The "Hole" Story - Part One

We spent the last week vacationing in my favorite place in the whole world, Jackson Hole Wyoming. This trip was originally planned months ago between Beth, her sister and brother-in-law Pam and Bill. The idea came about last year at this time when we were in Banff Canada.

Bill wants to become the upper-intermediate downhill skier. But the only time he can learn to ski is during his “Spring Break.” After getting the skiing itch last year in Canada, we headed to Jackson this year to continue the tradition.

Our trip started as early as Friday, Feb 27 as Beth and I headed to Chicago to stay overnight outside of O'Hare. This way we wouldn't have to get up as early and travel to the airport. Everything went smoothly getting out of O'Hare, though the check-in line was a bit long. Airline travel has sure come a long way; computerized check-in, you now have to pay to get a box lunch and security... just because some knucklehead tried to blow up a plane by being a “shoe bomber,” we all now have to take off our shoes before heading onto the plane. But the strip search and cavity check we have for security went swiftly.

We arrived in Jackson, WY and met up with Pam and Bill. Grabbed a rental SUV and we were off to the Snake River Lodge in beautiful Teton Village. Our first stop after checking in was to one of the finest drinking establishments on the planet, The Mangy Moose (sometimes known as “the Moose”). Sadly, it was disheartening to see that new development has now obscured a substantial view of the slopes from the Moose. The last time I was in Jackson Hole was in 2004 and there has been a lot of new development since then. This includes a new, $30 million tram that carries 100 people the top of the mountain in 10 minutes. But a few pitchers of Moose Drool, things were off to a great start. Upon leaving the Mangy Moose, Beth and Bill arranged a snowmobile tour for the next day to travel along Grey's River south of Jackson.

Later that afternoon, we met up with Dennis, which to keep a long story short, adjusted his travel plans to fit ours when his Jackson Hole travel plans fell apart. Dennis opted to stay at the Alpenhof Lodge, which is located next door to the Snake River Lodge. We all ate (and further drank) at the Alpenhof. I have stayed at the Alpenhof a few times before and found it to be an excellent place. Nowadays, it a bit of old school as it is probably now one of the older hotels in the area. They still use real, metal keys for the room doors.

Sunday, March 1 - Early in the morning, we all met in the lobby of the Snake River Lodge at 7:30 where the snowmobile tour personnel were to pick us up to begin our excursion. We also had one other stop at the local Hostel to pick up 2 more people where were on the same excursion as us. This was a Pennsylvania ER doctor, David and his 15-year old son Eli. They were very nice and fit well in our group.

Our first stop was for breakfast which was included in the tour package. And it was a good breakfast; probably the best we would have for the week. We eventually got into Alpine, Wy where our snowmobile adventure would begin. Our tour guide Dave gave us plenty of debriefing on the operation and riding of snowmobiles. It was going to be primarily trail riding, but there would be plenty of places where you could “play around” and ride up an down hills and hit some deep powder. One stop we made was up about 8,000 feet in elevation where we could take pictures.

Along the tour, poor Eli almost ran his sled into the Greys River; Pam had troubles starting her sled from time to time and Dr. David got stuck in deep powder. But no drastic mishaps took place that day.

Lunch was also included in the tour package. We stopped at a place called the Box Y Ranch... don't ask me why they named it what they did. At the front of the cabin was an baby/adolescent mule deer that you could walk up to and pet. His name was Joe. For lunch, I ordered the grilled cheese, fries and cup of chili. Very good. This had to be the best chili I've ever had. Very tomato-ie. Everyone else seemed to have ordered chili and grilled cheese as well. After some rest and a potty-stop, we were back on the sleds to continue our excursion.

It was probably around 3:30 or 4pm when we finally got back and re-fueled the sleds. Our trip back to Teton Village was probably a good hour. It may have been a long day for us, but Dave the guide had even a longer day.

We finished our day at the fireplace bar of the Snake River Lodge having drinks and eating nachos and pizza.