Jackson Hole Magazine // Summer 2023

Jackson Hole

When you schedule a wildlife safari or national park tour with us, you are granted immediate access to knowledge that has taken our naturalist guides years to acquire so you can skip the research and the crowds as we bring you to some of the best wildlife experiences and scenery that Grand Teton and Yellowstone o er.

Whether you'd like to focus on the history or geology of the area, learn about the local ora and fauna, or spend the day photographing wildlife and landscapes, it's our goal to provide you an unforgettable experience in this wild place we call home.

CARRIE WILD

PATRICIA A. GRIFFIN AARON HAZEL

JENNA VON BENEDIKT

Top 100

Builder: Jim Kneisley

Photographer: Aaron Hogsed Photography

FIRESIDE AT FOUR SEASONS

Refresh mind and body after an exhilarating day in the destination at our award-winning spa, or treat yourself to an immersive dining experience featuring flavors from the heart of the American West.

Inspired by the natural grandeur of our dramatic mountain setting, the spa at Four Seasons offers an array of rejuvenating treatments featuring locally sourced botanicals. Cap off your evening by the fire with a refreshing cocktail and sweeping views of Rendezvous Mountain.

FEATURES

ON THE COVER: Of Art Wolfe’s photography, Sir David Attenborough said: “[His] photographs are a superb evocation of some of the most breathtaking spectacles in the world.” Over his six-plus-decade career, Wolfe has worked on every continent. He captured our cover image of a pronghorn in Wyoming.

112

THE MARVEL OF THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM’S MIGRATIONS

The network of migratory wildlife that pulses in and out of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s core is an ecological phenomenon.

BY MIKE KOSHMRL

122

REPONSIBLE TOURISM

What it is, why it’s important, and how to do it in Jackson Hole.

BY MOLLY ABSOLON

130 RECONNECTION?

Long-excluded Indigenous residents of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are seeking to forge a new relationship with the public lands that sweep across their ancestral lands.

BY MIKE KOSHMRL

140

THE LAND IS ALIVE

Having grown up on the R Lazy S Ranch, photographer and archeologist Matt Stirn knows the many aspects of its personality.

PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT BY MATT STIRN

146

SHACKS ON RACKS

Can moving —rather than demolishing— old homes help with Jackson Hole’s housing crisis?

BY SUE MUNCASTER

SUMMER 2023

JACKSON HOLE

JACOB W. FRANK / NPS

MIKE CAVAROC KATHRYN ZIESIG

HOWDY

The production schedule for the summer issue of this magazine has us working on it during the winter. I’m writing this in February, late on an afternoon following a morning of skiing in Grand Teton National Park. The skiing was amazing—the powder so light and deep it came up into my face and, because I couldn’t not smile, into my mouth. It was one of my best ski days so far this winter. But now, sitting at my desk neck-deep in stories about the range of summer adventures to be had in Jackson Hole, rather than plotting my next ski day, I’m obsessing over hiking, sloshies, the rodeo, river floats, and backpacking itineraries—all subjects of stories in this issue of Jackson Hole magazine. I should be dreaming about tomorrow’s potential for fresh tracks down the Hobacks at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (the forecast calls for more snow), but instead I’m imagining a late-July walk up the wildflower-covered slopes of Hoback Peak, which local author and guide Tom Turiano, the subject of “My Jackson Hole Life,” p. 38, included in his indispensable (for any mountain explorer) book Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone.

It’s not just different activities I’m thinking about, but also different wildlife. In “Here, There, In Between,” p. 112, journalist Mike Koshmrl writes about the ungulates that seasonally migrate into and out of the valley, and how their migration routes, although little heralded, are one of the things that makes the Greater Yellow-

stone Ecosystem unique in the U.S. Winter’s moose and elk are cool and all, but if you’ve never seen pronghorn tear through the sagebrush flats of the valley floor, well, put that on your list for experiences to try and have this summer.

And sloshies (“Sloshie Season,” p. 156). I get the taste of summer just typing that word. Samantha Simma really took one for the team when she signed on to write a story about these alcoholic Slurpee-like cocktails that are Jackson Hole’s undisputed drink of the summer. Or maybe ice cream sounds better? Check out another story by Simma, “The Taste of Summer,” p. 72.

Away from sweet treats, writer Jim Mahaffie looks at the first ranch in Jackson Hole to raise 100 percent Wagyu beef, “Wyoming Wagyu,” p. 76. In “5 Superb Steaks,” p. 68, we share some of our favorite steaks on restaurant menus across the valley.

But this issue isn’t all about food. Bevin Wallace examines the emotion of joy, why it is important, and how you can bring more of it into your life, “Ode to Joy,” p. 94. Brigid Mander shares some of the best bike rides—mountain, road, and gravel—in the area (“6 Epic Rides,” p. 162). Features delve into the expanded role of tribal relations in area national parks (“Reconnection?,” p. 128) and a group that works to find new owners for and move local homes that would otherwise be demolished, “Shacks on Racks,” p. 142.

As always, I hope you enjoy reading this issue of Jackson Hole magazine as much as I, and the rest of the team, have enjoyed working on it.

— DINA MISHEV @JACKSONHOLEMAG @MYSPIRITANIMALISATREX

Jackson Hole

What’s the one thing you do with all the friends and family that visit over the summer?

PUBLISHER

Adam Meyer

Stand-up paddleboarding on Jenny Lake; the views are insane, and it’s less crowded than String Lake.

Take them for the best wings and burgers and interesting beers at The Bird, and make sure we’re there on the deck to watch the spectacular sunset.

Floating the Snake River, either in GTNP or the canyon; it’s one place I can take people where they likely wouldn’t go on their own.

Boating on Jackson Lake with a pizza stop at Leeks Marina; there is just something special about being on the water underneath towering

EDITOR

Dina Mishev

ART DIRECTOR

Elise Mahaffie

PHOTO EDITOR

Bradly J. Boner

COPY EDITOR

Bevin Wallace

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Molly Absolon Paul Bruun

Lila Edythe Mike Koshmrl

Jim Mahaffie Brigid Mander

Sofia McGulick Sue Muncaster

Tibby Plasse Whitney Royster

Tim Sandlin Sam Simma

Jim Stanford Maggie Theodora

Bevin Wallace

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Billy Arnold Mike Caravoc

Ryan Dorgan Jay Goodrich

Joe Riis Jonathan Selkowitz

Matt Stirn Art Wolfe

Katherine Ziesig

ADVERTISING SALES

Alyson Klaczkiewicz

DIGITAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Tatum Mentzer

AD DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Sarah Wilson Luis F. Ortiz

Heather Haseltine Lydia Redzich

Chelsea Robinson

DISTRIBUTION

Jayann Carlisle Oscar Garcia Perez

Rulinda Roice

Thursday Teton Valley adventure: Go for an afternoon mountain bike or hike on trails around Mike Harris Campground then hit Music on Main in Victor, where Teton Thai has a food truck.

Wandering out to islands from the Snake River dike; people think it’s wild to walk through the river.

A leisurely kayak on the Snake River from Pacific Creek to Deadmans Bar; the route is mellow for kayakers of all skill levels, even those distracted by the views.

The ropes course, hiking trails, pop jets, bungee trampoline, and climbing wall at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

©2023 Jackson Hole magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this production may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited editorial contributions. Manuscripts or other material to be returned must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope adequate to return the material. Jackson Hole magazine is published semiannually. Send subscription requests to: Jackson Hole magazine, P.O. Box 7445, Jackson, Wyoming 83002. 307/732-5900. Email: dina@jhmagazine.com. Visit jacksonholemagazine.com.

Kevin B. Olson, CEO P.O. Box 7445, Jackson, WY 83002 | 307/732-5900

MATT STIRN (“The Land is Alive,” p. 136) is a photojournalist and archaeologist who grew up on his family’s dude ranch, the R Lazy S, just north of Teton Village. When he isn’t welcoming visitors to Jackson Hole or researching prehistoric villages in the backcountry, Matt photographs and writes stories for Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, and other publications. He hopes to one day find the perfect morel recipe, but the hunt continues.

PAUL BRUUN

(“Anatomy Of: The Perfect Fly Cast,” p. 32) began editing the Jackson Hole Guide in April, 1973 and has continued penning outdoor and later Exit Eating columns in Jackson weeklies ever since. Bruun’s 50-year Jackson stint includes cofounder/editor of Jackson Hole Daily, 12-year Jackson Town Councilman, and 37 Snake River fly-fishing guiding/outfitting seasons. He and Ralph Headrick produced the South Fork Skiff, a low-profile, highperformance drift boat. The longtime Patagonia Fly Fishing ambassador is a member of the Catskill Center and Museum Fly Fishing Hall of Fame.

CONTRIBUTORS

SUE MUNCASTER

(“Shacks on Racks,” p. 142) is no stranger to skid housing; her first home (and favorite) in Jackson was the “ski fence house” on the corner of Millward and Deloney. It was while living here that she took her first online magazine-writing class. Today her personal essays, poetry, activism, and consulting seek to inspire consciousness and care by highlighting the mental, physical, and spiritual practices and rich experiences of a valuesdriven outdoor lifestyle. Follow her on Substack.

JIM MAHAFFIE

(“Landscaping? Go Native,” p. 90) first came to Jackson in the 1980s and stayed in a Dodge van in the Mangy Moose parking lot with a couple of other guys. He has upgraded since then, in both company and accommodations, and now lives in Teton Village with his wife, Elise, and Boomer and Vivian, two Bernese mountain dogs. A freelance writer, he still wonders how he ever got so lucky that he could live in the Tetons and write for a living.

LOCAL LIFE

PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT ARE JACKSON HOLE

IRIS FALLS plunges 45 feet on the Bechler River in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. Named in 1885 by members of the Arnold Hague Geological Survey for Iris, the mythological Greek goddess of the rainbow, the falls are part of the park's “Cascade Corner,” so named for the abundance of waterfalls and cascades in the Fall and Bechler River drainages. Iris Falls, and nearby Colonnade Falls, are a spectacular scenic reward after a long 19-mile hike (one way) from the Bechler Meadows Trail that starts at the Bechler Ranger Station.

Nikki Gill

This fifth-generation rancher works to keep Jackson’s ranching legacy and small town character alive, one burger, steak, and shake at a time.

// BY SOFIA MCGULICK

When Nikki Gill’s father, Robert Gill, was growing up, there were about 70 working cow-calf operations in Jackson Hole. Today there are five, including the Gill family’s Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch, which was founded by Gill’s great grandfather, Bruce Porter, in the late 1920s and which Gill has worked since she was a kid. Now 35-years-old, she still helps

out on the ranch during busy times like branding, but she is most active behind the scenes as the ranch’s director of sales and marketing.

In 2015, to create a new market for the ranch’s beef, she started a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program that allowed locals and visitors to buy it directly and at local farmer’s markets. In 2018, with siblings Patrick

and Jessica, Gill opened a restaurant, Jackson Drug, on the Town Square. “It buys a ton of beef from the ranch,” she says, laughing. “I invoice myself. Recently, I began charging myself more.”

For Gill, Jackson Drug is about so much more than beef though. The name and location have even more history for her family—and for Jackson Hole—than the JHHR. Before great-grandpa Porter was a rancher, he was a pharmacist, the valley’s first. An entrepreneur, he thought it would be good business to have a soda fountain in his pharmacy. Jackson Drug and Original Soda Fountain opened on the Town Square in 1919. It quickly became the place for kids to hang out; the Porters owned and ran it until 1978 (it moved across the square to the location of today’s restaurant in 1938). New owners kept the pharmacy and soda fountain going until 2001, when they closed the business and sold the building. “I know that at that time, for a lot of locals, Jackson Drug’s closing was like a nail in the coffin of Jackson’s past,” Gill says. “It was such an iconic Jackson business for so many years and played such a crucial role in the childhoods of so many locals.”

In 2010, the Gill family bought the building back. “I was in college at the time, and we didn’t have any concrete plans to bring Jackson Drug back, but it was definitely a dream,” Gill says. The dream—evolved to being a full restaurant to suit the Gill siblings’ interests (none of them are pharmacists)—became reality July 13, 2018. “Old timers came in with tears in their eyes,” Gill says about the first months the restaurant was open. “The soda fountain that they had spent so much of their childhoods at was back.”

Uniting Bruce Porter’s two businesses, today’s Jackson Drug serves shakes, sundaes, and malts, and burgers and steaks from JHHR cattle. Bestsellers are the huckleberry ice cream and the classic beef burger with American cheese. Not ordered as frequently but appreciated by those in the know, is the egg salad sandwich, which was available at the original soda fountain going back as far as anyone can remember. “Our recipe now isn’t exactly the same, but we tried to make it as classic as possible,” Gill says. “It’s unfussy, like Jackson used to be.” JH

ReadsGood

SMART READ

// BY JIM MAHAFFIE

The Brain Health Kitchen: Preventing Alzheimer’s Through Food

Annie Fenn, MD

After her mother was diagnosed with dementia, local resident Dr. Fenn left her ob/gyn medical practice and founded the Brain Health Kitchen, a cooking school focused on brain health and helping people prevent cognitive decline through their food and lifestyle choices. Her new book shows how brain-smart ingredients are accessible, delicious, and necessary, with recipes that incorporate brain-healthy foods into every meal of the day.

PERSONAL

CHALLENGE

Higher Love: Climbing and Skiing the Seven Summits

Kit DesLauriers

Her personal quest was to climb and then ski down the Seven Summits—the seven highest mountains in the world—and Higher Love is the story of that journey. The local author and renowned ski mountaineer is not only the first woman to do it, but the first human. She shares personal insights and accounts of her climbs on Everest, in Antarctica, an African rainforest, and Australia.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Tuesdays in Jail: What I Learned Teaching Journaling to Inmates

Tina Welling

In 2011, on an impulse, local writer and teacher Tina Welling began offering journaling workshops to the mostly male inmates at the Teton County Jail in Jackson. Last fall, she published this account of her journey into that world, with insights into incarceration, life lessons on anger, compassion, and forgiveness, and the many challenges in the prisoners’ lives.

JACKSON HOLE

Jackson Hole: A Love Letter

Words by Andrew Munz, Photos by Nate Stephens

Through spectacular photos and inspiring reflections on the magical (and complicated) place we call home, A Love Letter takes you on a journey through what Jackson Hole means to people. “It’s truly a love letter to this remarkable landscape and community,” says Susie Temple, publisher and owner of Jackson Hole Book Trader. Created at a time of many changes, with the pandemic, an influx of new residents, and record-breaking visitation, it’s a deep appreciation for Jackson Hole and the creatures that inhabit it (humans included!). JH

I know that at that time, for a lot of locals, Jackson Drug’s closing [in 2001] was like a nail in the coffin of Jackson’s past.”

—NIKKI GILL

The Perfect Fly Cast

// BY PAUL BRUUN

To deliver a trout fly accurately, a pair of nearly identical, linked fly rod casting motions are necessary. These are the backcast and the forward cast. A fly cast differs in one way from the formidable rotational bat, racquet, and club swings other recreations emphasize: The best casts result from a defined rod stoppage to punctuate both the backcast and again at the conclusion to propel the forward cast.

The stop elaborated: I’ll stand behind any beginner with his/her fly rod positioned vertically (12 o’clock) while I tightly hold 50 feet of their extended fly line, leader, and fly at my shoulder level. After my countdown and the simultaneous release of the fly and their forward cast, an admirable 50foot cast happens every time. That’s how important a properly straightened backcast produced by a definite rod stop is to making the perfect forward cast.

Beginners improve by peeking over a shoulder to watch their backcast.

Backcasts and forward casts done without completely releasing the line are called false casts and allow gradual line lengthening. One or two false casts to measure and add distance are necessary before the final forward cast. More valuable than expensive fly rods and lines, pronounced stops with the rod at both ends of the casting cycle consistently guarantee better results. Practice casting with a leader and hookless fly or yarn, and always have a target, even just a floating leaf, to improve accuracy.

A well-paused backcast followed by a smooth forward cast power application allows the rod to reverse its direction, sending the line forward. Another stop with the rod tip at or below eye/shoulder level accelerates the line forward and creates an aerodynamic tight loop that pulls spare fly line with the cast.

When the right timing occurs, fly rods radiate a noticeable and satisfying feeling that says, that cast was just right

Fishing Flat Creek on the National Elk Refuge.

The Inn Residences at Montage Big Sky

For the first time in Big Sky, Montana, The Inn will offer a unique second home ownership opportunity in a luxury Residence steps from the new Montage Big Sky. With ski-in/skiout access to Big Sky Resort, a Tom Weiskopf Championship golf course, and benefits of membership at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Obtain the Property Report required by Federal law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value if any, of this property. This is not an advertisement or solicitation to purchase or sell property in states where prohibited by law. The resort project described herein (the “Resort”) and the residential units located within the Resort (the “Residential Units”) are not owned, developed, or sold by Montage Hotels & Resorts LLC or its affiliates or their respective licensors (collectively, “Montage”) and Montage does not make any representations, warranties or guaranties whatsoever with respect to the Residential Units, the Resort or any part thereof. CH SP Acquisition LLC uses the MONTAGE brand name and certain MONTAGE trademarks (collectively, the “Operator Trademarks”) in connection with the sales and marketing of the Residential Units in the Resort under a limited, nonexclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable license from Montage Hotels & Resorts LLC. The foregoing license may be terminated or may expire without renewal, in which case neither the Residential Units nor any part of the Resort will be identified as MONTAGE branded project or have any rights to use the Operator Trademarks. WARNING: THE CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT INSPECTED, EXAMINED OR QUALIFIED THIS OFFERING. This advertising material is being used for the purpose of soliciting the sale of fractional ownership interests. This advertisement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy fractional ownership interests to residents in any state or jurisdiction in which registration requirements have not been fulfilled. The Inn at Montage Big Sky is currently under development. Images depicted herein are based upon current development plans and are subject to change without notice.

Casting Rules

1 | Begin with a light but solid hand grip with your thumb on top of the handle. Squeeze grip during forward casts and backcasts.

3 | Make the thumb a casting sight. Rod tips follow and stop with the thumb. Lines go where rod tips go. Roundhousing and jerky or pounding rod motions ruin line-loop aerodynamics. Cast smoothly.

2 | Remain relaxed but make your forearm an extension of the rod, stiffening the wrist and allowing only the elbow to hinge during casting.

4 | Aim casts above the water. As the rod tip stops, it creates the desired aerodynamic tight line loop to propel a perfect forward cast. Eliminate disastrous loose-wrist activity that hurls backcasts and forward casts downward, killing the line trajectory.

JONATHAN SELKOWITZ

5 | Most poor casts result from not waiting long enough on the backcast. The best forward casts are born from good backcasts. Stopping the fly rod almost vertically during the backcast keeps lines high and straight. Fly lines are designed to make a specific fly rod weight perform, i.e. a 6-weight line suits a 6-weight rod. Good casters wait on the backcast for the line to straighten fully and load their rod before beginning their forward cast.

8 | Skillful fly casting requires study and practice. Many excellent how-to casting books and videos are available. Happily, fly casting is mastered by all ages of men and women. Many believe fly casting is the most challenging way to fish. When one relishes fly casting, it becomes the most enjoyable way to fish. JH

6 | Firmly control extra (running) line in the hand not holding the rod. Allow the line to slide through fingers only after a forward cast is underway. Otherwise, the backcast pulls loosely held spare line out and sabotages the forward cast even before it starts.

7 | Keep extra fly line on the reel to avoid tangling, twisting, or dragging it in dirt and mud. Stretch fly line and leader physically before casting and fishing. Removing invisible dirt improves casting ease and accuracy. Frequently polish 30 to 40 feet of fly line with several pulls through a clean cloth.

// BY DINA MISHEV

Tom Turiano

Tom Turiano moved to Jackson Hole in 1985. His first job was teaching skiing at Snow King Ski Area, but, a mountaineer since age 15, he soon started guiding for Exum Mountain Guides. He spent days off “wandering the backcountry on foot and on skis," he says. Turiano estimates he has summited “perhaps 2,500” mountains in his life, with as many as 500 of these being unique peaks. A lover of history, Turiano combined his interests in his first book in 1995, Teton Skiing: A History and Guide. The 221-page book was the most complete guide ever to backcountry skiing in the Tetons. Turiano’s second book, Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone: A Mountaineering History and Guide, came out in 2003. The recipient of the 2005 Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Regional Reference Award, Select Peaks allowed Turiano to cast his net of adventure farther afield, to the 13 mountain ranges in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. From these ranges, he chose 107 as “select peaks.” Since Select Peaks has been unavailable to buy in print for almost a decade, Turiano is putting the finishing touches on a second edition that he says “is more of a rewrite than a second edition.” The 107 peaks remain the same, but Turiano dug even deeper into the histories of their names and early ascents. The new Select Peaks should be available in time for Christmas. selectpeaks.com

HERE TOM SHARES SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM HIS JACKSON HOLE LIFE.

ALEX LENNON

Tom Turiano has been exploring the mountains around Jackson Hole since the 1980s.

MY JACKSON HOLE LIFE

FEELING WILD

I like to explore new places, but the conditions aren’t always right for that. If I ever have a day when something new isn’t an option and I want to do an outing that means a lot to me, I go to Hoback Peak. Often I do it alone. I’ve done Hoback Peak about a dozen times. It just feels so wild back there, and there are great views and wildflowers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another person, unless it was someone with me. I did see a horse up by the summit once. There was no rider. (10,862-foot-tall Hoback Peak is in the Wyoming Range and it is included in Turiano’s Select Peaks. There are faint trails to a basin beneath the peak’s northeast ridge; from there it is a scramble/bushwhack to the summit.)

SELECT PEAKS OF GREATER YELLOWSTONE

At first I was going to do 50 peaks in the Greater Yellowstone area. I pitched that idea to Mountaineers Books (a nonprofit publisher that is the country’s leading independent publisher of outdoor recreation, lifestyle, and conservation books), and they gave me an advance to write it. I wrote the history section and sent it in to them, and they were like, “Whoa, we don’t want this.” I sent the advance back and decided I was going to do it on my own. I still thought I’d do just 50 peaks, but every time I climbed one of the 50, I’d see two or three more that I wanted to climb. It was all about their visibility on the horizon—what peaks stand out from their neighbors? The ones in the book that don’t stand out from their neighbors I put in for being commonly climbed or iconic looking. I could have kept going with peaks, but when I added the 107th one, I promised myself it was the last one. When the first edition of the book came out, I had 22 select peaks left to climb to do all 107. I’ve slowly been picking those off, and now there are only two I haven’t climbed: Mt. Helen and Lizard Head Peak, both in the Winds (the Wind River Mountains south and east of Jackson Hole).

GUIDING THE GRAND TETON

As an Exum guide, I probably did 18 to 20 trips up the Grand each summer for about 15 years. I got to take my daughter up when she was 12 or 13. Just home from a trip to Africa, she said, “I want to climb the Grand.” I suggested trying Buck Mountain, which isn’t as long or technical, but she said, “No. I want to climb the Grand.” We went up a couple of days later, and she was exhausted and feeling miserable. At one point before the climbing really started, I told her that we didn’t have to do this. And she was like, “Yes we do. I’m never coming up here again.” And she did it. And she’s never done it again.

LIVING IN GTNP

I had a cabin at the Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch from about 1989 to 1992, when I was in my early time guiding for Exum. The place was awesome. We’d cook dinner in the communal kitchen with all the tourists and big-name climbers. It was a fun place to hang out, and you never knew who you might meet. People came from all over. We called our cabin the “Mouse House” because mice were just running rampant out there, but probably any cabin could have been called that. In the late 90s, I lived in Moose. Nancy, my girlfriend and then wife, was a park employee, and we lived in employee housing together. I’d run the trail from Moose to Cottonwood Creek. From Moose, it goes north to Menor’s Ferry. You’re on an old ranch road for a little bit, but then it starts to veer left and the trail stays closer to the road than the river.

A PLACE TO RECHARGE

Wherever I’ve lived in the valley, there was a nearby hike that I’d do when I just needed something short and wanted to get outside—a place that gives me a quick recharge. Since I moved to the Westbank in 2007, that’s been the History Trail from the bottom of Old Pass Road. It’s an old Indian route, and it’s cool to be walking this trail thinking you’re doing this short jaunt day hike to get a little exercise and that hundreds of years ago, people were using this route to get over these mountains. The trail goes to the top of Teton Pass, but I usually turn around at Crater Lake. (For more information on this trail, and the historical things you’ll see along the way, the Jackson Hole Historical Society and the Bridger-Teton National Forest collaborated on a 26-page point-by-point guide available online at fs.usda.gov/Internet/ FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3818457.pdf) JH

COURTESY PHOTO

Turiano on Hoback Peak in 1986.

When the first edition of the book came out, I had 22 select peaks left to climb to do all 107. Now there are only two I haven’t climbed."

"

ALL YOU NEED

Backpacking

// BY DINA MISHEV

All other overnight backpacks have been dead to us since we first encountered Arc’teryx’s RotoGlide hipbelt; it swivels as your hips move (lock it out if you want). The Bora 65 has this hipbelt and enough space and external pockets to hold and organize everything you need for a trip up to a week long. $320, arcteryx.com

Chaco Bohdis are perfect for water crossings and hanging out at camp. A minimalist take on the brand’s iconic Z sandals, they’re 50 percent lighter but every bit as supportive and comfortable. Available in men’s and women’s, $95, chaco.com

We once thought carrying a camp chair was excessive. Then we met Helinox’s Chair Zero, which allows for comfortably relaxing in camp and weighs only 17 ounces. $150, helinox.com

The Jet Boil Micro Mo boils .8 liters of water in a little more than two minutes. The cooking cup doubles as a measuring cup and bowl. $155, jetboil.com

Keep trail grit and burrs out of your shoes with Kahtoola’s new Renagaiter, the brand’s toughest gaiter. $69, kahtoola.com

Find boots too heavy? Check out Scarpa’s Rapid Billed as a cross between an approach shoe and a trail running shoe, it’s great for backpacking because it’s light but still has solid support in the arch and midfoot. Available in men’s and women’s, from $155, scarpa.com

Sleeping bags are highly personal. We often sleep cold, so, even for summer, like a bag rated to 20 degrees. A mummy shape is good, but we prefer it not too tight. And we like the light weight and compressibility of down. Given these preferences, Therm-a-Rest’s Hyperion 20 is our perfect bag. It weighs about as much as a package of hotdogs and keeps us wonderfully warm. From $470, thermarest.com

ESSENTIAL GEAR TO MAKE YOUR BACKPACKING ADVENTURE A SUCCESS.

For short trips, BioLite’s HeadLamp 325 weighs only 50 grams and delivers 325 lumens of light. Fully charged—it’s rechargeable via a micro USB—it lasts for 40 hours on low and three hours on high. Black Diamond’s Spot 400-R is better for long trips. It, too, is rechargeable, and it can also run on three AAA batteries. $50, bioliteenergy.com; $50, blackdiamondequipment.com

Made in the French Alps, TSL Outdoors’s Connect Carbon 5 Trekking Poles have magnetic straps, the ability to be quickly and easily folded (and unfolded), and come with multiple tips. And, as much as we’ve tried, there seems to be no breaking them. $179, backcountry.com

Sorry guys, Indyeva’s Vicolo Convertible Hiking Pants is only made for women. These pants, which are stretchy and quick-drying, are the most stylish zip-off pants we’ve seen yet. $130, indyeva.com

Recently we’ve paid less attention to socks and more attention to insoles. Superfeet’s new Adapt Hike Max insoles keep our feet feeling fresh all day long. $50, superfeet.com

The Ursack Major, a lightweight bear bag, is an alternative to traditional bear-proof canisters. It holds about 10 liters and weighs about as much as an adult hamster. A warning: while certified bearproof, ground critters can eat through it, so you should still hang it from a tree. $110, ursack.com

Ladies, you no longer have to carry three times as much toilet paper as guys. Instead carry a reusable, antimicrobial Kula pee cloth. Use a Kula Cloth to wipe yourself after you pee, and then snap it to the exterior of your backpack. When you’re near water, rinse it; the silver-infused cloth dries quickly. From $20, garagegrowngear.com.

If you’re a hiker who likes the support of boots, the La Sportiva TX Hike Mid GTX has that, and also the agility of a trail runner. Available in men’s and women’s, $169, lasportiva.com

The newly reengineered Nemo Tensor is the holy grail of sleeping pads: it’s lightweight, warm, and, much more rare, quiet. From $180, nemoequipment.com

This is by no means a complete packing list for a backpacking trip; rather it’s a list of our essential items and/ or things you might not know to bring with you. JH

Day Packs

WE TESTED THESE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO.

IS IT?

EAGLE CREEK GEAR WARRIOR CONVERTIBLE 21.75” CARRY ON BACKPACK

WHAT IS IT?

A wheeled, carry-on-sized bag that converts to a backpack and has a removable daypack.

STRENGTHS

Full disclosure: This bag is so popular it’s backordered until August, so we haven’t tested it ourselves. But, we know we’ll love being able to put the 37-liter bag in the overhead bin and the 17-liter daypack beneath the seat in front of us, and then use it on mountain adventures.

WEAKNESSES

It is backordered until August.

BEST FOR

Frequent travelers looking for one bag (that’s secretly two) that does everything.

DETAILS

$309, available at eaglecreek.com

STRENGTHS

A colorful fanny pack made from nylon shell fabric and just big enough to fit everything you need for a short frontcountry hike.

A unisex technical 6-liter waist pack made from 100 percent recycled body fabrics with quickaccess side water bottle pockets.

Made from repurposed factoryremnant materials, this hip pack keeps fabric out of the landfill. A contoured and padded back panel and wide hip belt ensure it’s as comfortable as it is colorful.

There’s no being low-key while rocking this fanny pack. During the dozens of times we’ve been out and about with it, there hasn’t yet been an instance in which someone didn’t comment—albeit always positively— on its bold and many colors.

Eco-conscious fans of color for hiking up Snow King, or town explorers looking for something smaller than a backpack and more easily carried than a purse.

$50, available at cotapaxi.com

The Pursuit 6 has the features you want, including a back panel that is actually breathable and a key clip, and nothing extra.

We’ve yet to find a waist pack that can carry two full water bottles and not bounce around, and the Pursuit 6 is no exception. Once you’ve drunk the bottles down to two-thirds, the bouncing stops, though.

Fast and light mountain missions when all you need to carry is water, snacks, and an extra layer.

$75, available at Black Diamond Equipment, 160 W. Pearl Ave. and blackdiamondequipment.com

WHAT

BLACK DIAMOND PURSUIT 6 WAIST PACK

COTAPAXI KAPAI DEL DIA 3L HIP PACK

A carry-on-sized, super-stylish, and weatherproof 30-liter backpack that can hold enough for a 3-day trip, and, once you’ve arrived, work as a daypack, whether you’re going hiking or to meetings.

We love this bag for its looks alone. Its wealth of features—hugely stretchy side pockets; padded, stowable shoulder straps; padded sleeves for laptops and tablets; and a waterproof bottom —is a bonus.

A great value, full-feature 50-liter backpack made from mostly (89 percent) recycled materials that comes in men’s and women’s sizing.

Neither a fanny/waist pack nor a backpack, the unisex 7-liter Ranger XE has some of the best features of both and is made from tough, 100 percent recycled fabric.

Yes, that is an integrated, detachable rain cover and a detachable bottom compartment. Smartly designed and placed exterior pockets and straps allow this pack to carry more than 50 liters.

Maximum storage—think a sandwich, 1-liter water bottle, sunscreen, and a down sweater— for minimal weight (7 ounces) and bulk (it can be compressed down to fit in a jacket pocket).

The ultralight foam that provides structure to the bag (which is good) makes it hot against your back when it’s being used as a hiking pack.

If you’re not an efficient packer, even with the abundance of exterior pockets and straps, this pack won’t be big enough.

This is not the bag to take running; it, like almost all cross-body bags, will bang around until you slow to a walk.

Travelers on short trips who want to use only one bag.

Short 2- to 3-night backpacking trips and backpackers looking to force themselves to become more efficient packers.

Hikers heading out on shorter adventures who prefer the feel of a shoulder strap over a waist belt.

$230, available at peakdesign.com

Available in men’s and women’s sizing. $200, available at Teton Mountaineering, 170 N. Cache St., and mammut.com

$49, available at eaglecreek.com JH

MAMMUT LITHIUM 50L PACK

PEAK DESIGN 30L TRAVEL BACKPACK

EAGLE CREEK RANGER XE CROSS-BODY 7L

Bridges to the Past

Astoria and Swinging Bridges have more than a century of history.

The structures at Swinging Bridge and Astoria Hot Springs are Pratt truss bridges, a design patented by New England engineers Caleb and Thomas Pratt and refined by Squire Whipple in the mid-1800s.

// BY JIM STANFORD

ON FEB. 21, 1922, at a ceremony attended by a host of local dignitaries, Jean Pierson, wife of project engineer J.E. Pierson, drove the last spike in the newly completed Jackson-Wilson Bridge over the Snake River. The Jackson’s Hole Courier called the occasion “one of the most important events in the history of Jackson’s Hole.” At 657 feet, the five-span truss bridge was by far the longest in the state, and its completion marked the end of a difficult struggle to extend a crossing first erected in 1915 but partially washed out by the river in 1917.

More than a hundred years later, the steel truss spans with wooden decks continue to serve the motoring public, albeit at different locations: Swinging Bridge and Astoria Hot Springs. The original bridge was decommissioned in October 1959, and the pieces were shipped south of town for reassembly. By the fall of 1960, the spans—three at Swinging Bridge and two at Astoria—were put in place where they remain today. Swinging Bridge doesn’t “swing;” the name is a reference to the light-duty suspension bridge that preceded it in 1938 and the A-frame footbridge before that.

The sibling truss bridges of Teton County hearken back to a time when engineers put structural elements above the deck where they could be appreciated, in contrast to, say, the new WyDOT bridge at Horse Creek, where all of the structure is hidden below. “A bridge represents a pretty unique aspect of our past,” says Kurt Dubbe, an architect and member of the Teton County Historic Preservation Board. “Folks have such strong memories of the built environment around us. We’re drawn to those memorable icons.”

Although the Swinging and Astoria Bridges are adored for their historical and aesthetic value, they face an uncertain future due to declining practical value. In addition to a century’s worth of normal decay, both have been damaged in recent years by trucks too large for the 12- to 13-foot height clearance hitting their steel frames. Teton County is looking to replace Swinging Bridge and possibly repurpose it for pedestrians and cyclists, while engineers are studying the privately owned Astoria Bridge to determine its fate.

Dubbe has been active in trying to preserve Swinging Bridge, which he says has local, state, and even national historical significance. “It represents a strong engineering past that is fast disappearing,” Dubbe says. JH

HELLO

GABE WILSON

Gabe Wilson

// BY MOLLY ABSOLON

abe Wilson and his sisters—in middle and elementary school at the time—hooked two cream-colored draft horses to a sleigh full of hay, and, in the dark, headed up the hillside behind their barn in Alta, on the western side of the Tetons. The blueish-white snow reflected enough starlight to allow them to see sheep scattered around the fields. Gabe drove, while his sisters tossed hay to the animals.

By the time the Wilson kids got to school at 8 a.m, they’d already worked for hours. But that was typical; as soon as they could walk, each started helping out on the family farm. “I learned from a very young age that when you put effort or labor into something, it brings deeper meaning to the experience,” says Wilson, who turns

Wilson remembers his childhood fondly. He enjoyed working outside with his parents and siblings: four younger sisters and a younger brother. He learned to drive horses sitting in his father’s lap and was in charge of checking the ranch’s gopher traps—set to get rid of the pesky rodents that can damage irrigation systems and wipe out gardens—by the time he was eight years old. In elementary school, he had his own egg business to earn pocket money. He raised animals for 4-H and, at 11, was put in charge of moving irrigation pipe. Rather than being turned off by the work, he loved it and dreamed of living on the farm and raising his own family the same way he was raised. “Some of the kids I grew up with couldn’t wait to get out of here,” Wilson says. “Not me. I always wanted to be here. I was

Wilson’s parents made him travel before he committed to becoming the fifth generation to work Teton Valley’s Double Diamond Bar Ranch.

DANA WILSON’S CROCKPOT LASAGNA

During Wilson’s mission in Korea, his host mother wanted to help him celebrate his birthday the way he did at home by cooking his favorite meal, which was his mother, Dana’s, crockpot lasagna. His host mom spent hours following Dana’s recipe, and then, to make it extra special, added shrimp. Wilson says the shrimp were an interesting addition but he appreciated the effort she made to make him feel at home. We recommend Dana Wilson’s original recipe, sans shrimp.

INGREDIENTS

1–2 lbs. hamburger

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

8–12 wide lasagna noodles

16 oz. cottage cheese

16 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce

Shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, or mixed Italian cheeses)

Water (enough to cover lasagna layers in crockpot)

DIRECTIONS:

Brown hamburger with Italian seasonings. Spray crockpot with oil or cooking spray. Place a layer of noodles in the bottom of the crockpot, followed by a layer of burger, then cottage cheese, then spaghetti sauce, and then shredded cheese—that’s one layer. Repeat until you get to the top (two or three layers) of the crockpot. Pour water to cover the lasagna. Cook on low for five hours.

HELLO GABE WILSON

GABE TALKS ABOUT FOUR FAV ADVENTURES

“There is so much diversity on the hike up to Table Rock (aka Table Mountain). You have wide open spaces with wildflowers, and I think there is no other place where you can see the Grand (Teton) as up close and personal as from Table’s summit (shown above). It’s looming right in front of you.”

Round-trip, Table Mountain is a 12-mile hike with 4,100 feet of vertical gain. Start at the Teton Canyon Trailhead in Alta, Wyoming, on the west slope of the Tetons.

“We rotate and float different sections of the Teton River south of Idaho Highway 33 (ed. note—north of this, the river has significant whitewater). I just sit in a tube and enjoy the scenery and my family and friends.

There are several put-ins on the Teton River between Driggs and Tetonia.

“Going up Teton Canyon on a horse is a completely different experience than hiking up it. The terrain is the same as it is when you hike up Teton Canyon on your way to Table Rock, but when I’m with my horse, I’m sensing and seeing things that [it] is seeing.”

Start at the Teton Canyon Trailhead.

“The first time I climbed the Grand Teton was with my dad, and I was 13 or 14. We did it again last summer, and it was my wife’s first time. We do a family climbing trip in the Tetons every summer; I don’t have a favorite summit because they’re all different. What I like about it is coming to know each mountain. I’ve never really believed in ‘conquering’ mountains; you just come to know them, and they’re different every time.”

Exum Mountain Guides and Jackson Hole Mountain Guides do multiday guided trips up the Grand Teton and other peaks in the range.

taught to appreciate this place and the value of work from a very young age. Nature was our TV. We were always outside, working, playing. I have a deep love for the beauty here.”

Wilson says he might have never left Teton Valley and the family’s 160-acre Double Diamond Bar Ranch, but his parents insisted he do some traveling. They wanted to make sure he really wanted to stay before he made that commitment. “My parents’ desire for me to see the world was really for me not to feel pressured to come back to the ranch,” Wilson says. “They wanted me to have experiences outside of Teton Valley, and whether that was in other states or countries, it didn’t really matter so long as I gained understanding and purpose for what I wanted to do and who I wanted to become.”

In high school, travel for sports and with his Scout troop took him around the region, and he also undertook a short mission in Croatia for his church. He did a second mission in Daejeon, South Korea, from 2015 to 2017 and then returned to the U.S. to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg. “I learned and experienced cultures that are unique during my travels,” Wilson says. “I met amazing people, some of whom I still keep in touch with. I learned to speak [Korean], and to love all sorts of different foods, from live octopus to kimchi. The octopus took some getting used to. It crawls around, and you have to eat it just like that.” As interesting as South Korea was, “Through it all, I knew I wanted to come back to my home,” he says. “I missed the mountains, the outdoors, the hiking, the horse riding, sleigh rides, and ranch work. And I missed being with my family and doing all those activities with them.”

Now, recently married, Wilson is once again on the farm, part of the fifth generation of the Wilson family that

BRADLY J. BONER

has lived there since their patriarch homesteaded the place in the 1890s. The family continues many old farming traditions on the property. They grow hay and barley, and raise sheep, chicken, and horses. The farm looks much as it has for decades, but the area around it is changing.

These days, according to LandSearch.com, the average price for homes in Alta is more than $3 million, with raw land selling for between $70,000 and $300,000 per acre. For many farmers in the area, the allure of that money makes it hard to stay in agriculture. But the Wilsons are committed to preserving their heritage. They want to keep the ranch open for wildlife and agriculture, and to protect its views of the Grand Teton and Teton Canyon. Finding a way to monetize those goals has been Gabe’s latest venture. He’s working on an MBA online and helping his family look for creative strategies that will allow them to protect their property and still make a living. Thery recently created a wedding venue (shown above). “A wedding industry professional put the idea in our minds,” he says. “They said they’d heard we had a beautiful place and that it could be a good business for us.” JH

The Double Diamond Bar Ranch's new wedding venue.

BRADLY J. BONER

John Griber

HELLO

// BY

John Griber has experienced all the adrenaline and drama that come with a lifetime of high-mountain expeditions and extreme sports, but these days he most appreciates the downtime he has in Jackson Hole with his wife and son. “We just love being in our surroundings and appreciating where we live,” Griber says about the family’s five-acre spot up in Game Creek, just south of Jackson. “It’s gorgeous up here. It’s insane.”

The 57-year-old has even got a relatively steady job—albeit one that regularly takes him to some of the most remote corners of Alaska, from Kodiak Island to the Bering Sea, in all times of the year—as a cameraman on the National Geographic TV series Life Below Zero, for which he has won several (he’s not sure exactly how many, but it’s somewhere between four and six) Emmys. “I’ve been really fortunate,” Griber says. “I’ve done so many different things.”

Griber’s family moved to Jackson in 1977 when he was 10 years old. He was a ski racer in high school and, after a coach suggested he take up cycling for dryland training, became a junior champion road racer. He transitioned to snowboarding after meeting Tom Sims, who gave him his first snowboard. As a snowboarder in the 1980s, he pioneered several first descents in the Tetons, and he traveled the world as an athlete sponsored by The North Face. He was the first American to snowboard from an 8,000-meter peak, Cho Oyu in Tibet. He has been on the summit of Mt. Everest twice. In the 1990s, he also served as the program director and head coach of the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club’s snowboard program.

After years being filmed by some of the best photographers and videographers in the world—including local legends Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall, Greg Von Doersten, Scott Simper, and Bud Fauwcett—he learned from them and started filmmaking himself in the early 2000s. He gradually moved into the reality TV realm as he got older and less inclined to risk his life—and cut into family time—in the Himalayas. His life story features plenty of adventure and adrenaline, but it’s also a poignant tale of understanding—and nailing—what matters most in life.

AS TOLD BY

Iwas a pro rider with the original Sims team for, I didn’t even know, a stack of years, probably 10. Back in the early 80s, no one was snowboarding. Growing up in Jackson, riding at Teton Village, it was just all big-mountain riding, but that term hadn’t even been coined yet. We just rode. “Extreme” wasn’t even a thing.

Then all of a sudden, I get to be 40 years old and I’m like, holy shit, what am I gonna do with my life? I'd learned how to snowboard really well, and I’m a strong cyclist, but I have no real skill set. When you’re with a photographer, you’ll see a line and say, “Man, I can carve off this ridge or jump off this cliff. If you stand here, looks like to me like it’s gonna be a great shot.” You have that perspective. You’re already composing

a lot of your images in your head. That’s how I became a cameraman—I think it’s a fascinating journey.

I did a lot of projects in the Himalaya. I’ve done 17 expeditions there, and I thought that path would continue. But when the season’s off in the Himalaya for climbing expeditions, you’re struggling for work. And there are up-andcoming shooters and videographers who are more capable of climbing an 8,000-meter peak now and filming it. So, I went down the reality path in TV, and it’s worked out well because it’s more of a stable job for the most part. I’ve done a lot of different shows, but most tend to be outdoor-based reality, almost docu-style—documenting people’s lives. That’s really amazing to me. I get to see so much.

He’s a pioneering snowboard athlete and Emmy Awardwinning cinematographer, but John Griber is most proud of the simple life he’s built here in Jackson Hole.

BEVIN WALLACE

John's life story features plenty of adventure and adrenaline, but it’s also a poignant tale of understanding— and nailing—what matters most in life.

HELLO JOHN GRIBER

Life Below Zero is a great show, and it’s a great cast that we cover. I filmed on the very first episode, and I’m still on it 10 years later. Being in Jackson for 45 years, my thing is living in the outdoors. I was a fly-fishing guide for 20 years in between going on expeditions, and I’ve always hunted—that’s just my lifestyle. And I cut my own firewood. Everything

of ice fishing. After all of the stuff I’ve done, I sit on the frozen lake and totally Zen out. My life has been so on the edge and going, going, going for so long, it’s really nice to just relax and slow down.

I’m really proud of myself and my wife and how we’ve raised our son, Nevin, who means the world to us. I’m able be here in the present a hundred

we film on the show, I do it. So, I can understand how the cast is thinking and what they’re doing.

The great thing with these film projects is, I go film, I document what I’m documenting, and then I come back and I have all my free time. That really has given me a lot of leeway and just a lot of time spent with my family. And time spent doing what I love—hunting and fishing and spending time in the outdoors. We can ski right out the backyard, up and over, and disappear into the mountains right from there.

Actually, in the winter I do a ton

percent. We have a great quality of life when I’m home. I don’t bring any of the work home from the field. And I’m proud to say that we haven’t had a TV in 20 years. As a family we still sit down at the dinner table, we talk about the day, we listen to nice music, we sit on the deck. I just enjoy being home so much.

My mom died at 48 of cancer. I was 25, and I remember her saying, “Don’t live in the woulda, coulda, shoulda.” I’ve taken that to heart—I want to live in the moment, and I don’t want to have anything pass me by because I know how fragile life can be. JH

It’s crazy that I’m in the reality-TV world because I thought I’d always only be in the mountains filming expeditions or ski touring or climbing in the Himalaya. I enjoy the travel and the quick little expeditions to Alaska and filming with people I know and respect.

SIR DONALD RUNNICLES, MUSIC DIRECTOR JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING

HELLO DAWN PRUETT

QA

DAWN PRUETT

This year, the president of the Bank of Jackson Hole is becoming a grandmother and taking up golf while continuing to help her staff and the Jackson Hole community reach their potential.

// BY JENNIFER DORSEY

Dawn Pruett

KATHRYN ZIESIG

For Dawn Pruett, 2022 was a big year. She was promoted to president of Bank of Jackson Hole—making her one of only a few female bank presidents in Wyoming—and then went through the bank’s acquisition by National Bank Holdings Corporation. This year’s big news for Pruett is of the personal kind: The 52-year-old Green River, Wyoming, native is going to become a grandmother; the middle of her three daughters is scheduled to give birth to Matthew on June 21. “We have not had a boy in my family in 47 years,” says Pruett, who’s thinking she’ll have her grandson call her “Gigi.”

Pruett moved to Jackson Hole in 2007, and no, it wasn’t for the skiing, it was a job transfer. In addition to work and community, Pruett, whose first banking job was in 1999, as associate to the bank president at American National Bank, found a husband here. Michael Pruett is a real estate agent with Keller Williams. The couple shares a love for travel—this past winter they went to Costa Rica; a future trip is to Israel—and also for their golden retriever, Caleb.

Q: There’s a saying, “Jackson Hole is in Wyoming, but not of Wyoming.” Moving here from “real Wyoming,” did you find Jackson Hole to be a culture shock?

DP: It was a big culture shock. In Green River I knew everybody. It was a huge “village,” a huge network, and more of a blue collar community. Moving here, the awareness of health and mental fitness and self-care was really unknown to me in a lot of ways. And that was enlightening to me—to see how much better you live and feel when you prioritize health.

Q: How long did it take you to feel like a local after you moved here?

DP: Sally Rogers, a bank colleague and longtime Jacksonite, she was a dynamo. She literally took me to every event, every nonprofit, every local thing: the Chicken Fry, Teton Science Schools, the Library Party. I felt a part of the community really quickly. And I was thankful for that.

Perfectly Placed. Uniquely Positioned.

Whether buying or selling, imagine your ideal real estate agent. at person should have decades of deep, local knowledge and all the right connections. Factor in a respected community member with an insider’s perspective on real estate services and lifestyle insights. Now imagine that person publishes Jackson Hole’s premier home design and travel magazines. Say hello to Latham Jenkins. Frequently described as genuine, creative and honest, no one is more perfectly placed or uniquely positioned to get the results you want. Latham loves what he does — and you will too.

Get started at LiveWaterJacksonHole.com

Ranked #1 in Wyoming for individual residential sales in 2021 by Real Trends

Associate Broker | 307-690-1642

latham@livewaterproperties.com

Latham Jenkins

LOCAL LIFE

HELLO DAWN PRUETT

Q: Why did you get into banking?

DP: A friend said I’d be good at this. With residential mortgage lending, my brain fired in that direction and those kinds of relationships. It never seemed like a struggle for me. I never minded going to work. I was excited to go and learn.

Q: Was being a bank president something you dreamed of?

DP: Yes, I always knew I wanted to be in a role where I had the ability to influence and shape the direction of the bank, and impact the community.

Q: What has been the most difficult part of being a bank president so far?

DP: Adapting to the unexpected and the unknown. I have appreciated being able to hone my leadership skills in this rapidly changing economic environment.

Q: The most rewarding?

DP: Watching the growth of my team, and the support of the team. My team has continued to rally around me to ensure our success. People have stepped up and stepped in, and we have all grown immensely individually and collectively in the last year.

Q: With you being a banker married to a real estate broker, is there a lot of shop talk in your house?

DP: Yes. The joke at home is he sends me a lot of referrals and I don’t send him any. When they come to me, they already have a realtor.

Q: Even though you didn’t move here for skiing, are you active in the outdoors?

DP: I’m not very coordinated. I did surf in Costa Rica, and I’m not terrible. I really like to cross-country ski and snowshoe in the winter. In the summertime, we like boating. We have a boat and like to go on the river and Jackson Lake. We like water skiing, wakeboarding, and all of that stuff. This summer I’m taking up golf.

Q: Are you taking up golf for business or pleasure? It seems like a very bank president thing to do.

DP: I’m taking up golf for several reasons. First, for my marriage, so that Michael and I have a pastime we can enjoy together for many years to come. And it’s definitely a perk for the bank president role, assuming I can learn how to hit the ball

DO LIKE DAWN

3 RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. I’m a foodie and have specific things I like to eat: the salmon potato pancake at the Snake River Grill; stuffed mushroom caps at the Blue Lion; a margarita at Hatch. An appetizer here, an appetizer there, my husband calls it an “appetour.” If I want a steak, I go to the White Buffalo Club. And if the tour ends with swing dancing at the Cowboy Bar or The Wort, even better.

2. I’m a huge shopper. My husband says he’s on a one-one-one basis with UPS. I like Oden (on North Glenwood). I went in with a colleague who wanted to consign a watch, and I ended up with a tennis bracelet. Lisa Knapp is so kind and makes you feel so welcome.

3. Get on the water. I think everyone should do a float trip. I like Deadmans to Moose on the Snake River. We love seeing the eagles and wildlife. We bring lunch. We bring cocktails. We bring music. We fish sometimes.

LEADERSHIP READ

I’m a voracious reader. I hate TV. Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow by Barry Conchie and Tom Rath talks about leaders who have been super successful in creating businesses. The key is to home in on your strengths and weaknesses so when you go into a leadership role, you’re looking at team members who can balance you. JH

BRADLY J. BONER

Connecting generosity to the community since 1989

Since inception, donors have relied on the Foundation’s experienced staff to assist with current and planned giving by simplifying administration and providing insight about community needs.

cfjacksonhole.org

A Gros Ventre Escape

For nearly 125 years, Flat Creek Ranch has offered a hidden retreat.

// BY JIM STANFORD

Farney Cole didn’t hear a twig snap. As he bent down to dismantle a beaver dam that was inundating a hay meadow on upper Flat Creek in August 1944, the first indication of trouble was the scratch of claws on his neck.

A sow black bear attacked him, slapping and biting him on the shoulders as he fell to the ground. Later estimated to weigh 600 pounds, the bear had two cubs and had been frequenting the ranch for several years, losing its fear of humans. Cole, a squarely built Kansas native and experienced cowboy, played dead, and the bear relented. As it moved away, Cole reached for a five-foot-long, waterlogged aspen limb he had been using to break up the dam. When the bear charged to attack again, Cole whacked it in the head with this makeshift club and stunned it. Then he beat it until the bear was dead.

He later told the Jackson’s Hole Courier he didn’t want to kill the bruin but never would have felt safe there again. And besides, he said, “she made me mad.” An Associated Press story about the attack made

Farney Cole on Flat Creek Ranch in the 1940s.

JACKSON HOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM

newspaper headlines across the country, earning Cole marriage proposals by mail. He was treated at the hospital for his injuries but was back on his feet in no time, and upon his death in December 1963 at 79 years old, his obituary in the Jackson Hole Guide referred to him as “last of the mountain men.”

The famous bout is but one small chapter in the long and storied history of Flat Creek Ranch, the 140-acre hideaway tucked into a narrow canyon in the Gros Ventre Range below the head of Sleeping Indian. The ranch is only 14 miles from Jackson, but, sequestered inside the national forest atop one of the roughest roads in Teton County, it sits a world apart. It is the setting for one of Jackson Hole’s most celebrated romances, a rumored horse-thief hangout, a haven for hunters and outfitters, a brief gambling outpost, a fishing retreat for politicians and celebrities, and for the last 22 years, a familyvacation destination.

Indigenous people may have used the area to hunt, but Orestes St. John, staff geologist for the Hayden Survey expedition of 1877, was likely the first white man to lay eyes on the site when he climbed Sheep Mountain and peered down on a “gorge-like valley.” In the summer of 1900, cowboy Enoch “Cal” Carrington would camp there for four days while working as a cook on a hunting expedition. Smitten with the place, Carrington returned the following summer, quietly built a small cabin, and squatted on the land.

The secluded valley remained a secret for nearly two decades, during which time it may or may not have harbored stolen horses, until Carrington and Eleanor “Cissy” Patterson began building more cabins. The two had met in 1917 at the Bar BC Ranch, where Patterson was a guest and Carrington the head hunting guide, and quickly forged an intimate friendship. Carrington received the patent for a homestead in 1922 and sold the property to Patterson in 1923. “Never in my life anywhere have I seen anything lovelier than this place,” she later wrote to her brother.

The ranch is only 14 miles from Jackson, but, sequestered inside the national forest atop one of the roughest roads in Teton County, it sits a world apart.

Also known as the “Countess Gizycka” after a failed marriage to a Polish count, Patterson was a socialite and heiress to the Chicago Tribune publishing family but also a strong outdoorswoman who could ride and shoot. Much has been written about her and Carrington, who traveled to Europe together and may or may not have been lovers. In 1928, she hired Cole to be caretaker of the ranch, and he spent the next 20 years up there, trapping through the winter and occasionally making the journey to town on skis, until her death in 1948.

In 1998, after a succession of transfers and leases that saw the ranch pass to Patterson’s niece Josephine and then to the Jackson Hole Land Trust, Patterson’s great nephew Joe Albright bought

the property. He and his wife, Marcia Kunstel, both veteran journalists, set about an ambitious restoration that lasted four years and was headed by renowned craftsman Porgy McClelland, who moved the cabins or took them apart log by log and put them back on new foundations. McClelland’s team put in new systems for solar power, drinking water, and wastewater to allow for more modern comforts while protecting the quality of Flat Creek.

McClelland found old newspapers stuffed between logs for chinking. He opened up one and found a box score for a baseball game in which Babe Ruth hit two home runs. It disintegrated into dust before he could share it too widely. “We always thought the place was haunted—by friendly ghosts,” McClel-

Cissy Patterson's cabin at Flat Creek Ranch was built in 1923; this photo of it is from the 1960s.

Cissy Patterson and her daughter, Felicia, in 1912.

COURTESY FLAT CREEK RANCH

COURTESY JOE ALBRIGHT AND MARCIA KUNSTEL, AUTHORS OF FLAT CREEK RANCH— CISSY AND CAL LAUNCH A RIP ROARING JACKSON HOLE SAGA

land says. On one calm day, when the surface of Flat Creek Lake was as still as glass, he looked over at the Cissy Cabin, and the drapes were moving like they were blowing in a breeze. “There was not a breath of wind that day,” he says.

The ranch’s colorful and occasionally checkered history—a lessee built a dam on Flat Creek in 1952 to create the lake without a permit, the rumored horse rustling in the early days, an outfitter pleading guilty to hunting violations in 1981, bouts of drinking and even gambling when the state cracked down on saloons in town—mirrors the history of Jackson Hole, says Kunstel. The remote location “lends itself to freewheeling activity, you might say.” The primitive road, with potholes sometimes deep enough to swallow a Subaru, is “part of the mystique of the place,” she says, making it hard to reach.

In the lodge today, guests still can play the keys of Cissy’s piano, an upright Beckwith Concert Grand she had hauled to the ranch by wagon in 1923. Walking the trails or casting into the lake, listening to the wind rustle the pines over the rushing of the creek, one can picture the Countess of Flat Creek or cowboys Carrington and Cole still roaming their cherished hideout. Kunstel has never seen a ghost, she says, but when a place is this alive with history, there doesn’t have to be a phantasmal apparition for a person to feel like he or she is walking through the past. Flat Creek Ranch welcomes guests from late May through early October; flatcreekranch.com. JH

The lake at Flat Creek Ranch.

TARA BOLGIANO

PEAK PROPERTIES

The factor that makes the Jackson Hole real estate market so unusual is the relative scarcity of private land. Ninetyseven percent of Teton County, Wyoming, is publicly owned—either national park, national forest, or wildlife refuge. This computes to just 75,000 privately held acres in a county spanning 2.5 million acres. The guaranteed open spaces and unobstructed views these surrounding public lands afford make the remaining private land a real treasure. Add the abundance of recreational opportunities found in and around the valley, and the quality of life one can enjoy in Jackson Hole is simply unbeatable.

Moreover, many of the properties featured here are secluded, scenic retreats located in the midst of prime wildlife habitat. Most existing and prospective property owners in Jackson Hole cherish this notion, and serve—or will serve—as stewards of nature.

One cannot put a dollar value on waking to the Teton skyline, skiing home for lunch, or listening to a trout stream gurgling through the backyard. In Jackson Hole, “living with nature” is not a fleeting, vicarious experience a person has while watching TV. Here it’s a fact of life, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

72+ ACRE LEGACY ESTATE

Discreetly located in the gated enclave of the Bar-B-Bar Ranch Estates, this 72+ acre property encompasses some of the most pristine, intact riverfront land in Teton County, Wyoming. Ranch Lots 3A and 3B are two independently deeded parcels each with their own Snake River frontage, individual building envelopes, and entitlements totaling up to 30,000 square feet of improvements, creating an ideal opportunity for a legacy estate for generations to enjoy. BUDGE

4.23 ACRES WITH UNOBSTRUCTED TETON VIEWS

ARTS DISTRICT WEST | ELEVATED URBAN LUXURY

Unobstructed mountain views in every direction! This premier building site is like nothing else you’ve seen in Jackson Hole. 4.23 flat acres afford you a blank slate to build a magnificent home and guest house with the dramatic backdrop of the Tetons. Elk Ridge is one of the valley’s most coveted subdivisions, featuring show stopping panoramas, sizable lots, and ample view corridors. An equidistant drive to the Town of Jackson and the entrance to Grand Teton National Park, this unbeatable location provides an owner the best of both worlds.

HUFF VAUGHN SASSI (307) 203-3000 huffvaughnsassi@jhsir.com mercedeshuff.com

LUXURY LIVING IN SHOOTING STAR

—

2-3

Created to enjoy for a week, a month, or forever, Arts District West is the perfect mountain residence. Mindfully designed for refined day-to-day life yet captivating enough to attract high-end renters looking for the perfect getaway. Spend an active day on Snow King or Cache Creek and an evening dining downtown before taking in the many events at the Center for the Arts. For those wishing to relax, private balconies that overlook scenic mountain views answer the call for a slower pace and recuperation. Created with ease of living in mind, so you can focus on your next hike not your home.

HUFF VAUGHN SASSI (307) 203-3000 huffvaughnsassi@jhsir.com mercedeshuff.com

AT A GLANCE

7,876

6 7

23,000,000

22-3175

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS MLS#

Welcome to Jensen Canyon, located in the highly sought after Shooting Star community, this beautiful mountain home sits on 1.5 acres at the base of the Tetons. The home is highlighted by a one-bedroom guest apartment, and stunning craftsmanship. Become a part of one of the most special communities in Jackson Hole, offering a culture of truly personalized service and access to some of the most impressive amenities offered in the valley.

GRAHAM FAUPEL MENDENHALL & ASSOCIATES, COMPASS (307) 690-0204

gfm@compass.com

7165jensencanyon.com

SQUARE FEET

10,242 6 9

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS

22,500,000 23-163

MLS#

On 49 acres and adjacent to national forest, Heartwood is one of the most private properties in one of the most unique neighborhoods in Jackson Hole, Crescent H Ranch. Heartwood has a move-in-ready 8,077-square-foot Craftsman-style estate home, 2,167-square-foot guest house. Hike or cross-country ski on the ranch’s own trail system; fish out the back door in a spring-fed pond, or explore 7 miles of blue ribbon fly fishing on spring creeks that Crescent H homeowners have exclusive access to.

LIVE WATER PROPERTIES JACKSON HOLE Latham Jenkins • (307) 690-1642

latham@livewaterproperties.com

livewaterjacksonhole.com

AT A GLANCE

HEARTWOOD IN CRESCENT H RANCH

LUXURY GOLF COURSE LIVING

7,577 5 5

4,250,000 CALL

ROSS PLATEAU

21 Eagle Ridge Drive is located in The Powder Horn Golf Community near Sheridan, WY at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.

Situated on 2.5 acres, this beautiful and sleek Scandinaviandesigned home features 360-degree panoramic mountain views from perfectly placed windows and outdoor spaces to take in the sunrises, sunsets, and valley lights. A treelined driveway approaches the home as you arrive to your private front courtyard.

POWDER HORN REALTY, INC.

Karen Chase, associate broker • (307) 674-9545 hello@thepowderhorn.com powderhornrealty.com

ESTATE AND GARDENS IN TUCKER RANCH

9,908 4 6

UPON REQUEST

22-2652

This residence exudes all the charm and romance of an English cottage. Its beautiful masonry stone construction is unparalleled in the valley. The 4.94 landscaped acres complement the design with exquisite perennial flower beds and a pond, all set on Tucker Ranch’s beautiful lake, where a walking path leads to the banks of the Snake River. The enchanting property features four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, an office, wine cellar, laundry room, and flower shop.

JACKSON HOLE SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

Tom Evans • (307) 413-5101 tomevansre@jhsir.com

SWEEPING VIEWS IN MOULTON RANCHES

AT A GLANCE

ACRES

159 —

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS

The Ross Plateau is an extremely rare and exceedingly beautiful property privately located 11 miles south of downtown Jackson Hole. Graced with elevated views of the Teton, Gros Ventre, and Wyoming ranges, a property with this exclusivity and these vantages cannot be found elsewhere. Unencumbered by restrictions, divided into four parcels, and entirely surrounded by National Forest, this is a rare opportunity for the buyer looking for a blank canvas to create their dreams in Jackson Hole.

25,500,000

MLS#

LIVE WATER PROPERTIES

Matt MacMillan • (307) 413-3582 matt@livewaterproperties.com

John Turner (307) 699-3415

jturner@livewaterproperties.com livewaterproperties.com

3,462 4 4

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS

4,395,000 22-2074

Bordering Grand Teton National Park with Teton views and water features, this custom home in Moulton Ranches on 2.6 acres has full-perimeter fencing and 360-degree sweeping views including Grand Teton and Sleeping Indian. Great open floor plan and spacious rooms are found throughout the 3,652-square-foot home. Complete with a gourmet kitchen, three bedrooms, a fully finished basement, separate caretaker/rental unit, and lovely outdoor patio spaces. Seller will consider owner financing.

MOUNTAIN STANDARD REALTY TEAM AT COMPASS

Doug Herrick • (307) 238-2512 dherrick@jhrealestate.com  mountainstandardrealty.com

CLASSIC WESTBANK RETREAT

BREATHTAKING TETON VIEWS OUTSIDE OF TOWN

4,794

Idyllic mountain home conveniently located just minutes from downtown Wilson. Comfortable floor plan in a very private setting with mature landscaping and scenic mountain views from every window. Gently used and meticulously maintained. Not in a subdivision, no CC&Rs.

4

REQUEST 22-3165

SPACKMANS & ASSOCIATES (914) 588-2302

spackmans@jhsir.com

A NEW PLACE TO CALL HOME

3.17 —

2,950,000 23-295

Enjoy big views of the entire Teton Range from this premium perimeter lot in Fairway Estates. This spectacular location in Jackson Hole will provide you with easy access to all the wonders of northwest Wyoming. Located just 10 minutes north of the Town of Jackson on the way to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, this perfect location for your dream home!

KELLER WILLIAMS JACKSON HOLE Sean Clark • (307) 690-8716

sean@seanclarkjh.com

THE INN RESIDENCES AT MONTAGE BIG SKY

AT A GLANCE

1,614 3

SQUARE FEET

2.5

1,495,000 23-182

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS MLS#

Step into sun-filled spaces of this end unit townhome, with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths, which is remodeled, movein ready, and waiting for a new owner. Custom cabinets, new flooring and appliances throughout. Spacious attached two-car garage. Conveniently located minutes from town square, shopping, library, and hiking trails. Easy living, easy lifestyle.

KELLER WILLIAMS JACKSON HOLE Nancy Martino • (307) 690-1022 nancymartino@kw.com

2,728+ 4 4

BEDROOMS BATHS DOLLARS MLS#

Ownership at The Inn Residences at Montage Big Sky is offered in deeded, one-quarter ownership interests. These fully furnished residences are steps from the amenities and services at Montage Big Sky, and ownership includes membership at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club and ski-in, ski-out access to Big Sky Resort.

$2,520,000 374606

THE BIG SKY REAL ESTATE CO. (406) 995-6333 info@bigsky.com bigskyrealestate.com

SQUARE FEET

AT A GLANCE

ENJOY

ARTS, CULTURE, FOOD, AND DESIGN

// BY LILA EDYTHE

Superb Steaks

Whether you want steak from elk, bison, or a cow, Jackson Hole restaurants have you covered.

While you could easily fill yourself on the funghi fritti—crispy fried portobello mushrooms served with “gnar” sauce, aka aioli— at Corsa inside Caldera House at the base of the tram in Teton Village, don’t. Or maybe do. Then it will be easier to share the Italian restaurant’s 16-ounce dry-aged Piedmontese ribeye with the rest of your table. “It is so rich, it is enjoyed best when shared,” says Corsa executive chef Ken Carter about the ribeye, which is dry aged for 30 days.

Piedmontese cattle are unique for carrying a gene mutation that causes hypertrophic muscle growth; the breed doesn’t produce the protein that tells muscles to stop growing. (Hypertrophic muscle growth is also known as “double muscling.”) “They look like cows on steroids,” Carter says. Because Piedmontese beef is so muscled, it is less marbled than other species; marbling usually means more flavor, but, according to Carter, “The lean meat of Piedmontese cattle is more tender than other meats.” Because of the unique flavor of Piedmontese beef, which is intensified by 30 days of dry aging, Carter keeps this steak’s preparation simple; it is served with a drizzle of a sauce that changes with the season and fresh veggies. The ribeye starts at $75; 3275 W. Village Dr., Teton Village; 307/201-5350, corsajh.com

tAGED ITALIAN BEEF

tNON-GAMEY ELK

“There’s something about coming to Jackson Hole and trying game meat,” says Jeremy Horn, executive chef at the Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse, which opened last June. “It’s just a thing to do.” The Cowboy’s elk tenderloin is so, well, tender, you don’t need a knife to cut it. I write this from personal experience.

Elk on restaurant menus, including this one, is almost always New Zealand red deer. “This isn’t the elk we see here, but it’s closer to that species than to what we think of as deer,” Horn says. New Zealand red deer can weigh more than 500 pounds. Because New Zealand red deer are farm-raised, this tenderloin isn’t gamey. “Gaminess comes from the diet of the animal,” Horn says. “If an animal is farm-raised, it has a controlled diet.” While you have to order a sauce to go with each of the other steaks on the Cowboy’s menu, the elk tenderloin comes with a huckleberry scallion relish. “A huckleberry demi is traditional, but our relish highlights the huckleberry more. A huckleberry demi is a meat sauce with huckleberries. Our relish has a little rice wine vinegar, orange juice, charred scallions, and huckleberries. The berry really stands out,” Horn says. Pair it with sides of grilled asparagus and Yukon gold mashed potatoes topped with roasted garlic and parmesan cheese. From $61; 25 N. Cache St.; 307/733-1270, milliondollarcowboysteakhouse.com

BRADLY J. BONER

ofJacksonHole of Jackson Hole

tSTEAK AS A SMALL PLATE

Tapas restaurant Bin22 isn’t an obvious choice to go for a steak, but, “Offering a steak on Bin22’s menu allows versatility of experience,” says Bin22 founder and sommelier Gavin Fine. “Some guests are looking for a lighter meal, while others are famished after a big hike in the park, so including heartier options like a seasonal New York steak presentation provides both lighter and more filling options.” When I want steak and friends want a salad, or even just a glass or two of wine—the restaurant is in the back of a bottle shop that has an inventory of several hundred wines; you can select a bottle of wine to enjoy directly at the table with no corkage fee—or when

I want a few bites of steak and tastes of several other dishes, Bin22 is the obvious choice. All of Bin22’s dishes are designed to be easily shared; the steak, which, this summer, chef Luis Hernandez prepares with mojo verde and romesco and serves with confit potatoes, is sliced to easily share. What plates pair well with the steak? “It goes well with dishes like our Spanish salad,” Fine says. “The tart apples, crunchy fennel, salty parmesan, and vinaigrette cut through the richness of the steak really well.” Any of the seasonal house-pulled mozzarellas pair well with it, too. From $28; 200 W. Broadway Ave.; 307/739-9463, bin22jacksonhole.com

BONE-IN BISON

At the Westbank Grill inside Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole in Teton Village, executive chef Michael Goralski says he’d order the New York strip steak or the dry-aged cowboy bison ribeye. “The New York steak comes from Snake River Farms, and it just melts in your mouth,” he says. “But, for flavor, the cowboy bison ribeye—that has the most flavor.” The “cowboy” in this steak’s description alludes to it being served bone-in.

Bison has a distinctly different flavor from beef, and the flavor in this ribeye is intensified by 28 days of dry aging. “There’s really no other steak that has this much flavor,” Goralski says. He’d pair it with the house-made huckleberry steak sauce. “This sauce has a sweet, tangy, almost sour—huckleberries are a little sour—flavor that helps cut through the flavor of the meat itself.” From $100; 7680 Granite Loop Rd.; 307/732-5000, fourseasons. com/jacksonhole

tLOCAL BEEF

tThe friend I met for dinner at Local, a steakhouse on the Town Square with a hopping bar at which you can order the entire restaurant menu, thought the 4-ounce petite filet that came with her seasonal salad was delicious … until she tried the 20-ounce, aged, topped-with-butter bone-in ribeye I got. Ordering, I had been torn between the American Wagyu (from Snake River Farms) steak and this one, the evening’s butcher’s cut. The butcher’s cut won because it was locally raised beef, from the Lockhart Ranch, one of only a handful of working cattle ranches that remain in Jackson Hole. (The standard ribeye on Local’s menu is a 14-ounce cut from the northwest’s Double R Ranch.) Founded in 1938 by Bruce Porter, and still run by his descendants, Lockhart Ranch raises grass-fed Hereford cattle, that, in ribeye form cooked by Local, was every bit as flavorful as any Wagyu I’ve had, especially when eaten with the restaurant’s housemade roasted mushroom demi glace sauce. (Although the butcher’s cut changes, it is often from Lockhart Ranch.) Market price; 55 N. Cache St.; 307-201-1717, localjh.com JH

DINA MISHEV

COURTESY OF FINE DINING RESTAURANT GROUP

COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS RESORT JACKSON HOLE

ROASTERY & COFFEE SHOP

SNAKE RIVER ROASTING CO. SPECIALTY COFFEE

PAIRED WITH FOOD BY PROVISIONS.

ORDER ONLINE | SNAKERIVERROASTINGCO.COM

FOLLOW US | @SNAKERIVERROASTINGCO

50 W BROADWAY | JACKSON, WY

PHOTO: TAYLOR GLENN

In the shadow of the Tetons, two local producers make people of all ages scream for their ice cream: Cream + Sugar and Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream. Between the two, the difference is a matter of form—seen in Cream + Sugar’s miniature ice cream sandwiches—and formula—Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream is loyal to a recipe that uses cream, not milk.

The Taste of Summer

Jackson is the home base for two artisan ice creameries.

// BY SAM SIMMA // PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATHRYN ZIESIG

ENJOY

JH PANTRY

CREAM + SUGAR

In 2012, ice cream sandwiches appeared on the dessert menus of The Bistro and Il Villaggio Osteria, both part of the Fine Dining Restaurant Group’s portfolio of restaurants. Diners loved these sandwiches and the ice cream inside them. “Not only can you taste the difference when ice cream has been made by hand, you can also see the difference,” says Gavin Fine, owner of Fine Dining Restaurant Group. “Each of our signature ice cream sandwiches looks perfectly imperfect because it was made by humans rather than machines.” Today, these ice cream sandwiches and pints of ice cream are no longer relegated to the back of a restaurant kitchen; they have grown into the Fine Dining brand Cream + Sugar. And yes, every ice cream sandwich and pint of ice cream is still handmade, hand scooped, and hand assembled. Although Cream + Sugar has toyed with a range of flavors—including garlic ice cream and Wyoming Whiskey ice cream sandwiches—it settled on six mainstays: vanilla, mint chocolate chip, salted caramel, cookies and cream, chocolate, and huckleberry. From $5.99; pints and sandwiches are available at local grocers and markets including Pearl Street Market, Whole Foods, and Albertsons; 307/201-7148, creamandsugaricecream.com

MOO’S GOURMET ICE CREAM

Cream + Sugar’s cookies and cream ice cream is a spin on the classic flavor. It uses the same chocolate chip cookies—baked with a proprietary blend of spices—that provide the structure for its ice cream sandwiches, but here they’re crumbled and folded into sweet cream ice cream. The result: ice cream reminiscent of cookies dipped in milk.

The salted caramel ice cream strikes a balance between salty and sweet. The flecks of vanilla sea salt are house made, as are the swirls of caramel, which only appear after sweetened, condensed milk has been boiled in-house for hours.

Huckleberries churned with wild blueberries and sweet cream ice cream are sandwiched between two freshly baked cookies to assemble Cream + Sugar’s huckleberry ice cream sandwiches Like the rest of the creamery's four-bite sandwiches, the colorcoordinated sprinkles are not your average sugar sprinkles; these homemade chocolate sprinkles are hand dyed.

Having earned the title of the “Most Delicious Dessert” in Wyoming, according to Food Network’s “On the Road” Guide, Moo’s wild huckleberry ice cream has gained notoriety beyond sthe borders of the Cowboy State. On an average summer day, Moo’s scoops through 13 three-gallon containers of the flavor.

The smoothest, richest ice cream uses cream, not milk, according to local ice cream expert and Moo’s Gourmet founder Rick Bickner. Bickner says Moo’s is committed to making the purest ice cream: “Once you add milk to ice cream, you have to add all the texturizing components. We only use clean cream—regardless of how hard it is to find—and real ingredients. There are no syrups or extracts in our ice cream, just real fruits, oils, and quality ingredients.”

Bickner perfected the Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream recipes—organic, preservative-free ice cream and sorbet— while working as an executive pastry chef on the West Bank in the late 1980s. Since founding Moo’s in the early 1990s, Bickner says he’s created more than 300 flavors. Moo’s serving cases only have space for 32 flavors at a time, though. From $7; open daily 12–10 p.m.; 155 Center St.; 307/7331998, moosjacksonhole.com

Of its various sorbets, the strawberry sorbet tastes most like a warm summer day. Moo’s sorbets are 99 percent pure organic fruit; the remaining 1 percent is cane sugar, for added sweetness. This makes them both diabetic and dietetic friendly.

A chocolate lover’s dream, and a favorite of Bickner’s granddaughter, the Belgian chocolate ice cream exudes decadent dark and semisweet chocolate flavors. For the ultimate sugar rush, top a Belgian chocolate sundae with toffee, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. JH

Wyoming Wagyu

A species of Japanese cattle calls Jackson Hole home.

// BY JIM MAHAFFIE

TASTE OF JACKSON HOLE

Carpenter Cattle Company is the first ranch in the area to raise 100 percent wagyu cattle.

When wagyu beef—literally “Japanese cow”—appears on restaurant menus or at a local market, you might try it for a special occasion or to sample something different. Grilled, roasted, or seared, you can taste the tender texture and buttery beef flavor immediately. That’s what happened for Colby Carpenter, a former longhorn cattleman in Texas. Curious, he cooked some wagyu tomahawk steaks over charcoal and was an immediate convert. In 2019 he and his father, Scott, moved Carpenter Cattle Co. to the Jackson area to raise and sell the choice beef.

Wagyu differs from other beef because it has intramuscular fat that’s marbled throughout the muscle. In other cattle breeds,

“Several unique opportunities combined into one big move,” says Carpenter about why they did wagyu in Wyoming instead of staying in Texas. “No one was producing fullblood wagyu in Teton County. We found the perfect ranch property. My sister was a Sotheby’s agent in Jackson, and my wife is originally from Cody. Plus, the mountain climate here is similar to the Japanese highlands where wagyu cattle thrive.”

In Japan, there are four breeds of wagyu: Japanese black, Japanese brown, Japanese shorthorn, and Japanese polled. Until the early 20th century, these breeds were draft animals and not prized beef. Black, brown, and polled wagyu were certified as indigenous Japanese beef in 1944; Japanese shorthorn wagyu received that certification in 1957. Japan today restricts exports of wagyu—only black and brown are available outside the country—and has declared wagyu a national treasure. Black and brown wagyu cattle

the fat collects in a layer around muscle.

COLBY CARPENTER

Before raising wagyu in Wyoming, Colby Carpenter was a longhorn cattleman in Texas.

ENJOY

TASTE OF JACKSON HOLE

GREEN DRAGON STEAK

Dave Yasuda, director of marketing at Snake River Farms, which began crossbreeding high-ranking (for their marbling) wagyu bulls imported from Japan with high-quality American cattle in the late 1980s—essentially creating a new breed, but that’s another story—says this flank steak recipe for wagyu is “very simple and foolproof, but a big crowd pleaser.” (Read Snake River Farms’ story, and find additional recipes, at snakeriverfarms.com.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 wagyu black grade flank steak (usually about 2 pound. average weight)

• Grapeseed oil

• 1 bunch green onions, green portion chopped into 1/8-inch slices

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

• Kosher salt

• Black pepper

SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup mirin (Japanese rice wine)

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1/3 cup cane sugar

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

• Red chili flakes to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trim excess fat or silver skin; season meat with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides.

2. Heat oven to 350°.

3. Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and allow to heat.

4. Sear the steak on each side for 3 to 4 minutes, setting up a nice golden-brown crust.

5. Place skillet and steak in oven for about 10 minutes; flip the steak over after 5 minutes. Remove from oven when the steak’s internal temp is 130° (even if this takes longer than 10 minutes).

6. From the oven, put the steak on a cutting board and loosely wrap with foil.

7. Let the steak rest for 15 minutes.

8. Whisk sauce ingredients together in a serving bowl.

9. Remove foil, slice the steak against the grain, and arrange on a platter. Top with sauce. Sprinkle with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

It contains a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids than beef from other breeds, such as Angus and Hereford. It also has a higher percentage of monounsaturated to saturated fat, and almost half the saturated fat is in stearic acid, which doesn’t raise cholesterol levels. In fact, wagyu has the lowest cholesterol levels of all meats—including fish or chicken.

NOT ONLY DOES WAGYU TASTE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER SPECIES OF CATTLE,IT’SHEALTHIERALSO FOR YOU.

were first imported to the U.S. by researchers in 1976; today there are still less than 6,000 purebred wagyu cattle across the country. Breeders and ranchers work closely with the American Wagyu Association, based in Post Falls, Idaho, which registers wagyu stock and promotes the breed.

Carpenter Cattle began with 15 purebred wagyu cows and two bulls purchased from one of the U.S.’s early wagyu pioneers, Garth Monroe of Idaho Wagyu Genetics. Years ago, Monroe built a herd of full-blood wagyu with excellent genetics. Today the herd at the Carpenter Cattle ranch just east of Hoback Junction is about 80 head, all of which are 100 percent full-blooded wagyu. “Our genetic lines trace directly to purebred Japanese sires and dams,” Carpenter says. This is an important distinction. What’s labeled as “American Wagyu” may be wagyu that was crossbred with other breeds like Angus and Holstein. Besides that incredible fat marbling and the taste, desirable wagyu characteristics include calving ease for young heifers, fertility, adaptability to various environments, and calf marketability.

Carpenter sells his beef locally at Jackson’s Sweet Cheeks Meats and ships to private chefs and discerning diners all over the country, taking orders through a website (carpentercattle.com) and social media. “Many people are interested in wagyu, and we’re selling to foodies, neighbors, and anyone interested in trying something new. Once you taste it, it’s over,” he says.

At Sweet Cheeks, Carpenter Cattle wagyu starts at $55 per pound; choice cuts like filet mignon and ribeye can run more than $100 per pound. “People around here are used to paying for quality,” says Nick Phillips, who, with wife, Nora, owns the butcher shop. “Like a really good mountain bike or pair of resort skis, you want to buy the best beef there is.” JH

Inspired by the Tetons

A new gallery features the work of dozens of local artists.

// BY JIM MAHAFFIE

Thousands of visitors coming through the Moose entrance of Grand Teton National Park turn into the Dornan’s complex to grab a sandwich, rental bike, tank of gas, bottle of wine, and pizza, all with the fabulous view of the Grand. Thanks to ArtShop, which opened last May, Dornan’s visitors can now also find a creative keepsake from a local artist or maker. “I know from working at galleries in Jackson visitors say they seek out local

A former project manager for Jackson Hole Public Art, Alex Pope created ArtShop in Moose to give local makers the spotlight.

SAM POPE

art and out-of-the-way places like us,” says ArtShop owner Alex Pope. “And we’re right there in the moment that they’re in their Grand Tetons experience.”

As soon as she heard the building at Dornan’s that had been occupied by the gear shop Moosely Seconds Mountaineering for almost 40 years was available, Pope, who spent seven years at Tayloe Piggott Gallery (first as director of art and then director of the gallery) and was project coordinator at Jackson Hole Public Art, knew what she wanted to do with the space. “I’ve watched as galleries and events became more exclusive, shutting out many local artists and makers that often have other jobs and a unique medium,” she says. “Anyone that works around town knows it’s expensive to be here, so we have all these artists

with nowhere to show. We also have thousands of tourists coming into that park entrance who may want to buy something more commemorative than a t-shirt or a hat.”

ArtShop has a rotating collection of work from about 50 local creatives. “We have some wonderful larger pieces, but we’re also thinking of what fits in your suitcase and is easy to get home,” Pope says. Prices range from around $60 to $250.

• Top rated Wyvern and AR/GUS Gold and Platinum Aircraft and Crew.

• Competitively priced “on-demand” charters.

• No long-term contracts or costly memberships.

• Locally owned and operated.

I know from working at galleries in Jackson visitors say they seek out local art and out-of-the-way places like us.”

–ARTSHOP OWNER ALEX POPE

ENJOY ART

A FEW OF ARTSHOP’S ARTISTS

Ellen Stryker loves textiles, and ArtShop patrons love her one-of-a-kind bandana designs. “My inspiration comes from small cool brands I keep an eye on, and lots of Japanese influence, like sashiko, a traditional Japanese embroidery style,” Stryker says. She worked with Pope to create a series of bandanas for ArtShop that have a Western twist, such as a print of a cowgirl tipping her hat and a big ‘Howdy.’ Another series features indigo-dyed and block-printed bandanas. @stryker_made

Natalie Connell finds magic in the mountains around Jackson Hole and brings this feeling to her landscape watercolor and oil paintings, which often feature the Tetons as their subject. “I find deep peace and connection with the natural world and myself through time spent in the mountains,” she says. “It’s from this place and perspective that I create my work and care to express from.” ArtShop stocks smaller original watercolors and note cards of her larger pieces.

@natalieconnell_art

“Alex wandered into my festival booth one day and explained her gallery idea. I said sign me up,” says Fred Kingwill, who has been Jackson Hole’s resident watercolorist for decades and is a fixture at any and all local art fairs, including participating annually in the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Plein Air Fest, Etc. (which is always held the third Saturday of June). “ArtShop offers quality work that brings joy to visitors and representation to so many good local artists.” An art teacher in addition to a painter, Kingwill’s deep and obvious love of wild places, plants, and animals shows in his work. fredkingwill.com

BRADLY J. BONER

Anika Youcha creates art in many different media, and ArtShop sells her woodblock prints and ceramic mugs. “Anika made us an edition of 100 black-and-white prints of the Tetons and 250 mugs for water or wine with lots of versatility,” Pope says. Originally from Minnesota,

Carl Rungius, Old Baldface detail, c. 1940. JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Estate of Carl Rungius.

Climber’s Life

While “dirtbagging” looks very different today than its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, its spirit, albeit altered, is alive.

// BY MOLLY ABSOLON

noun: dert•bag:

A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle. Dirtbags can be distinguished from hippies by the fact that dirtbags have a specific reason for their living communally, and generally non-hygienically; dirtbags are seeking to spend all of their moments pursuing their lifestyle. The best examples of dirtbags … are the communities of climbers that can be found in any of the major climbing areas of North America.

PRICE CHAMBERS

Dirtbagging looks different today than during its heyday, but at its heart it's the same: climbing as much as possible.

CULTURE

Irecently found myself behind a shiny new, fully outfitted Sprinter van that sported a sticker proudly proclaiming its driver to be a “dirtbag.”

Huh? To me, Sprinter vans, which range in price from $45,000—completely stripped down—to pretty much as much as you’re willing to spend (there are $300,000 Sprinters driving around Jackson Hole) and dirtbags are diametrically opposed. One connotes wealth, the other poverty, albeit voluntary poverty. And yet, my guess is that, at their core, vanlifers are the descendants of dirtbaggers, as they, too, are people who have opted out of a 9-to-5 lifestyle in order to pursue their dreams.

The first-known media reference to the term “dirtbag” dates to the trial of actress Claudine Longet, who was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the 1970s. Her victim, professional skier Spider Sabich, called himself a dirtbag, according to a Climbinghouse.com article by Gabriel Grams. But Sabich wasn’t the originator of the concept. That honor undoubtedly goes to climbers, who as early as the late 1950s began dropping out of society’s rat race to climb full-time.

For many, the archetypal dirtbag is Yvon Chouinard, who, in 1973 founded Patagonia, Inc. Chouinard first came to the Tetons to climb in 1956, and he spent many summers camped in the Civilian Conservation Corps’ campground (the former bathhouse of which is today the headquarters of Exum Mountain Guides), the Tetons’ version of Yosemite National Park’s famed Camp IV. Chouinard described the vagabond lifestyle of the CCC camp in the introduction to Glenn Exum’s 1998 book Never a Bad Word, or a Twisted Rope: “The dirtbag climber’s life existed on the fringes of society, climbing hard and sleeping in an old CCC camp incinerator. A mainly oatmeal diet was supplemented with the occasional poached (not a cooking term) ‘fool’s hen,’ marmot, or porcupine. On special days there was spaghetti with a can of cat tuna from the dented can store in San Francisco.”

Chouinard was not alone. There were countless climbers foregoing college degrees, homes, and regular jobs. The late 1950s and 1960s could be called the Golden Age of dirtbagging. In part, this phenomenon may have been a reaction to World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust, the nuclear bomb, and the devastation of war. In the 1970s, it may have been in response to the Vietnam era and the rise of the hippie movement. Like dirtbags, hippies rejected established institutions and opposed social orthodoxy. Most lived very simply and didn’t hold regular jobs. But there were distinct differences. Hippies didn’t

climb, and most climbers of the era didn’t really care about protesting the war. They just wanted to get on the rock.

Joe Kelsey, the author of Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Range and an Exum guide for many years, says that as an Easterner who learned to climb in New York’s Shawangunks, the Tetons were “the magic realm” and the Grand the magnet. Kelsey was part of the infamous Gunks’ Vulgarians, a notorious group of hard-living, hard-climbing elite. He joined the influx of Vulgarians coming to the Tetons in 1964 and landed in the CCC camp during the height of its decadency.

“The park decided it was best to keep climbers away from tourists,” Kelsey says. “Probably because of the substance abuse, among other things. Well, the Vulgarians mixed with the California climbers there. … And the Vulgarians learned to use the Yosemite decimal [climbing] rating system, while the Yosemite climbers learned about drugs, sex, and rock and roll from the Vulgarians. Those famous Yosemite climbers were shy social misfits; they were way behind in terms of sex and drugs.”

Another local legend, Bill Briggs (the first person to ski the Grand Teton, in 1971), was also hanging out in Jackson

COURTESY PHOTO

TOM FROST

Joe Kelsey has been writing guidebooks to the Wind River mountains for several decades; in the 1960s he was one of the many dirtbags who lived at the former CCC camp in GTNP.

Yvon Chouinard, "The Chief," is often held up as the archetypal dirtbag.

SKILLS FOR TODAY’S DIRTBAG WANNABES

(adopted from ridgemontoutfitters.com

Wear used and hand-me-down clothes. Look for free boxes, peruse brown-bag sales, and shop at Goodwill (not Jackson’s high-end consignment shops). Don’t worry about size, smell, or style; the key factor is price. Cheap is good, free is better.

Eat free food. In Jackson, check out Food Rescue, and in Teton Valley, look for Food For Good. Both organizations give away perfectly good food saved from the landfill. Sometimes you also can find leftovers at hostels or in campground bear boxes to supplement your diet. Or shop the clearance racks. Again, cheap is good, free is better.

Fun, family-oriented adventures designed to help you see the iconic wildlife and scenic landscapes and experience the must-do activities in Jackson Hole, Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks.

Be dirty. Be willing to forego showers and freshly washed hair. The best way to get clean as a dirtbagger? Jump in a lake and scrub (sans soap), or get to know where you can find inexpensive showers— recreation centers, truck stops, and RV-campgrounds are all options.

Use public libraries for WiFi or free computer time.

Know your public lands and where you can find free and legal camping. Don’t arrive late and expect to find a site. There are a lot of us out there in vans these days.

ENJOY

CULTURE

Hole and climbing at that time. He says he always associated climbing with singing, a much less decadent pasttime than what some other climbers were up to. “The Tetons were becoming the mecca for mountaineering in the United States,” Briggs says. “I thought music-making should be part of it. And so, in great desperation, I tried it at my camping spot under the new bridge at Moose. I provided a pot of half tea, half wine. Word got out, and it became popular. Too popular in fact. The park service shut it down and then opened the old CCC camp as a climber’s campground, agreeing music-making belonged in the park. The teapot eventually got replaced by Yvon [Chouinard]’s cauldron, and these gatherings became known as Teton Tea Parties.”

By 1965, as many as 150 people were gathering for Briggs’ Tea Parties, not all of them climbers. The CCC camp had become, according to Pete Sinclair, the author of We Aspired: The Last Innocent Americans, “a zoological garden displaying human specimens.” The Tea Parties attracted both climbers and people from town who were curious about what was going on out in the park.

Andy Carson, the former owner of Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, says he remembers hearing a story about a gun battle over women occurring at a Tea Party. Fortunately, he says, the participants were too drunk to shoot straight so no one was injured.

But the decadence was only one small part of dirtbagging. The real bond was climbing. These men and the occasional woman were putting up climbs at an increasingly difficult grade, and as the difficulty increased, climbers changed. “There’s something different about the new generation of climbers,” says Jane Gallie, who first came to Jackson in 1981 and has been managing the Exum office and guiding ever since. “They aren’t womanizers like they were

in the old days. They are all such athletes. It doesn’t seem as if they do drugs or drink to excess the way they used to.”

Gallie grew up in Canada and was first introduced to the mountain scene in the Canadian Rockies where many of the guides were from Switzerland, which had a long, well-respected guiding tradition. The United States was slower to adopt that kind of professionalism. Glenn Exum refused to hire Yvon Chouinard as a guide because of his ratty appearance, not because he—like the majority of aspiring and actual climbing guides in the U.S. at that time— lacked any kind of accreditation from an outside governing body looking to establish basic norms for the climbing industry. Accreditation of guides didn’t start happening until 1979, when the American Guides Association was created (although the organization really didn’t become mainstream until the early 2000s).

“I feel like my generation was kind of the first of Americans who could focus on making a full-time living as a mountain guide,” says Christian Santelices, who has been guiding since 1989

and works for Exum Guides as well as his own company, Aerial Boundaries. “I like to think that I had a dirtbag climbing lifestyle,” he says. “But I worked my butt off. I never took that path of fully checking out and living in my car, and I don’t know how many people actually did.

“I really look up to Yvon Chouinard and that era of climbers. … All their stories of living in Yosemite on very little are super romantic, but they worked as well, and look at what they accomplished. They started all these iconic companies—Patagonia, The North Face, Royal Robbins—but it took a tremendous amount of work and vision to do that. So, it’s not as if they didn’t work.”

Founder and board chair of the Teton Climbers Coalition, Christian Beckwith says when he co-founded The Alpinist magazine in 2002, he witnessed a shift among climbers toward more athleticism. Climbers were suddenly training like Olympians, and those who wanted to perform at elite levels couldn’t afford to live as decadently as their predecessors had. “Another element that’s changed is we have a much more affluent culture,” he says. “Everyone these

Before GTNP opened the old CCC camp as a climber's campground, Bill Briggs camped under the bridge over the Snake River at Moose.

EMORY ANDERSON

days is tooling around in $150,000 vehicles. How did that happen?”

“I think some people are still living the dirtbag lifestyle,” says Nat Patridge, co-owner of Exum Guides. “Say, for example, Alex Honnold before the movie Free Solo was made. But at the same time, I wouldn’t categorize him the way I would those guys back in Chouinard’s day. It doesn’t seem as desperate. Today’s dirtbags are focused athletes living in a van, different from the bygone era of getting scraps of pizza out of the garbage at Curry Village in Yosemite.

“That said, it is still a deviant life, even if you are living relatively comfortably in a van. You still don’t have running water, it’s still inconvenient. But I do think it’s possible to live that way if you are creative and have knowledge of public lands and an occasional place to shower.”

THE DARK SIDE OF THE DIRTBAG LIFESTYLE

Society has romanticized the idea of the dirtbagger. It’s about self-actualization. It’s the pursuit of adventure over predictability. It’s the pure spirit of living in the moment. There are elements of truth in these ideals, but there is also the failure to recognize that it takes privilege to opt for voluntary poverty—privilege that is not accessible to many people of color.

According to a 2020 article on the impartial German—but translated in 32 languages—news site DW.com entitled “Racism Also an Issue in Sport Climbing,” Duane Raleigh, the editor and publisher of Rock and Ice magazine resigned from his post and apologized for his past behavior. “We were young and could climb and enjoy risks because we had freedoms that nonwhite America does not have,” he said. “We were part of a culture that I regret. White privilege let our ‘fraternity’ exist, and we could be inappropriate, and do just about anything without consequence.”

That inappropriate behavior and attitude was certainly dominant in dirtbagging’s heyday, and you can excuse some of it by considering the times. But no longer. Climbers in general have cleaned up their acts, but glorifying an outdated term is still common and potentially offensive.

Dirtbag also has negative connotations when applied to people of color. A badge of honor for white climbers, it’s a word that brings up associations of oppression for many Blacks. The word may be here for a while, but climbers might want to consider what they are saying when they toss it around casually from the seat of their Sprinter van. JH

Explore Grand Teton National Park with a professional guide followed by an elevated picnic served in the field. An unforgettable outdoor experience for family gatherings and summer celebrations! WHEN GUESTS ARRIVE, LET US BE THE GUIDE.

Form&

// BY JIM MAHAFFIE

Function

When Frances Clark, an avid gardener, moved to Wilson from New England, she found Wyoming’s plants and terrain completely different. Rather than planting what caught her eye at a local nursery, like lavender or echinacea, or what grew for her in New England, like hydrangeas or flowering crabapples, she spent years hiking to see local wildflowers and learning about them. And then she planted her gardens and yard with species she knew from the local landscape.

Jackson Hole, and the larger Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, would benefit from more homeowners doing what Clark did. “Natives have so much to offer versus nonnative species,” says Teton Conservation District’s executive

Landscaping with native plants is good for the ecosystem and can be beautiful.

director Carlin Gerard. “We need to think of our landscapes as wildlife habitat, where we want the bugs and birds. Gardens can be about beauty, but we have a responsibility to create and retain habitats here in Jackson Hole.”

Clark says, “You like to grow [natives] because they’re beautiful and support wildlife, especially pollinators. That, in turn, helps support birds. Fruits are eaten by migrating birds and mammals. Moose love our red twig dogwoods.” Trevor Bloom, a community ecologist with The Nature Conservancy and a member of Teton Botanical Garden, which inspires and educates about the importance of conservation, preservation, and sustainability, says, “There’s plenty of beauty and hardiness in the more than 1,350 native plant species that do well in Teton County landscapes.”

The plants native to the northern Rockies adapted over millennia to the unique environment and climate and to complement other plants and animals. Native plants stabilize soil, filter water, and are preferred food sources for wildlife. Flowering native plants feed pollinators like ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, birds, hummingbirds, and moths. “Thousands of species of flies, beetles, wasps, ants, spiders, hummingbirds, and bats are essential for keeping our environment healthy. Many of these are frontline defenders in keeping garden pests in balance,” says Morgan Graham, geographic information system/wildlife specialist with TCD. Native plants don’t require a lot of water, mowing, fertilizer, or pesticides—and they can often handle being grazed on and bounce back.

The Nature Conservancy and Teton Conservation District classify native plants as those that grew in the ecosystem before European contact and the Homestead Act of 1862. Many homesteaders planted nonnative alfalfa and other grains for livestock feed, and planted kitchen gardens with nonnative plants like mint, oregano, and chives. Toadflax, an ornamen-

TREVOR BLOOM

When out hiking or biking, take note of the plants and wildflowers for inspiration of what you might plant in your yard to benefit the local landscape and wildlife.

ENJOY DESIGN

tal plant popular in gardens on the East Coast and in Europe, is thought to have been brought to Yellowstone in the 1890s via home gardens planted by residents of Mammoth Hot Springs Officer’s Row. Nonnative plants can also arrive here in hay, dried mud on vehicles, imported topsoil or sod, or on the bottoms of hiking boots or golf shoes.

Today, toadflax and almost 70 other nonnative species— including thistle, cheatgrass, and spotted knapweed—pose significant threats to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem because they reproduce quickly and out-compete native species. Every spring and summer, Teton County Weed & Pest sprays herbicides against these. Not all nonnative plants pose active threats to our ecosystem, but that doesn’t mean they’re benign. Fertilizer and pesticides often needed for nonnative plants to survive here can be harmful to the environment. “Mismanaged and manicured landscaping can be a big source of nutrient pollution in Fish Creek and the Snake,” says TCD’s Gerard. Nonnative plants that fall into this category include perennial cornflower and climbing nightshade, which is poisonous for humans and livestock yet can still be found throughout the valley.

To see what can and should go in your garden, look around. Lupine fills meadows in late spring. Balsamroot covers hillsides in yellow blooms in June. Clematis blooms all summer. Indian paintbrush (Wyoming’s state flower) is ubiquitous, but in a home garden, it has to be planted with thought. A hemiparasitic plant, it gets some of its water and nutrients from a host plant, like penstemon or sage.

In a planter, depending on the amount of sunlight it gets, you can mix nonnative annuals like geraniums, petunias, daisies, and vinca vines with native wildflowers like blue flax and shrubby cinquefoil. “Part of the challenge and fun of incorporating native plants into your landscape is doing some homework, experimenting with what you can find, and cultivating patience to see what establishes well on your site,” says Graham. Clark, the Wilson gardener who noted the area’s native plants before planting her garden here, says her work took a few years to get established and some plantings are still works in progress. “Some natives aren’t the showiest for the first few years,” she says. “You need a level of trust and commitment. But there’s a great payoff—and that’s the glory of gardening!”

BLOOM’S BEST BETS

Trevor Bloom, community ecologist with The Nature Conservancy and member of Teton Botanical Garden, shares five native species you can plant that will make your yard gorgeous while benefiting wildlife and the landscape.

Quaking aspens provide important shade and habitat for wildlife from birds to elk and bears—moose preferentially feed on the twigs—and can help form natural firebreaks when mixed in with conifers that burn more readily.

Woods’ rose hips, the fruit of the rose flower, are highly valued by birds and other wildlife and look absolutely beautiful in home gardens. They are also super hearty and easy to grow, with deep pink and yellow flowers that appear in clusters on the perennial shrub.

Shrubby cinquefoil is one of several potentilla species native to Jackson Hole. It’s very easy to grow and available at many local and regional nurseries. Low-maintenance and drought-tolerant, the yellow flowers bloom for several months and attract an array of cool pollinators. Birds eat the seeds, blooms attract butterflies, and deer and rabbits tend to avoid them.

The native sticky geranium produces a beautiful array of purple and pink flowers that are sure to please the eye and any passing butterfly. Our natives (sticky and Richardson’s) are true geraniums, where the popular ornamental “geraniums” are more often pelargoniums and not native to this region.

Mismanaged and manicured landscaping can be a big source of nutrient pollution in Fish Creek and the Snake River.”

— CARLIN GERARD, TETON CONSERVATION DISTRICT’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GETTING STARTED

Find the Teton Conservation District’s Pocket Guide to the Native Plants of Teton County, Wyoming a Native Plant Resource Guide, produced in collaboration with The Nature Con servancy, at tetonconservation.org/native-plants.

High Mountain Pollinators & Bees, in Etna, Wyoming, partners with Sheridan-based Piney Island Native Plants to offer homeowners in Teton County seven different varieties of native pollinator-friendly plants at wallet-friendly prices: nettle leaf hyssop, pearly everlasting, rocky blue mountain columbine, showy fleabane, showy goldeneye, Rydberg’s penstemon, and goldenrod.

The Greater Yellowstone Botanical Tour at the National Museum of Wildlife Art was created to showcase native plants. A 30-stop, ADA-acces sible audio tour explains their importance and connections with the area’s ecosystem. Doubtful that native plants can make for beautiful planters? End your audio tour at the planters on the deck of the museum’s restaurant, Palate. “As with many native plants, they don’t always look great the first year, but they’re starting to fill out,” says Bloom, who worked on the planters.

Colorado blue columbine is a spectacular wildflower, and it grows very well in home gardens. Very adaptable, this flower can be both blue and white, or any combination of the two colors. Plants will self-seed, and the nectar feeds insects and hummingbirds. JH

Ode to Joy

Why, and how, you want to experience this emotion.

// PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRADLY J. BONER // BY BEVIN WALLACE

This is going to be a bit meta but here goes. I really struggled to figure out how to start this article about joy. I mean, joy is something we all know exists and we all want, but it’s also kind of a vague concept. Joy is universal and mind-blowing (try listening to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony without feeling … something). It’s the subject of an untold number of poems and of a ubiquitous and lovely Christmas carol (… “and heaven and nature sing”). Joy is even a character in a Pixar movie. But joy is misunderstood—often confused with happiness or pleasure or general good cheer.

What actually is joy? What does joy do for us? And how do we bring more of it into our lives? These are timeless questions that have been pondered by everyone from Desmond Tutu to Steve Winwood. So yeah, intimidated. Then a couple things happened. First, I went on a mindfulness retreat where the focus was, coincidentally enough, finding joy. And, sitting on the roof of a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but appreciate nature and focus on being present, I caught a glimpse of it. Since then, and partly because of this assignment, I’ve been studying and talking about the meaning of joy and also actively trying to cultivate it in my everyday life. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s been inspiring and surprising. Not to give away

the plot, but joy is crucial to life and available to all of us. We just have to actively seek it out, and slow down enough to notice it. Thankfully, Jackson Hole offers innumerable opportunities to do both of these things.

WHAT IS JOY?

The Oxford dictionary defines joy as, “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness,” but that seems to not really get to the root of the matter. In fact, some would argue that this definition misses the point of joy. In her philosophical essay “Joy,” author Zadie Smith writes, “The thing no one tells you about joy is that it has very little real pleasure in it. And yet if it hadn’t happened at all, at least once, how would we live?” She argues that pleasure comes from things like beach holidays and new dresses, but joy is more about blissfulness and un-self-consciousness. To Terry McGugan, an episcopal priest in Denver, joy is “that inner feeling of peace and serenity and contentment that’s not necessarily contingent upon what’s going on around you.”

Stephani Grace, a therapist and mindfulness teacher in Portland, Oregon, says: “Joy is the natural state of your being; it reminds you of what this life is truly about. We get bogged

down by conditioning, and we think we’re supposed to be doing all these things, and joy is like this spontaneous feeling that reminds us of who we are and what’s really true.” Grace believes happiness and joy are very similar. However, she says, “I think joy is more internal. It’s something that you feel in a moment, and happiness is more about things that happened to you that make you happy.” Joy is selfless, whereas happiness is about the pleasure we feel ourself. Joy is associated with the quest for deeper meaning and purpose; you can experience happiness when you win a tennis match or get a good grade. Joy tends to appear after experiencing a sense of awe or wonder.

Joy is also super helpful, especially since suffering is inevitable. “I think of joy as a life preserver; it keeps you buoyant in the face of things that have the potential to drag you down,” says McGugan. “And if you don’t have that buoyancy, that deep center of joy, it’s easy to be pulled underneath the undertow. Life has a way of chipping away at us, and if we don’t have this inner reserve of contentment, harmony, and serenity, which I think are the essence of joy, pretty soon we could be spiraling down into despair, anxiety, and cynicism. Joy helps us build an immunity to the negativity of the world.”

Joy is important because it helps us frame our lives, es-

pecially in the face of feelings of scarcity, fear, and anger. “It shifts our perspective,” says McGugan. “By having that center, we’re able to see the beauty, we’re able to see the grace, we’re able to see the positive.”

There are also physical benefits to experiencing joy. A 10-year study conducted by Karina W. Davidson, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center showed that people with

the most negative emotions had the highest risk for heart disease and people who scored highest for happiness had the lowest risk. This comes as no surprise, but happy people tend to sleep better, eat better, smoke less, and get more exercise. More studies are needed, but joy seems to produce positive chemical changes in the body, such as a reduction in stress hormones and a stronger immune system.

You can experience happiness when you win a tennis match or get a good grade. Joy tends to appear after experiencing a sense of awe or wonder, which can happen when spending time in nature.

Joy is the natural state of your being; it reminds you of what this life is truly about."

THERAPIST AND MINDFULNESS TEACHER STEPHANI GRACE

"

OKAY, SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. WHERE CAN I GET SOME?

It turns out you don’t have to look far to find joy. Joy is a state but it’s also a practice, something we have to work to find in ourselves. It’s transcendent but also available to us—all of us—every day. “It doesn't matter what you start with, every human has the potential to be blissfully happy,” says Grace.

McGugan agrees that joy is something we choose. “Joy is one of those fruits of the spirit. And either we cultivate those fruits in our lives or we don’t. It’s a conscious choice,” he says. “I would say we have to practice that spiritual discipline, to be a good person, and live a principled life. And I think the essence of cultivating joy in our lives is thankfulness and gratitude.” And, being a priest and a Christian, he believes gratitude works best when it’s directed at a power greater than yourself, whatever that might look like to you. “The more you stop and feel that gratitude, the more joyful you will be,” he says. “Because it nourishes that deep inner joy. And I think subconsciously and consciously it gives us a sense that there’s something bigger than us that is actually not malignant.” Grace agrees: “I would say hands down that gratitude practice will make somebody more joyous,” she says. “Because what you’re doing is focusing on what’s working, on what’s good. And remember, our mind creates our reality.” Or as Father Terry puts it, “Whatever you feed grows.”

So, in order to find joy, make a habit of actively being grateful. And in order to do that, you need to be present. It’s hard to be grateful for the beauty around you if you’re worried about the future or fretting about the past. Even when things go wrong, really, really wrong, “There’s always some kind of hidden gift. There’s always a way to frame

things up,” says McGugan. But you do have to work at it. “I mean, you get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, you don’t go, thank you Jesus,” he says. “There’s a lot of grief and loss there. But the question is, on that journey, are you growing? Are you growing in selfawareness? Then you can be thankful for whatever you see in that suffering, because there will be something.”

According to the Dalai Lama in The Book of Joy, “Joy is the reward, really, of seeking to give joy to others.” If you are struggling with feeling grateful, try helping out people who have less— money, time, safety, health—than you. It will reframe your perspective on reality, and most likely bring you joy.

As for what specific things, beyond practicing gratitude and giving of yourself, you can do to cultivate joy in your life, both Grace and McGugan say it’s personal to each of us. You have to find what lights you up. Grace suggests making a list of things that bring you joy. She shares that when people do this, they often say things like, “I already have all these moments of joy. I’m just not enjoying them. Maybe I don’t have a lot of time, but I can savor the moments I have.” The work is in the noticing.

So, meditate, pray, walk, journal, sink your fingers into your dog’s fur, sit quietly with your coffee, mow your neighbor’s yard, watch a sunset, hug a hurting friend, have a meaningful and connected conversation with your spouse, snuggle in clean sheets, watch your child sleep, hike in the Tetons, look at a beautiful painting, listen to music that touches your soul, sit on the shore of Jenny Lake—whatever you do, notice and appreciate it. That instant when you’re doing that? That is joy.

AWE AND WONDER

Since joy tends to appear after experiencing awe and wonder, here are a few ideas of things and places to do and see in Jackson Hole that might inspire awe and wonder.

1 The Grand Teton Music Festival has been Jackson Hole’s all-star resident orchestra since its founding in 1962. It stages orchestral and chamber music concerts at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village and also at outdoor venues around the valley between June 30 and August 19 this year. gtmf.org

2 Only a short walk from where the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort tram deposits you near the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain, Top of the World offers views of at least a dozen different mountain ranges and four states. jacksonhole.com

3 Set against the backdrop of the National Elk Refuge and the Sleeping Indian, the 20-plus sculptures that are part of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Sculpture Trail aren’t merely artworks to look at, but to experience; there are even Yoga on the Trail classes (and it’s all free). wildlifeart.org

4 Descriptions of Yellowstone’s landscape by its earliest white explorers were so fantastical—boiling mud and pools, water shooting skyward from the ground, kaleidoscopic hot springs, mineral terraces—they weren’t believed. Today, most elementary school students see photos of the park’s Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful, but there’s still something about seeing these marvels in person. nps.gov/yell/

5 We’ve yet to find a view of the Tetons that doesn’t inspire awe and wonder, but the view of the range from a raft floating the Snake River between Deadman’s Bar and Moose is next level. nps.gov/grte JH

Adventure on.

Spinal Care at St. John’s Health

Our team of expert orthopedic specialists use state-of-the-art tech, including augmented reality that gives surgeons 3-D “x-ray vision,” to help get patients back to the real-life activities and adventures they love.

Learn more at: www.stjohns.health/spine

How not to be eaten by a grizzly bear

— CUT OUT EDITION —

IS THERE A BEAR? YES

Are you in a car?

NO

Do you want there to be?

Is anyone around and out of their car?

Are other people around?

NO YES YES

Do they look oblivious?

KIND OF, YES

You can roll down your window and try to get a picture but ultimately...

Are they moving away from the bear?

YES YES NO NO NO?

OK. See opposite flow chart—but— you can ask a a park ranger where they might be or just wait for a bear jam. That’s disturbing.

I’M SCARED STILL NO

Talk normally to let the bear know you are there but not surprise them. Back away slowly, don’t run. And then...

GET OUT OF THERE. MOVE ON.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M GOOD

Go to many of the photo galleries in town and see photos.

Eat, drink and relax with incredible views at 9,095’.*

The best view in Jackson Hole can be found at The Deck at Piste. After a short gondola ride, you are greeted by expansive views and nightly drink specials. Don’t miss the summer menu of appetizers and shared plates from the chefs at Piste Mountain Bistro. There is no better way to cap off an amazing day in the great Jackson Hole outdoors than drinks and appetizers on The Deck at Piste.

*Evening gondola access is included with your full-day sightseeing ticket, Summer Sightseeing Pass, 2024 Winter full-season pass or a Piste Mountain Bistro reservation. A separate evening-only (after 5 p.m.) gondola ticket can be purchased for $18. For More details, scan code.

SCAN CODE TO VIEW MENU AND HOURS

Functional Art

Handcrafted in the Tetons, New West KnifeWorks knives are the world’s best and most beautiful.

BY DINA MISHEV

Develop a crush on the joyously colorful handles of New West KnifeWorks knives. Fall in love with the knives, which are individually crafted by artisans in Victor, Idaho, on the cutting board. “If you’ve never used a high-quality blade, it will be a revelation,” says NWKW founder, and former local line cook, Corey Milligan. Publications including Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, and Bloomberg agree. The New York Times wrote that a NWKW knife it tested was as “beautiful as it is useful.”

Milligan started NWKW in the third bedroom of a townhome in 1997. At the time, he had worked as a line cook in Jackson restaurants for several years.

“Back then, all knives had a black or white handle,” he says. “They were boring. I wanted to bring something more.” Milligan made his signature handles by fusing together layers of different colored wood impregnated with resin, and he traveled the country selling knives at fine art shows including the Smithsonian Craft Show, Crafts Park Avenue, and the Sausalito Art Show, among others.

NWKW’s knives aren’t just pretty though. “I don’t want people to get the wrong idea because the knives look good,” Milligan says. “We aim to make the finest knives in the world. While the handles are pretty, the blades themselves are world class. The benchmark we set for ourselves is to make knives that can thrive in the extreme chaos of a professional kitchen eight to ten hours a day. We are constantly refining the materials and design.”

Currently, the handles of NWKW are made from the same material, G10, used in computer motherboards.

A NWKW Jack Rellstab custom knife is perfect for chefs who want a super sharp blade and a knife with a story.

PHOTO // ZACH MONTES

“Your laptop needs a material that is waterproof and won’t change shape from heat or cold—that’s why G10 was originally developed,” Milligan says. “As a knife handle, it’s basically bombproof.” The blades are laser cut from an advanced American-made powder metal from Crucible Steel. Milligan searched around the world for the best steel for blades and, for several years, NWKW did use Japanese steel. “But eventually we realized the best steel for a chef knife is made in America,” Milligan says. Crucible powder metal has the benefits of high-quality steel with none of the downsides: it is sharp, tough, has fantastic edge-holding, and is easy to sharpen. And that’s not just a marketing pitch; NWKW knives are backed with a lifetime guarantee.

“To make knives that thrive in a professional kitchen requires a relentless commitment to the cutting edge,” Milligan says. “It means persistent experimentation with design until form is seamlessly fused with function. It means seeking out the finest ingredients and combining them with the patient hands of an artist.”

Every NWKW knife is made by a single artisan. At its 10,000-square-foot production facility in Victor, a single maker takes each knife from the beginning to the end of its manufacturing process. “We believe in the dignity of hand skill and never put making a buck above craftsmanship,” Milligan says. At the NWKW storefront on Jackson’s Town Square, you might even meet a knife maker. “We like to see our store as an art gallery,” Milligan says. “Galleries have artists in residence. We think it’s special that people can come into our

store and meet the people that make the things that are in it.” Also in the NWKW store, you can try tomahawk throwing (for obvious reasons, this actually happens in the alley behind the store), get your NWKW knife engraved and sharpened, and even taste wines from JH Winery. “We host a wine bar in the shop where you can sample the highest-altitude wine while shopping for America’s sharpest blades,” Milligan says. “Most of us at NWKW came

NWKW founder Corey Milligan started making knives because he loved to cook. Over the years, he’s become an expert, not only in making knives, but in helping folks find the best knife for their particular needs.

to Jackson for adventure. And we want to share that with our customers. So we make tools that transform everyday life into a gorgeous, glorious, gratifying event and want our stores to give folks a taste of adventure.”

TO EXPERIENCE THE KNIVES IN PERSON OR FIND OUT MORE:

TOWN SQUARE // 98 CENTER ST., JACKSON FACTORY // 7667 LUPINE LN., VICTOR, IDAHO newwestknifeworks.com

It’s much better to invest in one high-quality knife than a bunch of mediocre ones. A fine knife is like a musician’s instrument—the more you use it, the more you discover what you can do with it until it becomes a part of you."

— NWKW FOUNDER COREY MILLIGAN

PHOTO // JILL GOODSON

PHOTO // CAROLYN KEEFE

PHOTOS // JILL GOODSON

PHOTO // DAN CAMPBELL

GALLERIES

Whether you’re passionate about plein-air, a serious collector of Western paintings by contemporary or deceased masters, or a casual art fan searching for a keepsake to remind you of your time spent here, in Jackson Hole you have the opportunity to enjoy art in a multitude of forms. Over the past two decades, Jackson Hole has grown to become one of the most heralded art centers of the West, popping off the tongues of aficionados alongside the likes of Santa Fe, Palo Alto, and Scottsdale. Begin by visiting some of the galleries highlighted here, which show the diversity of art available in the valley, from traditional wildlife and Western art to contemporary paintings and sculptures.

We are a haven for maverick voices in Western contemporary art. No matter the month or the season, visitors to our downtown gallery will find resonance within our walls. Whether connecting to the contours of an equine outline or recalling a mountain memory within an abstract landscape, our patrons recognize the essential value of art in their lives. Like nature, art stirs our souls— a sentiment we share with as many people as possible through monthly events such as the third Thursday ArtWalk. Stop in for inspiration. connect@altamiraart.com. Two locations: Jackson, Wyoming + Scottsdale, Arizona.

307/739-4700

ALTAMIRAART.COM

Taking a nod from the exquisite environment surrounding us, our goal at Bella Fine Goods is to inspire and delight you with beauty! Enjoy our upscale collection of fine jewelry, unique home furnishings, fine art, and special gifts. Stop by, or give us a call, and we’ll take care of you with an unforgettable experience!

ALTAMIRA FINE ART

BELLA FINE GOODS

Established in 1790, AZADI Fine Rugs is owned by one of the oldest rug weaving families in the world. For over two centuries, AZADI Fine Rugs has been honored to share history, art, and culture through the magic of handwoven rugs. With an inventory of over 40,000 in-stock fine rugs, AZADI has given the most refined clients and interior designers in the world an unforgettable experience by providing an unparalleled selection of fine quality rugs.

55 NORTH GLENWOOD 307/734-0169

AZADIFINERUGS.COM

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, is a Smithsonian Affiliate housing five family-friendly museums under one roof: the Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and Cody Firearms Museum— connecting people to the American West through history, culture, art, natural science, authentic chuckwagon dinners, live birds of prey shows, special events, expert talks, and customized exclusive tours. Admission is good for two days!

Listening to our clientele has influenced the wide variety of styles shown in this gallery, ranging from animal and mountain themes to wildly unique contemporary designs. We also feature a wonderful collection of designer turquoise, Wyoming black jade, and elk ivory jewelry. A visit to this gallery is a must when in Jackson or visit us online.

720 SHERIDAN AVENUE

307/587-4771

CENTEROFTHEWEST.ORG

125 NORTH CACHE

307/733-2259

DANSHELLEY.COM

Extended Show and Sale

July 23–September 9, 2023

The 13th Annual Driggs Plein Air Festival

Extended Show and Sale is held at Driggs Plaza Gallery on the west side of the Tetons in Driggs, Idaho. Hundreds of plein air paintings are offered for sale, made by 75 artists from across North America. Compositions reflect the renowned landscape and culture of Teton Valley.

60 SOUTH MAIN STREET 216/235-7532

DOWNTOWNDRIGGS.ORG

Gallery Wild is artist owned and operated, showcasing contemporary fine art inspired by wildlife and wild places from both established and emerging artists. Our curated collection of photography, paintings, and sculpture is directly influenced by thousands of hours in the field observing, studying, and falling in love with all things wild. You are also welcome to explore the artist studio where Carrie Wild and visiting gallery artists share their techniques and artistic process as they create new work.

80 WEST BROADWAY 307/203-2322

GALLERYWILD.COM

TM

Crafters and curators of fine jewelry. Representing top Italian jewelry houses including Picchiotti, Chantecler, Fope, and Vendorafa. Service and quality above all else. Home of the iconic Teton Stacking Rings . In love with jewels, inspired to give back. Presenting sponsor of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Moonlight on the Mountains Event. Voted best jewelry store in Jackson Hole.

60 EAST BROADWAY 307/201-1722

JACKSONHOLEJEWELRY.COM

AZADI FINE RUGS

BUFFALO BILL CENTER OF THE WEST

DANSHELLEY JEWELERS

JACKSON HOLE JEWELRY CO.

GALLERY WILD

DRIGGS PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL

Blake Luther, 2022

Discover the shape of Western style with a custom hat fitting experience. Founded on a proud Wyoming heritage that embraces the people, integrity and lasting values of the West, JW Bennett hats are handcrafted using refined skill, attention to detail, and traditional techniques. Our style is modern, sophisticated, gritty and beautiful. Visit our boutique for a personal experience with founder Sarah Kjorstad and leave with a memory of the mountain West that is uniquely yours.

Locally made and world famous, New West KnifeWorks makes functional art for the kitchen and field. The flagship store on Town Square represents the cutting edge of fine American craftsmanship, gorgeously displaying chef knives, steak knives, hunting and pocket knives as well as their signature handmade “knife sculptures.” The space also accommodates a wine bar in the back for those who like to sip while they shop for sharp objects.

Founded in 1987, The National Museum of Wildlife Art is a world-class museum and nonprofit located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Museum’s collection boasts more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featuring work by prominent artists such as N.C. Wyeth, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Bob Kuhn, Albert Bierstadt, and Carl Rungius—the Museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art, from 2500 B.C.E. to the present.

55 NORTH GLENWOOD

307/201-5669

JWBENNETT.COM

98 CENTER STREET 307/733-4193

NEWWESTKNIFEWORKS.COM

2820 RUNGIUS ROAD

307/733-5771

WILDLIFEART.ORG

WEST LIVES ON GALLERY ,

Specializing in Golden South Sea pearls and heirloom strands, Pearls by Shari brings the elegance of pearls to the heart of the Tetons. With over 20 years of pearlbuying experience, Shari Turpin brings unparalleled expertise to each design featured at 90 E. Broadway and Neiman Marcus locations nationwide. Whether you are memorializing your trip to Jackson or want to add a one-of-a-kind pearl design to your jewelry collection, Pearls by Shari features the widest selection of high-quality pearls in the United States. Make an appointment, or stop by our showroom located on the Square.

90 EAST BROADWAY 307/734-0553

PEARLSBYSHARI.COM

Voted one of the best galleries in Jackson Hole, Turner Fine Art is a place where art inspires your spirit. We present uplifting, world-class wildlife and landscape art that engages you in a broader understanding and appreciation of beauty, creativity, and the natural world. Visit and meet the acclaimed artists who exhibit here, including owner and artist Kathryn Mapes Turner.

The West Lives On Gallery features fine art reflecting the rich heritage of the American West. Featuring Western, wildlife and landscape art in our traditional and contemporary galleries. The West Lives On Gallery has been representing over 100 national and regional artists since 1998.

545 NORTH CACHE ST 307/734-4444

TURNERFINEART.COM

55 & 75 NORTH GLENWOOD 307/734-2888

WESTLIVESON.COM

PEARLS BY SHARI

TURNER FINE ART

NEW WEST KNIFEWORKS

JW BENNETT

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

ENJOY DINING GUIDE

Corsa | 307/201-5350 | TETON VILLAGE

Bold Italian fare in a beautiful new chalet-inspired setting.

Figs | 307/733-1200 | JACKSON

Award-winning family-owned and operated in downtown.

North Grille at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club | 307/733-7788 | JACKSON

Enjoy country club fare with unmatched Teton views.

Silver Dollar Bar and Grill | 307/732-3939 | JACKSON

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, happy hour, and live music.

Snake River Brewing Co. | 307/739-2337 | JACKSON

Serving up 12 taps of award-winning beers and Alpine-inspired dishes.

Wyoming’s oldest and America’s most award-winning small craft brewery.

Snake River Roasting Co. | 307/312-2382 | JACKSON

Snake River Roasting Co. serves specialty, locally roasted coffee alongside food provided by Provisions Dining Group.

StillWest Brewery and Grill | 307/201-5955 | JACKSON

On-site brewery. Extensive wine list. Seasonal menu with mountainside dining on our patio. Red Willow Steak & Seafood | 307/855-2605 | RIVERTON, WY

Order your favorite decadent meal in the Wind River Hotel & Casino.

Teton Thai | 307/733-0022 | TETON VILLAGE

Best of JH: Best overall asian restaurant hall of fame.

White Buffalo Club | 307/734-4901 | JACKSON

The dinner menu features only the freshest seasonal ingredients, and changes throughout the year.

FOUR SEASONS

Westbank Grill | 307/732-5156 | TETON VILLAGE

Enjoy panoramic views of Teton Village and Rendezvous Peak, a dynamic open kitchen, and a cozy setting at our inviting mountain steakhouse.

The Handle Bar | 307/732-5620 | TETON VILLAGE

Grab a seat at our American pub and beer hall, featuring a wide selection of American and international beers, whiskeys, and provisions.

Ascent Lounge | 307/732-5613 | TETON VILLAGE

Creative bartenders at our popular slopeside bar, where pan-Asian inspired plates are best shared either by the wood-burning fireplace or outside on the heated patio.

GRAND TARGHEE

Powder Cache Bar and Grill | 307/353-2300 | GRAND TARGHEE RESORT

Rocky Mountain fare with fresh, local ingredients.

Trap Bar & Grill | 307/353-2300 | GRAND TARGHEE RESORT

Famous Wydaho Nachos, great food, and delicious drinks.

Snorkels Café | 307/353-2300 | GRAND TARGHEE RESORT

Homemade breakfast, lunch, pastries, and espresso bar.

JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT

Piste Mountain Bistro | 307/732-3177 | TOP OF BRIDGER GONDOLA

Enjoy Rocky Mountain cuisine at 9,095 feet. Book on Open Table. Gondola ticket required, waived with day ticket or season pass.

RPK3 | 307/739-2738 | TETON VILLAGE

Dine under the Jackson Hole Tram.

Tin Can Cantina | TETON VILLAGE

Casual Tex-Mex fare.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN LODGE

Leeks Marina and Pizzeria | 307/543-2494 | Grand Teton National Park

Scratch-made pizza on Jackson Lake.

Trapper Grill/Deadman's Bar | 307/543-2831 | Grand Teton National Park

Casual fare with amazing views of the Tetons.

SNOW KING MOUNTAIN

Kings Grill | 307/201-KING | JACKSON

Classic American menu. Happy hour. Families welcome!

Panorama House | 307/201-KING | JACKSON

Best Teton views and Jackson Hole sunsets from the top of the Snow King Gondola. Drinks, crepes, snacks, beer, and wine. Drinks, crepes, snacks, beer, and wine.

Locally sourced food paired with stunning valley views.

Piste Mountain Bistro delivers a lively dining experience at the top of the Bridger Gondola. Just beyond the friendly bar scene are floor-toceiling windows that offer the best views of the mountain and valley. The outstanding locally sourced food and ambiance are further elevated by the excellent service. Be warned — you will want to return to this place time and time again. Reservations are recommended.

*Evening gondola access is included with your full-day sightseeing ticket, Summer Sightseeing Pass, 2024 Winter full-season pass or a Piste Mountain Bistro reservation. A separate eveningonly (after 5 p.m.) gondola ticket can be purchased for $18. For more details, scan code.

HERE, THERE,

IN BETWEEN:

The marvel of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s migrations

The network of migratory wildlife that pulses in and out of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s core is one of the ecological phenomenon prized not just within the United States, but the entire world. And there’s a unique opportunity to save the whole system.

// BY MIKE KOSHMRL

Pronghorn crossing the Green River during the spring migration from the Pinedale region to Grand Teton National Park.

NE DECADE AGO, GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

biologists set out to learn where the mule deer that live in the park in the summer came from and what route they took to the Tetons.

There were some assumptions going into this 2013 effort to dart, capture, and collar dozens of doe deer in places like Jenny Lake, Colter Bay, Flagg Ranch, and Moose. Some of the animals likely came from eastern Idaho, past research had suggested. But other than that, there was little indication of where the Tetons’ summering deer spent their winters. Their paths to get there—i.e., their migration routes—were equally unknown. That fall and winter, when location results started trickling back from the deer’s GPS collars, biologists were struck with awe. Three previously unknown migration paths shot off to the east, tying the Tetons to places like the Absaroka Front and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Other deer trekked south, headed down the Green River Basin toward Rock Springs. The suspected westward travelers materialized too—deer bound for the Teton River corridor and Idaho’s Sand Creek Desert. Yet other park deer completed shorter seasonal journeys within Jackson Hole, headed for places like East Gros Ventre Butte and Cache Creek.

“These results were just simply incredible,” Teton Park wildlife biologist Sarah Dewey told an audience in 2021. “What these deer ended up doing just blew us away. It wasn’t just a single migration corridor. It turned out to be a whole network.”

If there’s anything unsurprising about the miraculous migratory melting pot of mule deer discovered in Grand Teton National Park a decade ago, it’s that they dwell in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It’s an intact, interconnected roughly 22-million-acre ecological complex that spans three states, 17 counties, and myriad land jurisdictions—and it’s absolutely teeming with migratory wildlife, including bison, moose, elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope. Superlatives are appropriate when describing the tens of thousands of ungulates flowing like a two-way river to and from the ecosystem’s high country to lower-elevation deserts and grasslands. “As we are getting a clearer picture of migrations around the world, we’re learning that the Greater Yellowstone is really this unique migratory landscape,” says Matt Kauffman, a University of Wyoming professor who leads the Wyoming Migration Initiative. The special stature of migration in the ecosystem isn’t limited to the ecological phenomenon, he says. “In some ways, what’s more exciting to me is that the opportunities to conserve the migrations of the Greater Yellowstone area are really unparalleled on a global scale.”

Migration policy and conservation are being pioneered in the region and in Wyoming. Jackson Hole’s 400 or so pronghorn pass through the first federally protected migration corridor in the United States, a route through the Gros Ventre and Upper Green River drainages known as the Path of the Pronghorn (see sidebar, page 116). It was designated

Mule deer cross Pine Creek near the town of Pinedale; each spring and fall they migrate up to 242 miles, making theirs the longest known deer migration in North America.

JOE RIIS

by the Bridger-Teton National Forest in 2008, though southern reaches on Bureau of Land Management property still haven’t been protected 15 years later due, in part, to political pressure to not impose restrictions on valuable natural gas fields. A decade later the state of Wyoming followed federal land managers’ lead, designating the Red Desert-to-Hoback migration corridor—traveled by some of Dewey’s tracked deer—and two other mule deer migration routes via an executive order signed by Gov. Mark Gordon. “It is one of the first forays into the conservation of wildlife migration corridors,” says Matt Skroch, who directs a migrationfocused program for the Pew Charitable Trusts. “After several years, despite hav-

ing some challenges in implementation, it remains one of the most robust actions by a governor in a Western state to conserve wildlife migration.”

There wouldn’t be such a robust effort to protect migrations if they were already gone. In much of the world and the American West, they’ve been wiped off the map. There’s a whole book about the largely human-caused collapse: David Wilcove’s No Way Home: The decline of the world’s great animal migrations What makes the Yellowstone region buck the trend?

One theory is that the ecosystem is a hotspot for migration partly due to another hotspot, this one geologic. A magma chamber pressing up against the earth’s surface has elevated the

PATH OF THE PRONGHORN

In the 1950s, Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologists gained some insight into where summer-dwelling Jackson Hole pronghorn came from. Tracking-collar technology was still too rudimentary for them to see the route the fleet-footed tawny-and-white animals took to the Tetons, but they were seeing antelope summering in the Tetons wearing brightly colored collars they knew had been put on animals in the Green River Basin south of Pinedale.

A couple generations of biologists later, aided by GPS collars, wildlife scientists would chart the path: the Path of the Pronghorn, as the public now knows it. The route was actually lost for a time in the 20th century when the larger herd that contains Jackson Hole’s pronghorn—the Sublette Herd—was decimated by overhunting. Ecologist Joel Berger likens the herd refinding the old

route, believed to be 6,000 years old, to a pinball machine. “Ultimately, the ball ends up in the hole,” Berger says. “We know from our GPS data that they were bouncing all over, but the only access into Jackson was this single route.”

That route, which Berger closely studied in the early 2000s, eventually popularized the concept of long-distance mammal migration in the Lower 48. It wasn’t just caribou in the Arctic and African megafauna in the Serengeti that made such journeys, the public came to realize. Jackson Hole’s pronghorn made their way into Teton County via a tight passageway that funneled them up toward the headwaters of the Green River. They crossed over into the Snake River watershed near Bacon Ridge, migrating down the Gros Ventre River past the Red Hills and Lower Slide Lake. Berger and others pressed hard to

Elk migrating toward Yellowstone National Park in late June.

JOE RIIS

protect the path—and it worked. In late May 2008, then Bridger-Teton National Forest supervisor “Kniffy” Hamilton signed an amendment to the forest plan recognizing 47,000 acres of the migration corridor.

The research, recognition, and popular press helped chart a path for conservation. For example: at Trapper’s Point, a busy section of U.S. Highway 189/191 between Daniel Junction and Pinedale, the Wyoming Department of Transportation completed a $10 million wildlife overpass and underpass project in 2012. Animals quickly caught on and carnage abated. The saga of Jackson Hole’s migratory pronghorn isn’t purely a success story, however. Southern reaches still have not been recognized or designated nearly two decades after Berger and former Teton Park biologist Steve Cain mapped out the route. And now a $17-billion gas field, Jonah Energy’s 3,500-well Normally Pressured Lance Field, is in line to be built out in its path.

6th Annual

Greater Yellowstone Crane Festival

September

“As we are getting a clearer picture of migrations around the world, we’re learning that the Greater Yellowstone is really this unique migratory landscape.”

—MATT KAUFFMAN, LEADER OF THE WYOMING MIGRATION INITIATIVE

JOE RIIS

Crane tours, workshops, storytelling, film, speaker, painting, and Saturday Community Celebration.

Sponsored By:

Come stay overnight in Teton Valley!

Yellowstone plateau in the center of the ecosystem to roughly 8,000 feet above sea level. Atop the plateau is a verdant landscape with plenty of groceries for hooved mammals in the summer and fall, but it’s not especially habitable for most species come winter, when down comes a few hundred inches of snow. “All the good winter ranges are away from the heart, down on the private lands and the BLM lands in the three different states,” Kauffman says. “So there was lots of migration originally.”

Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, is a former denizen of Jackson Hole who helped pin down the Path of the Pronghorn while the route was still being mapped out two decades ago. Today, he teaches at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, along the northern reaches of a five-million-person metropolitan complex that stretches from Colorado Springs to the Wyoming state line. In populated places like Colorado’s Front Range, he says, most mammals abandoned long-distance movements long ago. “It is so far gone,” Berger says. “We get a little bit of bighorn sheep movement, we get mule deer movement. So there’s a little bit, but we probably retained 1 percent of what we used to have—maybe less.”

Not so in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Although it’s a fast-growing re-

gion, especially on the Wyoming side it’s still pretty wild. “There’s just not that many people,” Kauffman says. “There’s Jackson and Cody, of course, but as you spill outward, all of the other towns are quite small. The migrations skirt around Dubois. They kind of move around Alpine, around Pinedale.” And the ungulate paths that ebb and flow around the landscape have been relatively well studied, thanks to the national parks and attention paid by Kauffman’s Wyoming Migration Initiative, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and other research outfits.

Maps have been assembled illustrating 10 elk herds that head for the Yellowstone high country each summer. A gaping hole on the map once centered along the west slope of the Tetons, but it was filled in by a 2019 research project to map the travels of the Targhee Elk Herd.

University of California professor Arthur Middleton, who assisted that research, likes to describe the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s elk as one giant super herd. Following the nutritious green-up of vegetation that moves steadily uphill as spring and summer unfold, the tens of thousands of animals on the move are part of what makes the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem unique. “One of the handful of absolutely fundamental natural features of the GYE that jumps out at me is the migratory nature of the system,” Middleton says. “It’s the diversity and abundance of these migratory herds. There’s also consistency in the movements up to the high country in the core areas of the system, and consistency in the movements back down. It’s about May 11 [they go up] and November 20 [they come down]. There’s a lot of variability by herd and by individual, but there’s this broad, common movement around the ecosystem that occurs.”

It’s not just elk. The U.S. Geological Survey has published several sets of migration maps over the last few years

Migration routes of the Sublette Herd of pronghorn.

"There’s a lot of variability by herd and by individual, but there’s this broad, common movement around the ecosystem that occurs.”

—PROFESSOR ARTHUR MIDDLETON, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

MATTHEW KAUFFMANN

These elk winter on private ranchlands far from Yellowstone but migrate over the mountains into the national park for the summer. JOE

showing where hoofed mammal herds migrate in the western United States. Within that map collection, there are 40 mapped migrations in Wyoming. Those maps are detailed with data describing the many migration routes that pulse tens of thousands of elk, deer, and pronghorn toward Yellowstone each spring. The 3,800 mule deer in Idaho’s Sand Creek Mule Deer Herd, for example, travel an average of 35 miles on their eastward trek toward the Yellowstone plateau, but as far as 75 miles. Their migration toward the Caribou-Targhee National Forest just outside of Yellowstone lasts for 33 days on the way uphill. They traverse a corridor that treads over 430 square miles of eastern Idaho and western Wyoming.

The USGS report goes beyond data, identifying conservation challenges. For the Sand Creek Herd, for example, there’s an “extensive network of fencing” and a heavy dose of roadkill from traffic on U.S. Highway 20. For almost every herd on the go, there are challenges. Chip Jenkins, who took the helm at Grand Teton National Park seven years after Dewey’s deer discovery, knows he has to look well outside the borders of his 310,000-acre park to do his job correctly. “Grand Teton National Park is big, but the needs of wildlife are bigger,” he says. “Whether you’re talking about ungulates or you’re talking about large carnivores, these species need to move about on the landscape in order to meet their needs.” Even the most celebrated migrations face challenges.

The Red Desert-to-Hoback migration—the longest known deer migration in the world, at up to 242 miles oneway—is a good example of an embattled corridor. For the online nonprofit news site WyoFile, where I’m a staff writer, I reported last fall that a series of private land developments are on the path to breaking ground within the herd’s migration corridor, including a subdivision, grocery store-sized therapy center, and a luxury resort being built by TD Ameritrade’s billionaire founder Joe Ricketts. Although Gov. Mark Gordon’s migration policy has been held up as a national gold standard, those types of encroachments expose shortcomings—the state’s designation provides no protection on private land. That leaves effective migration conservation up to landowners. Berger, for one, isn’t confident that the free

Mule deer that summer in the upper Hoback River drainage cross Boulder Creek between Pinedale and Farson, Wyoming during their fall migration.

market will leave room for the deer in the long run. “We continue to dice and slice land,” he says. “If we wait for volunteerism, the message is clear: it hasn’t worked very effectively in the past. Protecting migration is a complicated matter. We need to do better.”

Following Wyoming’s lead, the federal government has put the spotlight on migration and freed up some money to help conserve this awe-inspiring biological phenomenon. Former U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke took a step in that direction in 2018, signing a secretarial order to improve big game migration corridor habitat in national parks and BLM property in 11 Western states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has oversight over national forests, has also funded incentive programs to preserve migration on private land via perpetual conservation easements and through other means. The Absaroka Front—where some GTNP deer spend their winter—has been identified as a priority area where landowners are eligible for a $16 million initial infusion of USDA funding. Landowners with property in the Red Desert-to-Hoback migration corridor are equally eligible.

Middleton, a senior USDA advisor when he’s not teaching at UC-Berkeley, says that progress is being made, even if there’s a divergence of opinions about the correct way to conserve migration. “My eyes have been opened to how much public resources get spent on things like fence modification and removal, or cheat grass and weed management—things that really matter to the permeability and the quality of the habitat,” he says. “Let’s make sure that we know how to target those projects and be effective.” One way to keep doing that is to keep on with the science. A lot of the groundbreaking wildlife research that took root in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has long been logged in the annals of history. Think Olaus Murie’s nearly century-old investigation of the Jackson Elk Herd’s ecology or Frank and John Craighhead’s seminal ecological study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park. With migration, the findings are still unfurling in the modern era. There are still likely a couple dozen Wyoming migrations that are yet to be mapped, according to Kauffman.

That’s a reminder that the window is still largely wide open to map, designate, and preserve the Greater Yellowstone’s migration paths, whether through the force of policy or voluntary incentives for landowners. “As we look around the globe, it’s pretty sad,” Kauffman says. “A lot of the migrations that we’re looking at, we’re just watching them get cut up. Whereas in the Greater Yellowstone, there really is this tremendous opportunity to conserve the functionality of migration at the scale of an entire ecosystem.” JH

JOE RIIS

[

defined:

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

Tourists line up to have their photograph taken at the sign on the southern border of Grand Teton National Park.

// BY MOLLY ABSOLON

“Inever go to [Grand Teton National Park] anymore in the summer, unless it is very strategic, say after 5 p.m.,” says Liz Alva Rosa, who has lived in this area since the 1990s. “I never go to the Town Square or to any restaurants in the summer. I plan my grocery store runs in between the morning ‘buying-things-before-your-adventure’ crowd and the regular craze.” As for the traffic: “The line of cars coming into Jackson from the park in the evening is nuts, and getting across town is super annoying, not to mention the traffic on Highway 22,” Alva Rosa says.

The number of visitors to Jackson Hole in the summer of 2021—when many Americans who otherwise might have vacationed abroad were not able to because of Covid travel restrictions— was record breaking. Cell phone records for that July indicated there were as many as 50,000 visitors in Jackson every day. This was about five visitors for every one resident and marked a 50 percent daily increase over any other time on record. Visitation in nearby Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks also reached record levels. No one could keep up with the rush. The crowds were less bonkers in 2022, but not by much. According to the Wyoming Office of Tourism, the state saw a 5.2 percent decrease in its total number of overnight guests that year over 2021, but remember that 2021 was an all-time record. “The level of tourism is currently incompatible with regular living,” Alva Rosa says

What it is, why it’s important, and how to do it in Jackson Hole.

Overtourism—defined as an excessive number of tourist visits to a popular destination or attraction, resulting in damage to the local environment and historical sites and in poorer quality of life for residents (and one of the Oxford English Dictionary’s words of the year in 2018)—has been on Jackson Hole’s radar since before the pandemic. More recently, talk about overtourism has shifted to talk about responsible tourism.

Last year the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board—a volunteer board appointed by elected officials, tasked with balancing tourism with the preservation of the valley’s natural capital and community wellbeing, and funded by a percentage of the 5 percent lodging tax collected on every visitor’s hotel, motel, and rental-property stay—conducted a survey of residents as part of a process to develop a sustainable destination management plan for the area. The survey garnered close to 5,000 comments. Eighty-five percent of respondents felt tourism was growing too rapidly, and 90 percent supported more focus on sustainable and responsible tourism and destination management rather than visitor promotion. A 2021 poll of Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce members found that two-thirds of them also wanted to see this shift in focus.

But what exactly is responsible tourism and how does a community go about making it the norm?

The definition of modern responsible tourism was established in 2002 at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, in which more than 100 heads of state and government and tens of thousands of government representatives and non-governmental organizations participated:

Responsible tourism minimizes the social, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of travel by ensuring it is beneficial to the host community, and that it actively preserves and protects local economies, culture, and natural areas.

This definition meshes well with the mission adopted more than a decade ago by the town of Jackson and Teton County in the 2012 Joint Comprehensive Plan, which is to “preserve and protect the area’s ecosystem in order to ensure a healthy environment, community, and economy for current and future generations.” Coming up with a definition is different from affecting actual change though.

Tourism is a double-edged sword. More people means better restaurants, more events, and more arts, as well as more resources. Tourism drives as much as 50 percent of Jackson’s economic activity, and tax revenues pay for services that would cost residents roughly $10,000 more a year if they had to cover the costs. But more people also puts pressure on the values and experiences that are the reasons people live and vacation here. Negative impacts of increased visitation include fires left unattended in campsites (any of which could escape and turn into wildfires), parking lots at popular destinations reaching capacity by 8 a.m. forcing overflow onto roadways, and human feces and toilet paper deposited behind trees and under rocks (or sometimes not deposited behind anything and left in plain view of trails and campsites), among other issues. “I’m all for people enjoying this extraordinary place we get to call home,” says Georgie Stanley, who has lived in the area since 1996 and in Jackson since 2018. “But it saddens me when, with increased use, you see feces and wipes all over the place and near water. It’s as if [people] can’t see—or don’t care—how special our lands are.”

BRADLY J. BONER

How to recreate responsibly in Jackson Hole

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:

Check the status of the place you want to visit for restrictions, closures, and conditions.

PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE:

Do your homework so you can fit in smoothly and effortlessly to the culture and environment of your destination. Bring the right gear and have a backup plan.

BUILD AN INCLUSIVE OUTDOORS:

Be an active part of making the outdoors safe and accessible for all identities and abilities.

RESPECT OTHERS:

There is space for everyone and almost every kind of outdoor activity on our public lands.

LEAVE NO TRACE:

Respect the land, water, wildlife, local communities, and cultures. Follow the seven principles of Leave No Trace. (lnt.org)

MAKE IT BETTER:

We all have a responsibility to sustain the places we love. Volunteer, donate, and advocate for the outdoors.

SUPPORT JACKSON’S ECONOMY:

Buy local goods and frequent locally owned businesses.

DON’T ADD TO THE PROBLEM:

Minimize waste and dispose of it properly. Consider using the START bus to get around town, or rent a bike and ride the bike paths.

This list was created by the nonprofit Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, btfriends.org

Crista Valentino, the interim director of the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board, acknowledges that the valley is feeling the strain of too many visitors, but she is quick to point out the positives and believes that there are ways to find a balance. “The lodging tax of 2011 was established to market and promote Jackson Hole,” she says. That effort worked. … It also really bolstered the economy and allowed a lot of people to live here. But we’ve started to see the downside. Things like insufficient infrastructure, problems with how people interact with natural spaces and wildlife, and workforce shortages.” It was in response to these downsides that the tourism board allocated funds to create a destination management plan (see sidebar).

This plan—the Sustainable Destination Management Plan, the results of which were shared last January—is, according to Tim O’Donoghue, executive director of the Riverwind Foundation and a former director of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, critical for allowing both visitors and residents to continue to live and recreate in Jackson without destroying the place they love. “It’s been said that we cannot block all the roads leading into Jackson and say, you can’t come in,” says

AARON PRUZAN, THE OWNER OF RENDEZVOUS RIVER SPORTS AND A MEMBER OF THE SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PLAN’S STEERING COMMITTEE

O’Donoghue, who served on the SDMP’s leadership team as its sustainability coordinator. “We can’t tell Americans they can’t come to national parks or national forests. So, we have to manage our visitation.” He points to some of the efforts already taking place in Jackson to promote responsible tourism. The Bridger-Teton National Forest has established an ambassador program (funded in part by lodging tax revenues) that places volunteers in the forest. These volunteers educate visitors on the ways they can minimize their impact on the land, such as disposing of waste properly, and how to respectfully watch wildlife; they also patrol campsites

“I’ve been saying for a while that Jackson has a limit. Once we go over that capacity, the experience starts diminishing. We need to be aware of that. More isn’t necessarily better. I’m not sure everyone 100 percent agrees with me on that, but I don’t think there is any other way. We need to make a paradigm change in society. This model of never-ending growth needs to change.”

The Jackson Hole Airport earned a BEST certification for sustainable business practices from the Chamber of Commerce for its use of renewable energy.

BRADLY J. BONER

RYAN DORGAN

to ensure campers have fully extinguished their campfires.

The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce established a BEST certification program to recognize sustainable leaders in the community; to date, 12 businesses have been recognized as having BEST sustainable business practices. These businesses include Brentwood Inn, which planted 300 trees, primarily willow for moose to browse on its property; Elk Refuge Inn, which reduced its dumpster use by 50 percent; Jackson Hole Airport, for its use of renewable energy; Teton Lodge Company, which diverts thousands of pounds of waste from the landfill by composting its food waste; and Hidden Hollow Apartments, which have an energy-efficient geothermal heating system that minimizes power use. These efforts add up, but have, until now, been somewhat disjointed. The hope is that the Sustainable Destination Management Plan will make them more coordinated and impactful.

“I think there are a few things coming out of this plan that are key,” says Linda Merigliano, who represented the Bridger-Teton National Forest on the SDMP’s steering committee. “One is to set up some kind of governance

WYldlife

structure so there can be continued collaboration. People move across all sorts of boundaries when they are here, so there is not just one entity that can address all these issues. There has to be a unified strategy in place,” she says. “Secondly, we need to consolidate our messaging so it is consistent. Take, for example, wildlife messaging, especially bears. Who is giving the bear message? There are at least 10 to 12 groups out there since grizzly bear 399’s rise to prominence that have different mes saging about bears.”

Aaron Pruzan, the owner of Ren dezvous River Sports, a former volun teer JHTTB member, and a member of the SDMP’s steering committee, is also hopeful the plan will help ease the stress and strain of tourism on Jackson. “I’ve been saying for a while that Jackson has a limit,” he says. “Once we go over that capacity, the experience starts diminish ing. We need to be aware of that. This plan is a great start. It helps recognize that more isn’t necessarily better. I’m not sure everyone 100 percent agrees with me on that, but I don’t think there is any other way. We need to make a par adigm change in society. This model of never-ending growth needs to change.”

Intuitive Counseling

This is transformational work. Come with the intention to know and to allow the highest expression of yourself. Spirit will guide us.

Taylor Phillips, the owner of Jackson Hole EcoTour Adventures, has been in the tourism industry for 20 years. He says Wyoming’s abun dant wildlife is one of the top tourism drivers in the state, bringing people from all over the world to Wyoming to view wild animals in their natural environment. But, he says, the disconnect between the people and businesses who benefit from wildlife and outdoor recreation on public lands and the ones who actually pay for its management frustrates him. “Hunt ers and anglers have been the ones paying for wildlife management for more than 100 years,” he says. “But as wildlife and outdoor recreation drive the tourism industry to be Wyoming’s second largest industry, it’s time for the tourism sector to chip in.’

In 2019 Phillips helped launch WYldlife For Tomorrow and the WYldlife Fund to change the state’s wildlife-funding paradigm. He says the response has been outstanding, with many elected officials telling him, “It’s about time that tourists pay their fair share.” Phillips says, “For a couple of decades now, there has been talk in the legislature and other circles as to how to engage the tourism industry to give back to wildlife. We have finally cracked that nut. It no longer has to be just hunters and anglers paying in for management and conservation projects across the state.”

Wyldlife for Tomorrow is still small—it has one half-time paid employee, and Phillips volunteers his time— but it has gained support from 85 businesses and collected roughly $200,000 in the WYldlife Fund. This money has already been put toward conservation projects, including contributing $20,000 to the construction of a passageway for native cutthroat to bypass a dam on Spread Creek and $15,000 to fund a statewide sagegrouse fence inventory to help minimize fatal grouse-fence collisions. The vision is that the organization will eventually have staff across the state and fundamentally change how wildlife management is funded.

Discern what constitutes a Soul-filled home for you, and create a beautiful environment that inspires & nourishes you and your loved ones.

Jackson Hole Sustainable Destination Management Plan

Wyoming collects a 5 percent lodging tax on every visitor’s hotel, motel, and rental property stay. Three percent of that tax is managed by the Wyoming Office of Tourism, and the remaining 2 percent stays in Teton County. The Town of Jackson and Teton County together get 40 percent of this money to mitigate the impacts of tourism on infrastructure and services; the remaining 60 percent funds the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board, which, since 2011 has worked to grow tourism to the area during the off seasons and, more recently, to balance this growth with the preservation of the valley’s natural capital and community wellbeing. Between July 2021 and June 2022, Teton County collected $6.884 million in lodging tax revenue; $4.1 million went to the JHTTB, and $2.8 went to the Town of Jackson and Teton County combined.

The JHTTB uses its 60 percent for destination marketing, tourist education, events, other tourismrelated initiatives as outlined in Wyoming State Statutes, and, increasingly, messaging and programs that seek to educate the increased number of visitors. In 2022, among the latter was a Sustainable Destination Management Plan.

Guided by consultants from George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies and Confluence Sustainability as well an 18-member steering committee composed of representatives of local government, land agencies, non-governmental organizations, and businesses, JHTTB released its management plan in January. It establishes an ambitious set of goals and action sets. Implementation began this spring with the hiring of a destination management coordinator and establishing a new steering committee to enforce the plan.

July

Jackson isn’t the first to embark on destination management, and the JHTTB’s Valentino says the community has been guided and supported by places like Aspen and Vail, Colorado, and Taos, New Mexico, all of which are further along in the process. New Zealand is in the process of adopting a nationwide destination management plan. Ultimately, such efforts are hoped to bring a holistic response to the everlasting question of how to avoid loving the places we care about to death. Read the entire 75-page plan at visitjacksonhole.com/locals.

JH

“It’s been said that we cannot block all the roads leading into Jackson and say, you can’t come in. We can’t tell Americans they can’t come to national parks or national forests. So, we have to manage our visitation.”

—TIM O’DONOGHUE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE RIVERWIND FOUNDATION AND A FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE JACKSON HOLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Between

2021 and June 2022, Teton County collected $6.88 million in lodging tax revenue; $4.1 million went to the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board, and $2.8 million went to the county and the Town of Jackson.

Long-excluded Indigenous residents of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are seeking to forge a new, improved relationship with the national parks, forests, and other federally managed properties that sweep across their ancestral lands.

Teepees near the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner, Montana, were part of last summer’s Yellowstone Revealed programming celebrating the park’s 150th anniversary and educating people about Indigineous peoples’ history in the region.

About two decades ago, Shoshone-Bannock member and attorney Jeanette Wolfley took a trip to Yellowstone National Park with a group of 20 tribal elders to help document her people’s connection to a land of steaming waters and boiling lakes. An ethnography project—which uses interviews to study people in their own environment—brought the elders into Yellowstone, which, at 151 years old, is one of the first governmentally protected areas in the world. But to the elders, the formation of the 2.2-million-acre national park represents more of the land they had used for millennia being taken away from them, an ignominious blip in a long history. Being back in their home was overwhelming to the elders, some of whom hadn’t been back there in many years, Wolfley recalled.

“One of the things they stressed is this is where they came from and it’s the beginning of our people,” Wolfley told an audience during a Yellowstone 150th panel discussion. “In our creation story, we come from the sacred waters and are molded from the mud of the Earth. The park, foremost, is our spiritual and sacred land base for the Shoshone and Bannock people.” In the modern day, Wolfley’s fellow Shoshone-Bannock tribal members mostly dwell on the Fort

Patti Baldes’s performance, “Rematriate,” concludes at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park last summer. It was part of a remembrance of the roughly 150 years since Native people were removed from Yellowstone.

Nathan Small, chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council, addresses the crowd at the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Gathering in Yellowstone. The Shoshone-Bannock people lived in Yellowstone “before and we continue to live here today in our mind and spirit,” he said. “We have never left this place. We will never leave this place. It is too important for our people to forget.”

BILLY ARNOLD

BILLY ARNOLD

Hall Reservation of southeast Idaho. They were relegated to that reservation as a result of treaties that the Shoshone-Bannock signed with the U.S. government during an era when the first peoples of North America were being displaced from ancestral lands all around the American West. One of those treaties, the Virginia City treaty of 1868, was entered into by Wolfley’s great-grandfather, Chief Tendoy, who identified lands, including western Yellowstone and all of modern Grand Teton National Park, as those of his people. “That is why we continue to claim this area,” Wolfley said.

Wolfley’s remarks about the tribes’ strained relationship with the federal government that now claims the same lands comes amid an era where a movement to “re-Indigenize” the Yellowstone region is gaining steam. Legal scholars have laid out options to reverse course on a century and a half of ignoring, erasing, and marginalizing the history of Indigenous exclusion, absence, and disconnection from ancestral, now federally managed, lands. On the south end of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a Northern Arapaho tribal member is spearheading an effort to co-manage culturally significant swaths of Wyoming’s Red Desert with the Bureau of Land Management. And the Eastern Shoshone Tribe is the driving force behind a push for the state of Wyoming to recognize and accommodate off-reservation hunting on federal land—treaty-enshrined hunting rights affirmed by the 2019 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Herrera v. Wyoming Federal land managers, meanwhile, say they’re willing to entertain a new era of tribal relations and turn the page on a shameful chapter of American history.

“We’ve initiated substantially increased tribal engagement going into the 150th,” Yellowstone superintendent Cam Sholly said during a celebration of the park’s anniversary. “It’s a door that’s opening. I think in some ways, it’s the easy stuff. It’s impactful, it’s meaningful—things we haven’t done before in Yellowstone—but it’s just a start.” Those efforts in 2022 included a new Yellowstone Tribal Heritage Center at Old Faithful, a rematriation ceremony,

DISCOVER THE SHAPE OF MOUNTAIN STYLE

HANDCRAFTED HATS AND BANDS

JACKSON HOLE // PARK CITY // 307-201-5669

JWBENNETT . COM

tribe-specific gatherings, and Native American art demonstrations. Tribes and the Park Service are trying to use those events as a launch pad for a more open relationship that doesn’t shy away from trying new partnerships. “That transcends the normal government-to-government relationship framework,” Sholly said. “The more that we know you and you know us and we know what you’re looking for … I think the more progress that we’re going to be able to make.”

A Wyoming Law Review article, “Re-Indigenizing Yellowstone,” was recently published giving Yellowstone a roadmap for more meaningful movement in pursuit of the goal to increase Indigenous access and influence over management. “Yellowstone can once again change the world,” authors Kekek Jason Stark, Autumn Bernhardt, Monte Mills, and Jason Robison wrote in the 2022 paper. “Ultimately, re-Indigenizing Yellowstone can restore the shine to the nation’s original crown jewel and help ensure that all Americans can look forward to the park’s next 150 years and beyond.” Looking over the broad arc of history, Yellowstone has made some headway on improving its relations with tribes. At the dawn of the 20th century, there were attempts to use Native people es-

sentially as props to bolster tourism. One infamous example is that of an “aboriginal exhibit” at Yellowstone Lake’s Dot Island. Businessman E.C. Waters tried but “had no luck convincing any Crow to camp in the middle of Yellowstone Lake” alongside bison for the viewing pleasure of summer tourists, according to “Re-Indigenizing Yellowstone.” Over the last 30 years, federal-tribal relations in Yellowstone improved as the National Park Service and Yellowstone’s 27 associated tribes sought connection.

The next steps in Yellowstone’s journey to reconnect with the tribes remain unclear. There are “no significant updates to share” since the calls for change during the 150th anniversary, Yellowstone’s public affairs office informed Jackson Hole magazine. Leadership for the Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, and Shoshone-Bannock tribes were unable to be reached for this story. Native law scholars say there’s no perfect path Yellowstone can pursue, though they outline options, like the “radical realignment” the #Landback movement (see sidebar) espouses. That could mean the “undoing of the large-scale displacement of tribes” and returning of the title to Yellowstone National Park. Other options include federal-

United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks to reporters last summer at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. Haaland is the first Native American presidential cabinet member and has made a commitment to consider historically underrepresented communities, including Native peoples, when shaping policy for national parks.

Students from the Wind River Indian Reservation have the opportunity to participate in cultural landscape preservation projects in Grand Teton National Park.

RYAN DORGAN

BRADLY J. BONER

AFFILIATED TRIBES OF YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND

TETON NATIONAL PARKS

Apache Tribe**

Assiniboine and Sioux

Blackfeet

Burns Paiute**

Cheyenne River Sioux*

Cheyenne and Arapaho of Oklahoma**

Coeur d’Alene

Comanche

Colville Reservation

Crow

Crow Creek Sioux*

Eastern Shoshone

Flandreau Santee Sioux*

Gros Ventre and Assiniboine

Kiowa

Kootenai**

Little Shell Chippewa*

Lower Brule Sioux*

Nez Perce

Northern Arapaho

Northern Cheyenne

Oglala Sioux

Rosebud Sioux

Salish and Kootenai

Shoshone–Bannock

Sisseton Wahpeton*

Spirit Lake*

Standing Rock Sioux

Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa*

Umatilla Reservation

Confederated tribes of the Yakama Nation**

Yankton Sioux

* Denotes tribes only associated with Yellowstone National Park

** Denotes tribes only associated with Grand Teton National Park

tribal government partnership models and co-management, like what’s in place at Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument, which is governed in part by an inter-tribal commission. Ultimately, Yellowstone and its associated tribes must craft their own unique partnership. “Envisioning a new management paradigm for the world’s first national park must go beyond the potential of existing collaborative frameworks to ensure it functions effectively in practice,” the “Re-indigenizing Yellowstone” authors write.

Former Eastern Shoshone Business Council member Wes Martel, who’s on staff at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, is hopeful that the pledges of reconnection from the Park Service are more than just platitudes. Progress, he says, seems to be coming, however slowly. “There was just a lot of talk, for a year and a half,” Martel says. “Now we’re finally finding some opportunities and some resources to take action on the ground. Joe Biden and [Interior Secretary] Deb Haaland might be here not too much longer. We’ve got to get as

much done as quickly as possible.” Haaland, who leads the U.S. Department of the Interior, is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe who made history as the country’s first Native American cabinet member. She’s complemented by National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, the first tribal citizen to lead that federal agency. Late in 2021, Haaland signed Secretarial Order 3403, which clarified Interior’s and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s commitment to managing federal lands and waters in a manner that seeks to “protect the treaty, religious, subsistence, and cultural interests of federally recognized Indian Tribes.” Martel cites Yellowstone’s redo of its bison-management plan as a sign of progress. The under-development plan includes an option that would allow Yellowstone’s bison population to increase to its natural carrying capacity of about 8,000 animals—against the wishes of the Montana livestock lobby and government. “It’s pretty much supporting the direction the tribes want to go,” Martel says. Where Yellowstone lands in that plan remains to be seen.

Lee Juan Tyler, right, Donna Bollinger, center, and Darrell Shay, left, representing the Shoshone Bannock tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho, join a host of other tribal nations in signing a treaty pledging intertribal protection of grizzly bears in October 2016. The treaty, written ahead of the proposed delisting of the grizzly bear from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, brought tribes across the United States and Canada together in what was only the third cross-border intertribal treaty in roughly 150 years.

RYAN DORGAN

Elsewhere in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Indigenous advocates have primed the pump to make progress via formal policy. Yufna Soldier Wolf, a Northern Arapaho tribal member on staff at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, has led the charge on nominating 11 new “areas of critical environmental concern” in the Red Desert, a remote sweep of redrock and sagebrush south of the Wind River Range. The nominations will be reviewed by the Bureau of Land Management, which is under the oversight of Haaland’s Interior Department. Soldier Wolf told the public-interest news site WyoFile (where I’m a staff reporter) that the sites she seeks to protect include petroglyphs and other cultural resources created over centuries by tribes including the Shoshone, Ute, Bannock, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Crow. “A lot of times, tribes get left out on determining what should be protected and why it should be protected,” she says. The BLM’s Rock Springs Field Office is soon overhauling its resource management plan for the Red Desert, giving federal land managers a chance to improve on that exclusionary history. The door is open for the Bridger-Teton National Forest to do the same. The 3.4-millionacre national forest that flanks three sides of Jackson Hole is on the front end of redoing its own guiding plan. An Indigenous symposium to elevate tribal connections to the forest has been planned, according to Martel, and so has an inventory of important

Indigenous cultural resources on the Bridger-Teton.

Martel’s successors on the Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s business council have also been behind a push to grant their sovereign members rights to hunt and fish off the Wind River Indian Reservation. That right was enumerated in their 1868 treaty, which granted the Eastern Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock the right to hunt on “unoccupied lands of the United States,” so long as game was found and the peace was kept between Indigenous hunters and white people. For well over a century, the right was ignored—deemed extinguished by statehood and the creation of national parks, forests, and other federal lands where hunting and fishing is governed by state game laws. That changed in 2019 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Clayvin Herrera, a Crow tribal member who challenged the Wyoming Game and Fish Department after being charged with off-season elk hunting in the Bighorn Mountains. The high court ruled that Herrera and the Crow’s hunting rights on unoccupied, ceded lands were intact, overturning 123 years of legal precedent. The Herrera v. Wyoming decision opened the door for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe to push the state of Wyoming to grant its members offreservation access.

The state and Eastern Shoshone sought to work it out via agreement during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2023 session, but the effort unraveled after other tribes protested. Fort Hall Business

Council secretary Claudia Washakie, representing the Shoshone-Bannock, testified that stipulations in the agreement subjecting tribal members to state game laws were an affront to self-governance. “The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have never entered into any agreements that would constrain or otherwise impede our management authority under the treaty,” Washakie said. “And we will not engage in any negotiated agreement, as laid out in the proposed legislation.” Afterward, the Eastern Shoshone pulled their own support. Eventually, the bill died. The outcome of the offreservation hunting dispute is now left, once again, to the courtroom. Although decided in favor of Herrera, the U.S. Supreme Court tasked a Sheridan County, Wyoming, circuit court with sussing out what constitutes “unoccupied land” and whether state regulation of hunting in places like the Bighorns is necessary for conservation.

Still, cooperation—not continued conflict—is what Grand Teton National Park superintendent Chip Jenkins is striving to achieve. Along with the Yellowstone ecosystem’s other federal land managers, Jenkins is required to consult with Teton Park’s two dozen associated tribes when he proposes any major project. There’s plenty of room for improvement from the status quo. “The baseline is we send a letter, we say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this project,’” Jenkins says. “If we don’t hear anything back, we proceed. If we hear something back, we have a conversation. It’s

“ Yellowstone can once again change the world. Ultimately, re-Indigenizing Yellowstone can restore the shine to the nation’s original crown jewel and help ensure that all Americans can look forward to the park’s next 150 years and beyond.”

KEKEK JASON STARK,

AUTUMN BERNHARDT, MONTE MILLS, AND JASON ROBISON, IN THE 2022 PAPER “RE-INDIGENIZING YELLOWSTONE”

pretty minimal. It’s really clear from the tribes, that’s not what they’re looking for.” To remedy dissatisfaction, he’s looking into the spirit of the intention of tribal consultation—it starts with simple conversations with each tribe about priorities and needs. In those conversations, Jenkins has heard consistently from Teton-associated tribes that there’s a desire for better recognition and for the park to help reflect Indigenous history and culture. However small, the park is taking steps in that direction. “For example, at the [boat launches] at Pacific Creek and Jackson Lake Dam and here in Moose, we’re developing new interpretive exhibits,” Jenkins says. “In collaboration with the Shoshone-Bannock over at Fort Hall, we’re incorporating their language into the interpretive panels.” While readying for a Snake River float this summer, take a few minutes and learn what the Shoshone-Bannock call

different types of plants and animals in their native tongue.

Teton Park is also promoting Indigenous reconnection to its 310,000 acres by facilitating tribal members spending time in the park from which their forebears were expelled. Admission to Grand Teton National Park is free for any members of the park’s associated tribes, but there are more concerted efforts to get the park’s first people out to see the Tetons once again. For the past 44 years, there’s been an American Indian Guest Artist Program. Run out of the Colter Bay Visitor Center, the 20-weeklong summer program houses and provides space for 14 Native guest artists to display and sell their arts and crafts. For the past eight years, the park has also hosted a paid internship program, the Tribal Youth Corps, with support from the Grand Teton National Park Foundation. “We’re putting a real effort in to try to connect with the Wind River In-

dian Reservation,” Jenkins says. There are outreach efforts targeted at getting tribal members from the west out to Grand Teton, too. For the past nine years, the National Park Service’s Every Kid in a Park program has brought in fourth grade students from Blackfoot, Idaho, a community on the outskirts of the Shoshone-Bannock’s Fort Hall Reservation. “Blackfoot, it’s not that far away, but many of those kids have never come over here,” Jenkins says.

The outreach programs are one small step in the right direction, but Jenkins knows there’s a long way to go. “I’ve been hearing from tribal leaders and tribal elders that they’re looking for more collaboration, coordination, and co-stewardship,” he says. “We’re interested in having conversations about that; it’s unclear what that means, right? But that’s part of what needs to go on to maintain the existing tribal relationships we have and also work to build more.”

Guest artist Kelly Looking Horse is a Lakota Sioux from Pine Ridge, S.D.

For the past 44 years, there’s been an American Indian Guest Artist Program in Grand Teton National Park. Run out of the Colter Bay Visitor Center, the 20-week-long summer program houses and provides space for 14 Native guest artists to display and sell their arts and crafts.

BRADLY J. BONER

#LANDBACK MOVEMENT

Landback—a word often deployed with a hashtag—is a movement that demands the return of all lands taken from Indigenous peoples. In the United States, Landback picked up steam in 2020 after protesters blocked the highway that then-president Donald Trump was taking to access Mount Rushmore, a defaced part of the Black Hills, which is a sacred place to the region’s Indigenous Lakota people.

According to the Wyoming Law Review article “Re-Indigenizing Yellowstone,” landback carries a “kaleidoscope of meanings and often the baggage of misunderstanding.” To some, the term means a return of land to tribal stewardship and a “restoration of Indigenous land relationships.”

While it’s perhaps unlikely that Yellowstone or other reaches of the ecosystem are outright conveyed to its associated tribes anytime soon, the restoration of lands to tribal ownership is not unprecedented. In December 1970, former Republican President Richard M. Nixon returned tens of thousands of acres in the mountains east of Taos, New Mexico, to the Taos Pueblo people. “This is a bill that represents justice, because in 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved,” Nixon said at the time. “I can’t think of anything more appropriate or any action that could make me more proud as President of the United States.” JH

Members of the Landback movement at Old Faithful last summer.

JACOB W. FRANK / NPS

The Land is Alive

Having grown up on the R Lazy S Ranch, photographer and archeologist Matt Stirn knows the many aspects of its personality.

BY MATT STIRN

Igrew up on the R Lazy S Ranch a mile north of Teton Village. Nestled against Grand Teton National Park to the north, the Snake River to the east, and the Tetons to the west, our ranch is an oasis of lush aspen groves, cottonwood stands, and sagebrush flats. I often travel abroad photographing stories for magazines and working on archaeological excavations, but my home base is always the ranch, a place like no other. Strolling around it, I might see bears snuffling for hawthorn berries, large herds of elk thundering across the river, or wolves moving silently like shadows through the fog.

A coyote pup babysits his siblings while hunting for ground squirrels nearby. I visited this coyote family once a week for an entire summer and had the pleasure of watching the pups grow. The one sitting up became comfortable and curious with my presence and would trot to greet me each time I visited their home. He still lives on the ranch today and frequently mouses at the far end of our backyard.

Growing up in a wild place where everyday animal encounters rivaled the thrill of African safaris, I developed a deep fascination with nature and the love of capturing the world around me on camera. Summers, I visit coyote families as pups learn to play, photograph fledgling owls on their first evening hunts, and watch with amusement as newborn moose take their first wobbly steps. Exploring and photographing the same landscape day after day allowed me to see the land breathe and to get a special glimpse of its personality—something I’m convinced that every place has, but which we rarely stay long enough to see.

The ranch has always been a backyard made from a dream, and it has never been just my family’s. Since our first involvement, we have had the pleasure of sharing it with others. The R Lazy S has a long and colorful history as a dude ranch, continuing the tradition of inviting over 300 guests each summer to experience the “Wild West” on horseback. This summer is the R Lazy S’s 75th year welcoming guests.

I’ve found myself reflecting on this important milestone, a milestone not just in my life but also in Jackson Hole’s dude ranching history. My greatgrandparents first visited Jackson in the 1940s during the heyday of Western Americana, when people flocked to Wyoming in search of the adventurous lifestyle epitomized in the pages of The Virginian by Owen Wister, who happened to be one of the R Lazy S’s earliest owners (between 1911 and 1920). My great-grandparents’ vacations here were to dude ranches in GTNP—first to the Bearpaw Ranch; then, starting in 1948, to the R Lazy S, when then-own-

ers, the McConaughy family, transitioned it from a private ranch to a dude ranch. Nearly a decade after my greatgrandparents’ first visit to the R Lazy S, a large tract of pristine land along the Snake River came up for sale. It was to be one of the first large residential subdivisions in rural Jackson. By then, my great-grandparents had fallen in love with the valley. Without much of a plan for the land beyond preserving it, they purchased the entire tract.

Twenty years later, in 1972, the R Lazy S Ranch’s lease in GTNP was ending and the McConaughys were ready to transition away from owning it. Instead of the R Lazy S closing its doors forever, my grandparents, Howard and Cara, purchased the business and the ranch brand, and, over a single summer, moved all of the historic cabins to our family’s property. My grandparents and eventually my parents, Nancy and Kelly, continued R Lazy S’s dude ranch operations at its new location. Recognizing that the valley was rapidly changing and fearing that

For as long as I can remember, we have had a healthy population of moose living on the ranch, and they have continuously played an active role in our lives. From sleeping behind the car so I couldn’t go to elementary school to visiting our doorstep every Christmas morning, the ranch moose have essentially become extended family members. A few years ago, this calf was born outside of our bedroom window (as magical and harrowing as it sounds), and it has grown up in our backyard.

soon both wild spaces and the cowboy culture that Jackson was founded on would disappear, in 1981 the R Lazy S’s 325 acres became the Jackson Hole Land Trust’s first private conservation easement in the valley; the easement ensured the ranch would never be developed. While trying to help preserve tradition and wild spaces has become part of my family’s culture, life on the ranch is forever changing and never ceases to surprise.

Horseback riding has long been the central theme of any week spent at the R Lazy S. We keep around 80 horses in our herd each summer; this allows them to rotate between weeks and stay healthy throughout the summer. Many guests have ridden the same horse for years and look forward to being reunited every time they return.

The cowboy gear rental room is on the first floor of the ranch’s haybarn. While many visiting guests arrive with riding experience and a love for horses, we welcome many families each summer who have dreamt of playing cowboy but never had the opportunity.

Sunrise on the ranch in the early autumn brings me happiness—there’s something about the golden curls of steam that drift off Lake Creek, the haunting echo of elk bugles among the still aspens, and the subtle hints of the winter that is coming to the mountains. Pick any day of the year, and there will be plenty of wondrous and beautiful things to see on the ranch, but in the fall as the leaves shine brightly, the land seems to let slip its true personality.

The R Lazy S’s covered wagon catches the last hint of sunset during the final week of the ranch’s season. At the end of October, the crew leaves, the cabins are winterized, and the horses head to another ranch in central Wyoming (to return again the following spring).

Buck, a West-Texas cowboy turned R Lazy S wrangler, leads a horse-in-training toward one of the ranch’s several riding rings near the barn.

While we typically have a general idea about which animals are on the ranch, unexpected encounters continue to surprise us. One afternoon two years ago, an employee was cleaning a guest cabin when she noticed five pairs of grizzly eyes looking at her through the front window. It was the fabled Grizzly 399 and her four cubs. The family proceeded to spend three days on the ranch napping in the willows and swimming in our fishing pond.

An aerial view of springtime on the ranch when the entirety of Jackson Hole erupts in multiple shades of green.

Every summer hundreds of elk move through the ranch. While we always enjoy having herds on the ranch, the autumn rut when the bulls bugle and spar is simply amazing. One of the best places to watch the elk rut is out of our bedroom window, where I snapped this picture.

The main lodge is the centerpoint of everyone’s stay at the ranch. Built in 1928, it is home to the kitchen, dining room, kids’ room, and lounge. When the weather is chilly outside, relax with a book next to the lodge’s roaring fire.

I’ve tried without luck to take pictures of hummingbirds across Central and South America. Little did I realize that one of the best places I would find was on my parents’ back porch. Every day during the summer, hundreds of hummingbirds visit their flower garden and feeder. With a cocktail in one hand and my camera in the other, I caught this rufous hummingbird as he paused to glance at his reflection in my lens. Why fly for 48 hours when this is right out the backdoor? JH

SHACKS ON RACKS

OLD HOMES HELP WITH JACKSON HOLE’S HOUSING CRISIS?

// BY SUE MUNCASTER

avid Newby, the owner of Great Divide Earthworks, his wife, Anne, and daughters Kayla (13) and Victoria (10) lived in Afton, Wyoming, when Newby got a phone call they were all happy about. An old workmate wanted to know if Newby, who had been commuting the almost 70 miles (one-way) between Afton and Jackson for 18 years, wanted a new house. And, if he did, could he move the 1,250-square-foot home from West Gros Ventre Butte, between Jackson and Wilson, to wherever he and his family wanted to live in it?

The Newby family’s Afton home was cramped, and the girls shared a bedroom. Luckily, the family owned two five-acre empty lots in Etna (35 minutes closer to Jackson). Newby submitted a route plan to the Wyoming Department of Transportation less than a day after he got his former colleague’s phone call. Shortly after, Anne and the girls were walking through the house, which had been built in the 1980s, on West Gros Ventre Butte, picking out their bedrooms and figuring out where to put furniture.

Three weeks later, the 29-foot-wide home was moved, albeit not easily. Shacks on Racks, which facilitated the home’s relocation, says it was their “most technical move to date” because of the steep, tight switchbacks on the butte. The home, placed on a foundation with a basement, now sits in Etna surrounded by enough land to store Newby’s business equipment and to raise livestock.

Not willing to wait for slow-moving businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies to address Jackson’s housing crisis, 39-year-old Esther Judge-Lennox started Shacks on Racks in 2018. Her mission is to help working families find affordable homes, counter wasteful habits by promoting the reuse of suit-

CAN MOVING —rather than demolishing—

able materials, and stand up to the wrecking ball of progress by preserving historic homes and the legacies of the people who built and lived in them.

Along with one full-time employee, Ryan Dorgan, Judge-Lennox scours Teton County for pending demolitions and works to connect homeowners planning to redevelop their property with families in need of housing. Most structures leave Teton County, Wyoming, for Teton County, Idaho and Lincoln and Sublette Counties in Wyoming; Land-development regulations are less strict in these areas than in Teton County, Wyoming. With help from partners in the architectural, engineering, and structural buildingmoving worlds, Shacks on Racks decides whether moving a soon-to-bedemolished building is possible. The receiver pays the cost of relocation, and Shacks works to convince developers to donate part of their dump budget to relocate the structure.

As of January 2023, Shacks on Racks has saved 21 structures from demolition and diverted 1,205,150 pounds of garbage from the landfill. Developers have contributed a combined $193,050 of their dump budgets to help relocate homes.

Shacks on Racks came about organically, inspired by Judge-Lennox’s own housing crisis. After she and her husband, Philip, built a small house, they found they could no longer afford the mortgage. “Then we found out our neighbor’s house was being demolished and going to the trash. It blew my mind,” says Judge-Lennox. “I desperately wanted to be here. I was skimping and was frustrated enough to do something about it.” She and Philip found a 1940s craftsman-style cabin in Jackson that was about to be demolished. They paid $12,000 to move it onto their lot in Hoback, which was zoned for two homes. Thanks to the rental income this relocated home generates for them, the couple can now afford their own mortgage.

Judge-Lennox didn’t dream up moving homes and Shacks on Racks out of the blue. In 1998, as a young girl, she stood on a bridge over I-15 near Dillion, Montana, and watched the rundown “Roe Mansion” ride down the interstate. A gift from media mogul Ted Turner’s Red Rock Ranch, the restored historic Roe Mansion is now the administration building on the University of Western Montana campus.

In the words of Jackson Town Council member Jonathan Schecter, Teton County, Wyoming, is the “richest county in the richest country in the history of the world.” As a tax-friendly haven with spectacular scenery and world-class amenities,

Jackson Hole continues to attract new homeowners with high salaries and investment income who can work remotely. In December of 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that Teton County once again led

Shacks on Racks founder Esther Judge-Lennox in a 1960s-era home in East Jackson that was slated for demolition.

“I DESPERATELY WANTED TO BE HERE. I WAS SKIMPING AND WAS FRUSTRATED ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

—Esther Judge-Lennox

RYAN DORGAN

the nation in per capita income, and that this figure had experienced an astounding one-year jump of 44 percent (which equaled $97,404). In 2021, the per capita income of Teton County was $220,893. In 2022, it was $318,297. With this amount of wealth and only 3 percent of the land in Teton County held in private hands, housing prices have skyrocketed.

“The pace of Jackson Hole’s growth and change is accelerating faster than our ability—as businesses, nonprofits, or government—to understand what’s going on, much less effectively address and direct it,” argued Schecter last fall during the 22 in 21 Conference, an event sponsored by his think-tank organization, the Charture Institute. Teton County’s housing crisis is perhaps the most visible example of this. “We are trying to do things that no community in the world has figured out how to do,” he said.

MEET A FEW SHACKS ON RACKS HOMEOWNERS

TRISSTA AND JESSE MORGAN

A 1930s log cabin moves from Wilson to East Jackson.

Landscape architect Trissta Morgan says she “has thrift in her bones.” It was a necessity growing up in a very large Mormon family in the remote desert town of Boulder, Utah (population 400). After she married Jackson native Jesse Morgan, she says, “It was so hard for Jesse to watch the small homes of friends he grew up with torn down and turned into mega-mansions, and totally losing a sense of place where people take care of each other.” In October 2021, the couple moved the Meadowbrook cabin, which was originally built around 1930 along Flat Creek at Black’s Log Cabin Camp (near where TJ Maxx is today) and moved to the Huidekoper Ranch near the bottom of Teton Pass in the 1970s. They moved it onto a basement foundation next to the longtime home of Jesse’s grandparents in East Jackson. The cabin and Morgan family home, itself on the historic register, sit in what Trissta calls the “hold-out zone,” an area on Glenwood Street just south of the Center for the Arts. Other old buildings in this area include the iconic Gai Mode Beauty Salon. An addition custom-designed for Jesse’s mother will complete the cabin—which is considered an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, by the Town of Jackson—and provide a space for her to grow older while helping raise her eventual grandchildren.

KATIE AND MATT BLAKESLEE

A home moves from East Jackson to Victor, Idaho.

Due to construction supply chain and contractor workforce issues in the fallout of the pandemic, the price of building the dream home Katie and Matt Blakeslee had designed tripled. By March 2022, this made relocating a two-bedroom, onebath house with a garage from East Jackson to 20 acres they owned in Victor, Idaho, look like a great idea. What was advertised on the Shacks on Racks website (shacksonracks.com) as a “Quaint Home” was cut into three pieces before being loaded onto a semi that took it through Jackson, down to Hoback Junction, up Swan Valley, and over Pine

As of January 2023, Shacks on Racks has saved 21 structures from demolition and diverted 1.2 million pounds of garbage from the landfill.

Creek Pass to Victor. Katie nervously drove the pilot car. This was the easy part.

The Blakeslees had a difficult time finding contractors who had the time or willingness to take on the unique, challenging project of putting the home, which had originally been built around 1977, back together and connecting utilities. Matt had hoped experienced professionals would lead them in putting the house back together because, he says, “It was a huge puzzle with no roadmap.” Despite being a constant rollercoaster, the couple thinks it was worth it. They estimate that repurposing the East Jackson home cost them about one-third as much as building a new home. Whenever Matt gets discouraged, he takes heart in thinking about all the materials they kept out of the landfill.

THE LANGMANS

One garage and one cabin moved to a 50-acre farm in Teton Valley.

Judge-Lennox describes Aska Langman as “a powerhouse of a woman—really alternative, really motivated—who dedicates her life to saving baby animals and is as obsessed as I am with saving houses.” On a 50-acre farm in Teton Valley, Idaho, Langman and her family run Aska’s Animals, a nonprofit that houses deserted pets from pot-bellied pigs to puppies. Langman saw a Shacks on Racks move on social media in the summer of 2020, just as construction costs on a small home her husband, Will, was building on their property were increasing. She decided to give it a try. With the luxury of plenty of land, less-stringent land-development regulations in Teton County, Idaho, and Will’s experience as a builder, the Langmans were able to commit to being able to “move on a dime” with as little as 24 hours’ notice. In March 2022, they moved the old Coey garage (c.1945) from the Jackson Hole Historical Society headquarters on the corner of Glenwood and Mercill Streets. A year later, they moved a 400-square-foot log

cabin built in 1996 from Wilson. The garage cost about $10,000 to move, including the concrete slab it sits on; the 400-foot cabin cost about $15,000 to move. On the Langmans’s property, both buildings are still works in progress. The garage will eventually house Will’s carpentry workshop, and the cabin is being restored as a “dry cabin” (no plumbing) to use in the summer as a guest room. Langman estimates it would have cost them between $400 and $500 a square foot to build new. “Still, if my builder husband was not part of the equation, I could have never done it on my own,” she says.

MACK MENDENHALL

A cabin moves from Hoback Junction to South Park Ranches. After purchasing a home in South Park Ranches, local real estate agent Mack Mendenhall began scouring websites advertising government historic buildings being put up for sale. “I love history, and I wanted to have something significant and special to Jackson to add to our land,” he says. When Teton County opened bids on two historic cabins at the confluence of the Hoback and Snake Rivers, Mendenhall jumped at the opportunity to rescue a landmark he and his wife Katie had passed for years as river guides and on family floats.

Both Mendenhall and Judge-Lennox say the move was a nightmare. Teton County gave them only four weeks to remove all asbestos and secure a building permit (complete with engineers’ drawings). It was moved—after being cut in half—during a lunch break in the summer bridge construction on U.S. Highway 26/89 between Hoback Junction and Jackson. Despite the cabin’s roof surviving more than 80 Jackson Hole winters, according to today’s codes, it was not structurally sound and required a completely reengineered exostructure. “We’ve been writing checks right and left, but I still believe in the opportunity cost of repurposing and upscaling an old structure on my land,” Mendenhall says. “But really, the only way to describe this is a passion project.”

Matt and Katie Blakeslee grill burgers for the Shacks on Racks crew that moved a home, in three sections, from East Jackson to property they own in Victor.

In Judge-Lennox’s opinion, the major hurdle is getting people to visualize the sheer amount of material going to the trash when a home is demolished. She thinks that the government agencies and the public don’t even realize what’s happening when construction waste, estimated at two-thirds of Teton County’s total garbage, can’t be measured accurately because it’s trucked to unregulated salvage yards in Idaho (because this is cheaper than the Teton County, Wyoming, landfill).

If Judge-Lennox is the brains, Victor, Idaho, native Vern Woolstenhulme is the brawn that makes Shacks on Racks possible. Vern’s roots run deep—his family was one of the first to settle in Teton Valley; in 1888 his grandmother Lizzie was the first white child to be born there. In the 1930s and 40s, Woolstenhulme’s father used a team of horses to move small buildings in the winter when the skids could slide on the snow. Like his father, Woolstenhulme supplements farming hay, wheat, and beef cattle with income from other jobs like excavation and moving structures. As the family business, Teton Transport, amassed equipment and experience over the years (bulldozers, frontloaders, hand

jacks, and eventually “railroad jacks”), “People just kept calling us to move stuff,” he says.

Before being involved with Shacks on Racks, Teton Transport moved 10 or so structures a year, some as far away as Rock Springs and Salmon, Idaho. Working with Shacks on Racks, the company now moves up to 20. Because every project is different, it’s like a giant Jenga game figuring out exactly where to dig and how to place steel beams under the floor and lift the home with hydraulic jacks that can handle up to 240 tons, all while making sure the lavender tile in the bathroom doesn’t crack.

Woolstenhulme’s most disappointing moment was when a 5,000-square-foot house near Teton Village built in the 1980s with high-quality materials was demolished because the owner was too impatient to wait for the Teton Transport crew to figure out how to move it. “Growing up here, knowing that my ancestors eked out an existence, to see that kind of waste is, well, just sacrilegious,” Woolstenhulme says.

Although the financial and environmental advantages are enticing, a Shacks on Racks home isn’t for everyone. In addition to access to cash and land, you must have time and energy, be resourceful and gritty, and know people who can help. Everyone interviewed for this story mentioned their good luck in finding the rare, conscientious architect, machine operator, banker, or planning department employee who didn’t shy away because it was too hard or not as lucrative as other projects.

“Shacks on Racks provides a unique community service, transporting perfectly good structures and homes out of an existing location so that a home, studio, or workspace can live another life—all while saving space in our local landfill,” says Anne Cresswell, executive director of the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust. “We are always excited when we find a project for which Shacks on Racks can be a partner. Not only have they accrued significant expertise moving incredibly large objects around our regional road network, but their service helps give another family a home that otherwise would be demolished. If some of these transplanted homes can go to a local worker and keep them in the valley, then that’s a win.”

Vern Woolstenhulme, owner of Teton Transport, operates hydraulic jacks during the process of moving a home from East Jackson to the National Elk Refuge, where it is now used for employee housing.

RYAN DORGAN

JACKSON HOLE REAL ESTATE BY THE NUMBERS

(All statistics are for Teton County, Wyoming, unless otherwise noted).

The downpayment needed to meet the traditional 20 percent required by lenders when buying a $5 million home. $1 MILLION

Average sales price of a new home in the U.S. in 2022. $543,600

$5.04 MILLION

The average single-family home sale price in Teton County in 2022.

The average weekly wage in Teton County in 2022.

$1,256

The annual salary of a couple in Teton County if both make the average weekly wage.

2 $124,000

The number of homes under $1 million that sold in Teton County during all of 2022.

The number of homes listed for more than $7 million in Teton County at the end of 2022.

24

The square footage of the least expensive home for sale in Teton County at the end of 2022.

1,048

The average list price of the 77 homes on the market in Teton County at the end of 2022. JH

$1.13 MILLION $7.6 MILLION

The listing price of the least expensive home for sale in Teton County at the end of 2022.

play.

EXPLORE

WILD AND MILD ADVENTURES

Local Life

// BY BRIGID MANDER

Every spring, as soon as the weather allows, I enthusiastically ditch my car and use my bike to get around, whether running to the grocery store, shopping for clothes, riding to a trailhead, or meeting friends for dinner. Jackson Hole is an amazing and wonderfully easy place to get around by bike—minus the mountains surrounding us, it’s relatively flat, and there is an ever-increasing amount of amenities for cyclists. Thanks to pathways and bike lanes, you can ride around Jackson and from Jackson to Wilson, Teton Village, and even Grand Teton National Park separated from cars. Traffic jams and finding a parking spot aren’t issues on a bike.

We give you permission to gloat a little when you and your bike sail by traffic congestion on any of these itineraries.

JACKSON WEST—GOOD EATS WITH SHOPPING AND RELAXING IN A CREEKSIDE PARK

From the Town Square, pedal east one block along Deloney Street to the Willow Street bike lane. Take a right and follow it to the Snow King bike lane. Hang left here and, in a little more than a mile, you’ll find yourself in front of Picnic cafe 1 , where the pastries are as good as the cooked breakfast options are substantial. Fueled up, continue a block west on Maple Way to Target Plaza and Headwall Sports 2 , an excellent gear consignment shop full of stuff you didn’t know you needed as well as outdoor adventure essentials. When you’re done at Headwall, retrace your ride back to Picnic and, just after the cafe, take a right onto Powderhorn Lane. Powderhorn dead ends into Crabtree Lane, but you can continue across a bike bridge to Russ Garaman Park 3 . At the park, browse a Little Free Library or relax in the grass and enjoy Flat Creek burbling past. To get back to downtown, hop on the bike path and head upstream (it parallels Flat Creek for a while). When the pathway deposits you onto Elk Run Lane, you’re close to local’s favorite Pica’s Mexican Taqueria we recommend the margaritas and any dish that comes with the wet sauce.

When done by bicycle, these four adventures are favorites of locals.

Bollards along Willow Street provide provide safety for cyclists.

Russ Garaman Park is along the pathway system in West Jackson.

BRADLY J. BONER

MAPLE WAY

JACKSON EAST—AN ART MUSEUM, LUNCH, AND A HIKE

From the Town Square, pedal east on Deloney and hang a left on the Willow Street bike lane (to avoid traffic on the Square). Wrap around the front of the Teton County Rec Center 5 and then you’ll find yourself at an intersection with Cache Street. Take a right and in about a half-mile, you’ll see a paved pathway start. Move from the bike lane to the pathway and enjoy the views of Sleeping Indian across the National Elk Refuge. About two miles up, a tunnel under the highway connects to the National Museum of Wildlife Art 6 . This museum has a permanent collection of more than 5,000 artworks from artists including Carl Rungius, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Picasso. If you don’t want to pay the museum’s entrance fee ($18/adults; $16 for 65-plus; $8 for 5–18; 4 and under free), there’s a free 3/4-mile sculpture trail. Before leaving the museum, enjoy its restaurant, Palate, which has a bison gyro on the menu and an outdoor terrace overlooking the National Elk Refuge. Retrace your route to get back to downtown, but at the Broadway-Willow intersection, take a left instead of a right (a right brings you to the Town Square) and follow Broadway until almost its very end. A right onto Nelson Street and then, half a mile later, a left up to the hidden Nelson trailhead 7 brings you to a spot where you’ll leave your bike for a short hike. A 1.8-mile lollipop loop starts (and ends) here; take a rest at its midpoint on a bench overlooking town.

The pathway north from town has views of Sleeping Indian.

The Sculpture Trail at the National Museum of Wildlife Art opened in 2012 and currently has almost 30 artworks.

E. DELONEY AVE.

WESTBANK—TETON VIEWS, A TROLL, AND ESPRESSO

From Albertsons, cross Broadway Avenue and hop on the pathway that parallels Highway 22. Heading out of town, the ride is all Teton views. Four miles from Albie’s, a pedestrian/ bike bridge 1 over the Snake River has scenic pullouts. Once across the bridge, you’re in Rendezvous Park— R Park 2 —where there are mellow walking trails, riparian areas, ponds, a picnic area, and Mama Mimi the giant wooden troll. Funded by JH Public Art, Mama Mimi is an interactive sculpture created out of repurposed materials by Danish artist

Thomas Dambo. From R Park, ride a little more than one mile on the Wilson Centennial Pathway, which goes under the Village Road and through grassy meadows and Wilson neighborhoods before depositing you at a bike lane that you can take to “downtown” Wilson, where you can grab espresso and a bagel at Pearl Street Bagels 3 . The bagelry has picnic tables out back on the banks of Fish Creek. Next door to the bagel shop is Wilson Backcountry Sports 4 , a must-shop if you need anything bike related.

Rendezvous Park has mellow walking trails, riparian areas, ponds, a picnic area, and Mama Mimi the giant wooden troll.

THE ASPENS EXPLORER—SCENERY, SWEETS, AND SHOPPING

This is the bike adventure for those staying in Teton Village 5 . Leaving the Village, head south on the pathway, making sure to soak up views of the southern Tetons and the herds of cattle grazing in their shadow. After you roll over a bridge, look to the tops of the cottonwood trees for nests of ospreys and bald eagles. About four miles after leaving the Village, you’ll arrive at The Aspens 6 , a commercial hub with an outpost of the popular bakery cafe Persephone; Nest, which sells women’s clothing and accessories; Wilson Book Gallery; Made, which carries a selection of small-batch homegoods, jewelry, and accessories curated to bring delight and smiles; Westside Wine and Spirits; and Aspens Market, which makes sandwiches that are perfect for a picnic on your return ride. JH

TRUST THE SHOP THAT’S BEEN

SKIING & BIKING SINCE 1976

There is no better way to experience the glory of the Tetons than in the saddle of a road or pathway bike, or in the mountains on a mountain bike designed to handle all types of terrain. No matter what kind of ride you want, Hoback Sports has the best selection of rental and retail bikes in the valley.

Persephone Cafe West Bank is the perfect break in the middle of a bike ride.

BRADLY J. BONER

Sloshie Season

// BY SAMANTHA SIMMA

A FEW OF OUR FAVORITES:

Last summer, Rations, located at the base of Teton Pass in Wilson, reported pouring 400 sloshies in a single day. It’s hard to estimate what percentage of those sales went to Teton Pass mountain bikers or hikers, but it’s likely high. The most popular flavors here include passion fruit margarita and cantaloupe limeade. Rations also always has a nonalcoholic sloshie for the mocktail crowd. From $9; open Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; 5720 WY-22 Suite 1, Wilson; 307/201-1995, rationswilson.com

Believing in quality over quantity, Creekside Market and Deli keeps just two flavors on tap. One is always the Greyhound; the second is a seasonal concoction. Thanks to the popularity of the former, Creekside is the largest purchaser of grapefruit in Wyoming. On an average summer day, the market, which is one of the last stops where you can stock up on snacks for a day in Grand Teton National Park, sells more than 30 gallons of the ’Hound. From $9; open daily 6 a.m.–8 p.m.; 545 N Cache St., Jackson; 307/733-7926, creeksidejacksonhole.com

Jackson Hole Still Works slings sloshies south of Jackson, via a window to the company’s tasting room off Highway 191. Combining fresh-squeezed juice with Still Works Vodka and Great Grey Gin— both of which are distilled on-site—it’s not unheard of for the distillery to sell 150 sloshies on a hot summer day. From $9; open daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; 3940 South Eagle View Drive, Jackson; 307/699-8998, jhstillworks.com

This adult slurpee is a staple of Jackson Hole summers.

In its simplest form, a sloshie is a frozen concoction of sugar, ice, and liquor—vodka, tequila, whiskey … you name it.

BRADLY J. BONER

COURTESY PHOTO

AMBER BAESLER

Spinning in the slushie machines throughout Jackson Hole are frozen beverages that give the 21-and-older set a brain freeze with a buzz. These slurpees are not to be taken lightly; they will get you sloshed (hence their name “sloshies”). It was Creekside Market and Deli that first conceived of them, when it introduced the Greyhound, a mixture of vodka and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, in 2012. But today sloshies seem to have taken over the valley; almost every gas station, market, and liquor store offers them.

In its simplest form, a sloshie is a frozen concoction of sugar, ice, and liquor—vodka, tequila, whiskey … you name it. The alcohol content is usually between 7 and 12 percent.

“I am so obsessed with sloshies,” says Dishing magazine editor Allison Arthur. “They create the perfect summer deck happy hour at our house. They are a lot stronger than they taste, so one usually is enough.” Not all sloshies are created equal though: some, like Creekside’s, are made with freshly squeezed juices; others use premade mixes for flavor.

DECEMBER 8 – 10, 2023

South of Jackson—and convenient at the end of a float on the Snake River or after a soak at Astoria Hot Springs—Hoback Market has more than 10 sloshie flavors on tap at a time. Of the market’s consistent repertoire, the Mudslide ranks supreme—a sloshie with a heavy helping of chocolate and coffee in its recipe. From $6; open daily 6 a.m.–10 p.m.; 10880 US-89, Hoback Junction; 307/739-1367 JH

RUGILE KALADYTE

JACKSON, WYOMING

// BY SAMANTHA SIMMA

Jackson Hole’s wild and Western heritage comes alive for spectators of the Jackson Hole Rodeo beneath the arena lights of the Teton County Rodeo Grounds Wednesday and Saturday evenings from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day (with additional rodeos on Fridays during July and August). In 1890, Sylvestor Wilson accompanied settlers over Teton Pass to settle what is now Jackson Hole. Six generations later, the Jackson Hole Rodeo is a Wilson family affair. Brandon Wilson, Sylvestor’s greatgreat-grandson, says, “It’s the Old West—the closest you can get to the way things were.”

The location of the rodeo has changed over the years— moving from Jackson to the town of Wilson, then back to Jackson in the mid-1960s—but the spirit of competition has remained relatively unchanged: cowgirls and cowboys go boot-to-boot in a range of timed or roughstock (judged) rodeo events that include bull and bronc riding, barrel racing, and a variety of roping events.

Brandon Wilson, 49, grew up in a ranching and rodeo family at a time when Jackson had more ranches than hotels and opportunities to do rodeo were plentiful. “If you wanted to try to get on a calf, you just went to a branding,” he recalls. As Jackson has evolved, such opportunities have diminished, and rodeoing communities everywhere are aiming to increase ways for younger generations to get involved in the sport. Wilson says a goal of the Jackson Hole Rodeo is, “to provide opportunities to young people to learn and get better at the sport. People are always impressed with how involved the younger generation is, but the older generation can’t do the bull and bronc riding forever,” Wilson says. “I think we’re the only sport in the world where you root for your competitors. You want everyone to do well because it pushes you to do well.”

Between the thrill of the competition and the spirit of the Old West, the rodeo draws a following of contestants and spectators. Tickets from $33; 447 Snow King Ave.; 307/733-7927, jhrodeo.com

Bareback bronc riding is one of the most physically demanding events in rodeo and was conceived to emulate the breaking skills of a working cowboy. However, in modern times, the event is a highly stylized competition that requires riders to lean back on the bronc and spur in a specific manner that was never historically used in actual practice. The horses chosen for this event are specially bred to be strong and agile. “Riding a bronc is a ballet; it’s finesse, not muscle,” Wilson says. But, “People don’t realize how much force it is on your body. It pulls on every muscle.” Bronc riders want the horse to buck as hard as it can so it gets more points and then they, the rider, get more points. Not surprising, this event has a very high injury rate.

Barrel racing is a timed rodeo event in which a horse and rider aim to complete a cloverleaf pattern around three triangulated barrels—usually 55-gallon metal or plastic drums. The winner of this event comes down to the fastest time, and Wilson says that it can be won by one onethousandth of a second. A rider’s time depends not only on the condition of their horse, but also on their horsemanship and the condition of the arena’s ground. Horse and rider “must know each other on a superior level,” Wilson says. “You have to communicate [with your horse]; you can’t just go fast.” While both genders compete at this event at the youth and amateur levels, barrel racing opened the gates for women in rodeo, and as such, is predominantly a women’s event at the collegiate and professional ranks.

The only rodeo event in which men and women compete together equally, team roping allows single-gender and mixed-gender teams. Teams are of two and, together, they pursue a steer. The goal is for one rider, the header, to rope the steer’s horns—or neck, or one horn and the nose—before wrapping his or her end of the rope around their saddle horn. Next, after the head of the steer has been secured, the second rider—the heeler—ropes the steer’s hind legs. (If the heeler gets just one leg, the team is penalized.) A timed event, the watch stops when the two riders have immobilized the steer between their horses. The Wilson family still competes in the Jackson Hole Rodeo team roping event.

“Bull riding has always been at the forefront of rodeos,” Wilson says. “Because of the danger.” Bulls are selected for rodeos based on their strength, health, and agility, and later judged for a ride based on its power and speed. “They’re a beast to tame in the eyes of spectators, while the riders are dragon slayers.” For their part, riders are randomly paired with a bull and then judged on their rhythm and control—but only if they remain mounted for at least eight seconds with one hand on the rope. If cowboys touch their rope, the bull, or their own body with their free hand, they are disqualified. The total score of a ride is determined by combining the bull and rider’s individual scores.

REBECCA NOBLE

BRADLY J. BONER BRADLY J. BONER

COWBOY CAMP

Test out the cowboy life in a three-day camp at a historic ranch.

For five generations, the Diamond Cross Ranch family has carried on the legacy started by Fred and Caroline Feuz—immigrants from Switzerland who started one of Jackson’s first cattle ranches in Buffalo Valley, north of what is now Jackson Hole. For the second summer, it’s sharing the cowboy way of life with participants of its Cowboy Camp.

“Cowboy Camp is an authentic way to share our family’s—and Jackson Hole’s—Western heritage with people from around the world,” says Peter Long, great-grandson of the Feuzs. The hands-on immersive experience invites guests to stay at the ranch’s cabins while participating in activities including horsemanship, doctoring cattle, and range management. The camp is limited to 15 participants, and skill levels may range from experienced ranchers to novice and even first-time riders. Over the course of the three-day camp, instruction is provided by professional cowboys, and participants are paired with horses that have undergone extensive training by “horse whisperer” Grant Goliher. Including meals and lodging, the price per person starts at $2,500; 24340 Diamond Cross Rd., Moran, Wyoming; 864/354-8766, diamondcrossranch.com JH

Epic Rides SIX

One of these is perfect for you.

// BY BRIGID MANDER

The Teton Range and surrounding areas have a reputation for many things: wildlife, scenery, mountain climbing, and skiing, among others. Less-known but equally amazing is our biking—road, mountain, gravel—and the range of the different types of rides possible. “We have such a variety of terrain; with pavement, bike paths, dirt roads, and singletrack, there is something for everyone,” says Cary Smith, a competitive cyclist, racer, and shop manager at The Hub Bicycles, a bike shop in Jackson.

In no particular order, here are six of our favorite rides, from downhill mountain biking to an e-bike ride the whole family can do.

BEST FOR: BEGINNERS

START: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Resort

DETAILS: Lift-accessed mountain biking trails at all levels

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee both have bike parks with trails rated similar to ski runs— green for easy, blue for intermediates, and black diamonds for experts. While it’s the expert trails that are most often highlighted on social media, the easy trails—with smooth, banked turns—are the most popular with kids and the young at heart. Added benefits of riding at a bike park are 1) you can take a lesson, and 2) lifts do the hard work of getting you and your bike to the top of the trails. “Bike parks make it so attainable, even for little kids,” says Sara Fitzpatrick, a local teacher, avid cyclist, and mother to a four-year-old who loves to ride the JHMR bike park. “It’s so much fun to share what you love with your kids, and the lifts make it so easy and they get so much confidence riding.” JHMR’s green trails such as Lucky Charm, Buck Knife, and Buckaroo are perfect practice playgrounds, and base area amenities provide an array of food and other activities.

BEST FOR: DOWNHILLERS AND DOWNHILL CURIOUS

START: Phillips Trailhead, half-way up the Wyoming side of Teton Pass

DETAILS: About three miles with 1,200 feet of descent (0 feet of ascent).

On Teton Pass, for the padded, full-face-helmeted, big-suspension crowd—and those interested in being part of this crowd—there’s Jimmy’s Mom to Parallel, two flowy, well-signed trails that link together. Built in partnership between Teton FreeRiders and the Bridger-Teton National Forest, these trails are downhill bikeonly and directional specific (down) and don’t have the steeps of some other Teton Pass trails. Making them a great downhill adventure for groups of riders at different levels, both trails have jumps riders can catch serious air off, and every jump has a goaround that doesn’t require your tires to leave the ground. (The USFS requires that all jumps on downhill trails have a no-jump option.) You’ll want to leave a car at the Old Pass Road Trailhead so it’s waiting for you at the bottom.

BEST FOR: E-BIKE ADVENTURERS

START: Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center

DETAILS: 25 miles, with about 700 feet of elevation gain

Rent an e-bike in town and follow the paved pathway north from town alongside U.S. Highway 191 and the National Elk Refuge. Your end destination, Dornan’s Pizza and Pasta Company, a restaurant just outside the Moose entrance of Grand Teton National Park, is 11 miles away, through sagebrush steppe where it’s possible to see wildlife from migratory songbirds to raptors, elk, pronghorn, moose, mule deer, and bison. You’ll hit Gros Ventre Junction about six miles from the start. Stay straight. Five miles past this, turn left at Moose, take a tunnel under the highway and then take your first right, which will bring you to Dornan’s, lunch, and, if you snag a table on the rooftop deck, some of the valley’s best views of the Tetons.

JAY GOODRICH

BEST FOR: GRAVEL GRINDERS

START: The Judkins Parking Area, near the corner of Reece Road and W 14250 N, north of Tetonia, Idaho

DETAILS: 25 miles with about 1,800 vertical feet of ascent/descent

Like the Around the Block ride (described on the following page), the Jackpine-Pinochle Loop can be done either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The latter gives you the best views of the Tetons. Whichever direction you go, this loop on gravel and dirt roads is uphill for its first half and downhill for its second half. From the Judkins Parking Area, ride south on the AshtonTetonia Rail Trail for about three miles. Near the intersection of Reece Road and W 12000 N, turn left onto Pinochle Road and begin a gentle climb through aspen and pine forest up about 1,800 vertical feet. At the intersection of Pinochle Road and Rammell Mountain Road—after about 11 miles of climbing—you’ll be at the loop’s high point, 7,200 feet. Stay on Pinochle Road here and prepare for 10 miles of mellow downhill. The downhill ends in the rolling agricultural fields of Teton Valley; pedal through these for about one mile, and you’re back at the Judkins Parking Area.

DINA MISHEV

BEST FOR: ROADIES LOOKING FOR A CHALLENGE

START: Stagecoach Bar in Wilson

DETAILS: 108 miles with about 6,000 feet of ascent/descent

So much about the Tetons is considered extreme, and a ride “Around the Block” popular with local roadies is no different. This block is more than 100 miles long and includes riding up (and down) Teton and Pine Creek Passes. This loop can be ridden clockwise or counter-clockwise. To get Teton Pass out of the way early, ride it counter-clockwise. From the Stagecoach Bar at the base of Teton Pass, hop on the pathway heading west. When the pathway ends in about a mile, take a gentle left onto Old Pass Road. A little more than a mile up this road, it closes to cars; bikes can continue to the top of Teton Pass. Atop Teton Pass, jump onto Highway 22 and descend down to Victor, Idaho. At Victor’s lone stoplight, take a left onto Idaho Highway 31, which goes up and over Pine Creek Pass (a much easier climb than Teton Pass) and into Swan Valley, Idaho. Where Highway 31 ends, take a left onto U.S. Highway 26 and ride down through Swan Valley. This stretch is rolling, brings you back into Wyoming, and eventually has you alongside Palisades Reservoir. At Alpine, take a left onto U.S. Highway 89. From here it’s 32 miles to the Highway 22 intersection in west Jackson, where you take a left and ride a final eight miles on the pathway back to where you started. 1 2 3

BEFORE YOU GO

E-bikes are restricted to designated motorized trails in both the Caribou-Targhee and Bridger-Teton National Forests.

If you’re lucky enough to see wildlife, give them space, even if it means turning around on your ride.

Mountain bikers should carry bear spray (and keep it somewhere accessible).

BEST FOR: CRUISEY CROSS-COUNTRY ENTHUSIASTS

START: Cache Creek Trailhead, Jackson

DETAILS: 12 miles if you have a car parked at the end (Game Creek Trailhead) with 1,500 feet of ascent/descent; 20 miles and 1,800 vert if you ride back to the start via a pathway

Cache-to-Game might be the most classic Jackson Hole cross-country singletrack ride. For local accountant and avid mountain biker Rachel Stam, even 25 years of riding it doesn’t dull the attraction. “I love this ride,” she says. “It’s so climbable, and riding down Game is so fast and smooth and beautiful!” While this ride isn’t super technical, it will be most enjoyed by intermediate and above mountain bikers. From the Cache Creek Trailhead in East Jackson, take the rolling (but mostly uphill), shaded Hagen Trail to a forest service access road and then jump back on singletrack around mile four, where you turn onto the Game Creek Trail. Here, there’s one last short-butpainful climb up to the Cache-Game Divide, and then it’s a four-ish-mile flowy downhill through wildflower meadows and aspen groves, past beaver ponds, and along Game Creek to the Game Creek Trailhead. Whether you’ve left a car here or ride the seven-ish miles back to Cache Creek on a bike path, consider stopping at the Bird for beer and a burger on the way home. JH

BRADLY

J.

GO! JACKSON JACKSON

y Get a burger and shake at Jackson Drug (p. 30).

y Cook some Carpenter Cattle Co. wagyu, available at Sweet Cheeks Meats (p. 76).

y Try the elk tenderloin at the Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse (p. 68).

y Pick up some Cream + Sugar ice cream sandwiches at Bin 22 (p. 72).

y Do an appe-tour around the Town Square (p. 54).

y Check out the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s free Sculpture Trail (p. 94).

y Go to the Jackson Hole Rodeo (p. 158).

TETON VILLAGE

y Experience joy at a Grand Teton Music Festival Concert (p. 94).

y Visit the Top of the World (p. 94).

y Try Piedmontese beef at Corsa (p. 68).

y Bite into a bison ribeye steak at Westbank Grill (p. 68).

y Bike from Teton Village to the Aspens for shopping and a sweet treat (p. 152).

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

y Practice responsible tourism (p. 120).

y At Dornan’s in Moose, visit ArtShop and then wander over to the bar for a drink and pizza on the rooftop deck. (p. 80).

WILSON

y Hike the History Trail (p. 38).

y Grab a sloshie at Rations (p. 156).

y Go downhill mountain biking on Teton Pass (p. 162).

FARTHER AFIELD

y Hike up Hoback Peak (p. 38).

y Check out the historic Swinging and Astoria Bridges over the Snake River (p. 44).

y Float the Teton River (p. 46).

CALENDAR

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

OLD WEST DAYS

Old West Days is a 10-day celebration of Jackson’s heritage and includes Elkfest, the High Noon Chili Cookoff, Old West Brewfest, Cowboy Church, Million Dollar Music Fest, and more.

JUNE

10 JACKSON HOLE HALF MARATHON

Take this unique opportunity to run or walk from Teton Village into West Jackson. jhhalf.com

17 PLEIN AIR FEST, ETC.

Plein air painters create works while the public can watch on the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Sculpture Trail. Collectors bid on the artwork later in the afternoon. wildlifeart.org

22–24 JACKSON HOLE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

Celebrate food, wine, spirits, and brews at this three-day event. jhfoodandwine.com

JULY

04 GRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVALPATRIOTIC POPS

Events below are based on information and Covid-19 conditions/restrictions as of mid-May 2023. Please check with organizers to make sure the global pandemic has not further affected their event.

ONGOING

JACKSON HOLE RODEO

A long-standing Jackson tradition, the rodeo shows off Jackson’s cowboy culture. jhrodeo.com

YOGA ON THE TRAIL

Do downward dog surrounded by sculptures of wildlife art and overlooking the National Elk Refuge at these free hour-long yoga classes at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Led by teachers from several valley yoga studios, the classes are B.Y.O.M. (bring your own mat). wildlifeart.org

JACKSON HOLE PARAGLIDING

Tour Teton Village from above. No experience is necessary to fly tandem with a professional pilot. jhparagliding.com

JACKSON HOLE PEOPLE’S MARKET

Browse fresh, local produce while enjoying prepared foods, music, and beer

Wednesdays from June into September. tetonslowfood.org

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART

This museum takes an expansive view of the wildlife art genre with its 5,000-plus-piece permanent collection. wildlifeart.org

MAY 19–29 OLD WEST DAYS

The 42nd annual Old West Days celebrates Jackson’s rich history with live music, theatrical entertainment, arts and crafts, food, rodeo, and more. jacksonholechamber.com

Guest vocalists Nikki Renée Daniels and Jeff Kready join the GTMF Orchestra to present a program of Independence Day favorites at the Center for the Arts Park in downtown Jackson. gtmf.org

21–23 58TH ANNUAL ART FAIR

JACKSON HOLE

This outdoor, juried art fair draws artists and artisans from across the country while raising money for the Art Association of Jackson Hole. On the Center for the Arts lawn. artassociation.org

22–30 TETON COUNTY FAIR

This is the ultimate slice of local life, with games, rides, 4-H competitions, and concerts. tetoncountyfair.com

AUGUST

18–20 58TH ANNUAL ART FAIR

JACKSON HOLE

This outdoor, juried art fair draws artists and artisans from across the country while raising money for the Art Association of Jackson Hole. On the Center for the Arts lawn. artassociation.org

05 RENDEZVOUS MOUNTAIN HILL CLIMB

This is one of the toughest mountain running races out there, climbing 4,200 vertical feet over 6.1 miles. jacksonhole.com

SEPTEMBER

06–17 JACKSON HOLE FALL ARTS FESTIVAL

Free and ticketed events celebrate the valley’s art scene. jacksonholechamber.com

SAVE THE DATE SUMMER 2023

Last Word Jam

// BY TIM SANDLIN // ILLUSTRATIONS BY BIRGITTA SIF

August—I’m tooling down from the park where I’d visited my secret blueberry patch. Two yearling bears had beat me to the good stuff. They were both a reddish dark brown, about the color of an extra-hot cinnamon matcha. The smallest bear took one look at me and climbed an aspen. The other bear ignored me like he was a teenager in a mall.

My immediate problem was I didn’t see the mother.

Here’s my daily nature lore tip: if there are bear cubs in your patch, find the mother or go home.

So, I headed south toward Jackson, and I came over the hill and right there at the Fish Hatchery, traffic ground to a halt. I mean, a few SUVs and tour buses came toward me in the other lane, but my lane was frozen like a dog’s water dish in winter.

In my imaginative mind, I pictured the stoplight at the elkhorn arch on the Town Square. The light turns green. The huge mass of pedestrians surges across; two colorblind women from Victoria, Texas, bring up the rear, slow as molasses in that winter I mentioned earlier, and one single car, at the very end of the yellow light, turns right.

The entire line of cars, trucks, and buses, from the Square three miles back to me at the Fish Hatchery moves up one car length and stops.

Should you think I’m exaggerating, check out the webcam at that intersection. It’s more entertaining than Netflix.

After 20 minutes of move-a-little, stop-a-lot, my car phone buzzed. I’ve had my Outback a couple of years, but I’d just learned how to use the interior phone it came with. You push a button that looks like an earmuff and you shout, “Can you hear me?” and either my wife or daughter says, “Of course I can hear you, you dolt.”

No one else calls me dolt, so this is like a personal ringtone.

I said, “I’m trapped in traffic.”

My wife, Delores, said, “So am I.”

We exchanged locations. You already know mine. At least I had a nice view of the Elk Refuge.

Delores was stuck in the right-turn lane on Broadway, heading out Highway 22, or, as some locals call it, the 405. The line backs up from Wilson to the five-way Bubba’s light. If today is a wreck day, you might be in that spot for several hours. Otherwise, one hour will take you the six miles from town to Wilson where the Teton Pass Tai Chi practice starts. Pickups in slo mo.

Delores said, “You ever hear of a band called Acid Reflux?”

“Are they Rastafarian?”

“They’re old. Ancient. And their van broke down in the right lane so we all have to merge left to get around them. Two codgers seem to be unloading a drum set to get at a jack.”

“That’s going to back up clean through town to me at the Fish Hatchery.”

Delores said, “[Dirty word]. No one in Wyoming knows the zipper merge.”

“What’s a zipper merge?”

“And if you try it, people honk their horns and flash rude hand signals.”

That’s when my car said, “Incoming call.” It had to be my daughter, Florence. Everyone else texts little emojis I don’t understand.

I yelled, “Can you hear me?” Florence—also known as Last Word Florence because of a habit she has—said, “I’m stuck on Snow King, between the rodeo grounds and the library.”

“Don’t cut over to Broadway. It’s gridlock.”

“There’s a beer truck with Utah plates trying to back into a driveway. People are getting out of their cars and waving their arms, some signing, ‘Come on back. You’re clear,’ others yelling, ‘Stop. You’re about to crush a bollard,’ and the rest yelling, ‘Go back to Utah.’”

I’ve asked various town leaders and politicians about Jackson Hole traffic, and every one of them said, “We’re better than Los Angeles or Washington, D.C.” My shoulda-said to that is, “I don’t live in Los Angeles or Washington D.C. on purpose.” Wyoming has almost the same population as Tulsa, and we have a lot more room to spread out. Why should it take one hour to go six miles?

The Kia Niro EV van in front of me hadn’t moved the last two times the line crept up a car length. I figured the jam drained his charge. Suddenly this Dodge Ram with a European siren for a horn blared A-OO-GA and flew around me and the EV, forcing oncoming traffic off onto the shoulder and into the Elk Refuge fence. The truck’s mud flaps were silhouettes of naked playgirls.

After he got past the van, he slid back into his own lane, risking his life and the lives of others to gain 50 feet of asphalt.

Also, just as suddenly, two little boys aged 8 to 10 came flying out of a construction site outhouse on the hill side of the road. They scurried to the EV and jumped in as the outhouse exploded through its roof and fell on its side.

Effluence fell like a monsoon rain.

Throughout history the world over, boys cannot resist throwing bombs down outhouse holes. Who can blame them?

“My car just took a [bad word] shower,” I said to Florence.

She didn’t answer for a moment, then she said, “My traffic jam is still worse than yours.”

My comeback was quick. “Oh, yeah?”

She said, “Yeah.”

After we cut off the car phones, I finally came up with what I should have said. My should-of-saids always arrive 10 minutes too late.

I should have said, “The jam you’re in is always worse than the jam you’re not in.”

That would have shown Florence.

compares.

Only one brokerage provides a legacy of real estate experience backed by unwavering consistency. Nothing