August 5, 2017
Downtown Jackson!
Jackson, WY
You can’t come to the Tetons without a trip to Jackson, so we’re going
to venture down the road about 15 minutes to take in the hustle and bustle of “city
life” – all of the cars, RVs, 5th wheels, trailers, gigantic tour
buses, motorcycles, and people.
On our drive down, we stop for a photo of the Tetons. They are hardly visible from all of the smoky
haze from forest fires in west-central Montana and Idaho’s Bitterroot
Range. Fires as far away as British
Columbia are affecting our skies.
Facts & Stats
– Jackson vs. Jackson Hole: Jackson refers
to the main town/downtown area of the valley.
Jackson Hole refers to the entire valley which begins six miles south of
Yellowstone National Park, and follows the Snake River all the way south to
Hoback Junction. The valley is 80 miles
long and 15 miles at its widest.
– Grand Teton National Park was established in 1929
– Annual visitation to GTNP: 4.6 million (2015)
– Jackson's most valuable industry: Tourism
– Jackson’s 2010 year-round population: 9,577
– Winter population increase: +5,000
– Summer population increase: +52,000
Downtown Jackson!
What can I say? It’s a zoo! Exactly what we expected. But, you gotta do what you gotta do – and
here we are.
This is one of the four corner entries to the town square with the elk antler
arch. You’re probably wondering who this
guy is that I’m taking a picture of. I
have no idea. It’s hard to get a picture
without 10-15 people standing in the way, so I’m happy to take it with one guy
there. A friend of his is also taking
his picture at the same time. As they
are about to switch places, I offer to take a photo of them together. As I’m finishing up a few shots, a woman
comes up to me and says, “I’m happy to take a picture of the three of you
together.” Umm. Thanks, but I don’t know these guys. By the time the guys get their camera back
and we talk about where we’re from and all … I discover one guy's daughter will
be attending college this fall just up the road from us. Small world.
Guess I sort of do know these guys.
Maybe we should have had a picture together after all.
We wander through the Jackson Trading Company
The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
There are art galleries on every block to walk through and admire the
beautiful creations. We also stop by one
of the fly shops so Jack can talk trout-catchin’ with the guys and what flies are
good where, and what time day, and what folks are catching. You get the picture. He comes out with some new flies that are
sure to do the trick tomorrow – or maybe the next day. We finish up our trip to Jackson with a nice
dinner and a stop at the local homemade ice cream shop. Then we get out of town and back to nature where we belong.
Back at Camp
Another day comes to a close as we take our usual evening walkabout around the campground loops. See what new folks are here and what kind of
set up they are dragging around with them.
Always interesting the "stuff" we all think we need to bring with us.
The sun is
setting over the bluff that lies between us and the Tetons. There is so much smoke in the air, it turns
the sky orange. We hope for contained
fires and the safety of the firefighters and those living in the areas of
danger. Until next time, be safe.
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