered to dance at the metal-roofed Stagecoach Bar at the base of Teton Pass in Wilson every Sunday night. Bill was being modest though. Thirty-some years ago, Skiing magazine actually named the Stagecoach Band “the worst country western band in the Western Hemisphere.” That was then though. “The Stagecoach Band has been many things over many years—professional players and rank amateurs,” says Phil Round, who has been playing with the band since the early 1980s and plays about forty Sundays a year now. “But there have never been as good players in the band as there are now.”

  Phil says being singled out by Skiing was “quite a badge of distinction” at the time though. “Here it’s cool to be a climbing bum, or a skiing bum. It gave the band a dirt bag identity and everybody was quite proud of it.”

  Since its first show February 16, 1969, the Stagecoach Band has never rehearsed. (The band’s subtitle has always been “high-risk music.”) It has played every single Sunday except for the ones that coincide with Christmas Day. (And it only skips Christmas because the Stagecoach Bar is closed that day.) The band has witnessed—and assisted with—the bar’s transformation from rough and seedy to a community treasure. For some time now, locals have been calling Sunday nights at the bar “church.” Church is one of the best dance scenes in the valley.

  Since it doesn’t rehearse, the band doesn’t bother with song lists either. “One guy will start a song and the others will fall in,” Phil says. “Today that usually works, but we had periods when you’d get to the end of a song and there’d be two guys who didn’t know what key it was in.”

  The Stagecoach Band celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2019. stagecoachbar.net

  LOCAL LOWDOWN PHIL ROUND, Member of the Stagecoach Band

  Phil Round has been a professional musician in Jackson Hole since the early 1980s. He was a founding member of the bluegrass band Loose Ties, which won Best New Band at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and placed second at the 1986 Best New Acoustic Group competition in Louisville, Kentucky. Catch Phil most Sundays with the Stagecoach Band and Thursday through Saturday evenings in the lobby of the Amangani hotel.

  Q: What brought you to Jackson Hole?

  PHIL ROUND: I took a semester off from college and came out to ski the ’77–’78 season.

  Q: Did you ever make it back to college?

  PR: I ended up spending more than the planned semester away, but did eventually go back. I got a degree in geology and was back here permanently in 1980.

  Q: What was your first gig?

  PR: It might have been with the Stagecoach Band. I sat in with them a few times around 1980 and then started playing more regularly with them a year or so later. I came around after most of the bar fighting had stopped, but I was there when cowboys could still ride their horses inside and up to the bar.

  Q: How’d you get the gig at Amangani?

  PR: At some function at a ranch in Hoback Canyon, the general manager asked me if I was interested, and I turned him down. I wasn’t interested in a house gig.

  Q: And then?

  PR: Not that I was trying to do this, but there’s nothing like turning someone down to make you more desirable. He eventually convinced me to come and check out the scene. I went up for lunch and brought a guitar and sat in a corner of the lobby and was just blown away by the acoustics. I thought I’d try it for a week
or so; now it’s been over 13 years. It was totally serendipitous.

  Q: Why is Jackson special to you?

  PR: I think people here humble themselves to this place rather than asking the place to provide them with all of the things they want. The fact that you can go out into the woods today and be killed by a grizzly bear—that’s a wonderful thing. That’s how nature should be.

  Streetfood

  When Marcos Hernandez and Amelia Hatchard went on their first date, neither spoke the other’s language. They married 6 months later. “It was fast, but we knew it was right,” Amelia says. They’ve now been married for 10 years. When the couple found an opportunity to open a restaurant—they met working at the Westbank Grill at the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole—it happened only 7 weeks after their first serious conversation about renting the space. “That was more of an ‘Oh My God moment,’” Amelia says. From the start though, locals knew Streetfood was right. Summers at the restaurant are so busy now the 30-something couple has to come up with a way to give the kitchen a break. “We’re maybe thinking about a taco truck out front or something,” Amelia says.