July 22, 2024
Welcome to Jackson Hole, Wyoming! As the kids rolled in, we all began to trade names and stories and play fun games. The new people, new place nerves were quickly extinguished by the great company. We left the airport and made our way to camp. Time for a campfire, pizza, and s’mores. We watched the sun go down over the Tetons as we had our first Moonup. We shared gratitude and talked about our goals and expectations for the trip. Time for bed! There are mountains to be climbed in our future.
Today was the first full day of our trip! For breakfast, Campbell and George fixed up some eggs and sausage. We filled our bellies and headed to the mountains to go climb. Let the adventures begin. Upon arrival, we met with our guides and started suiting up. We took a short walk towards the mountain and loaded into the gondola to get to the top of the mountain where the big rocks are. The nerves were brushed off quickly when we started with a bit of bouldering at the top. The guides called it ‘getting to know the rock.’ After some reps to get the blood moving, we were ready to move. We tied in using the figure-8 knots we learned just moments before and headed up the huge rock slab one after another. They must have specially selected this group for skill and athleticism. It seemed like everyone had rock climbed many times before. Either John was trying to set speed records or it really was just that easy for him. The guides couldn’t hardly belay fast enough. After a long day of rock climbing and rappelling, we descended and made our way into town. We got a sneak peek of the town of Jackson, which was exciting. After grabbing some necessities, we made our way back to the campground. When we got back to camp, thunderstorms were threatening in the distance. But I think our good energy scared the storms off. So it’s Tuesday. You know what that means: tacos! Ella, Lauren, and Maddie did a delightful job cheffing up some tacos for us to enjoy for dinner. So delicious. To put the cherry on top, our leaders of the day, Ty and Amelia, even surprised us with some brownies for dessert. We wrapped up the day with a sweet Moonup which ended with plenty of games and laughs. Thank you Pterodactyl game, number game, and moo-offs. Time to rest up for another day of climbing tomorrow.
We woke this morning with mountain-climbing dreams still fresh on our minds. It’s day two of climbing. With one day already under our belts, we were ready to hit it hard. We headed into the Tetons to meet up with our guides again. We collected our gear: ropes, helmets, harnesses. Check, check. Ready to go. But first, we took a ferry across beautiful Jenny Lake to the base of the mountains. We spent a full day climbing lead ropes and top ropes. We even got to do some rappelling. At one point, I spotted Brooks rappelling off an overhanging cliff face. Wild man. I didn’t realize that Henry R. and Henry H. were right behind him. After climbing, we were hot and sweaty and ready to cool off. Thankfully, we were on a lake. A cold, cold, glacial lake. It was a very refreshing and breathtaking swim. After the swim, we headed into town to cook up some dinner. Pesto pasta and Italian sausage were on the menu. After filling our bellies, it was time for the Jackson Rodeo. That’s right. Upon arrival, we explored the inventory of rodeo merchandise and concession stand goods. Ty and both Henrys invested in a cowboy hat. And George, Henry H., Amelia, and Ella rode the mechanical bull, showing us how it’s done. We settled into our seats and enjoyed the rodeo. We saw bull riding, team roping, bronco riding, and barrel racing. After the rodeo, we made our way back to camp to get some sleep before a big day of fishing tomorrow.
Before the sun came up, we were suited up and ready for fishing. We met the guides and shuttled to the put-in. The air was still cool on the river and anticipation was building as the guides put the boats in the water. We loaded up, three to a boat. We fished the Snake River. The Snake is famous for its cutthroat trout. They are a fun, hard-fighting native fish. Our morning was full of hungry fish jumping after our flies. We fished intensely for hours, pulling fish out of the river left and right. It seems that Dilara won the biggest fish and the most fish award. She landed a cutthroat of a lifetime. So cool. We unloaded at the boat ramp and thanked our guides before heading to lunch. We made a quick lunch in the park. Then we had an idea: what better thing to do on a hot Western summer day than to get Moo’s ice cream? Delicious. Cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, mocha, huckleberry. I’ve never tasted ice cream like this. We deserved a reward after the fishing we did anyways. We loaded up back in the van and made our way to a different campsite near the Gros Ventre wilderness to stage for our upcoming backpacking excursion. We pitched camp and did a backpacking crash course. Included in the curriculum was how to pack a backpack, water purification, backcountry stove setup, and wildlife safety. We stayed up around the fire, laughing and playing games before Moonup.
The next morning we woke up and fixed up a big breakfast to fuel us for backpacking. We loaded into the van and bounced our way down a rocky dirt road to the trailhead. At the trailhead, we double-checked that we had all our gear and had our packs fitted right. Then we were off. Almost immediately, we were stunned by a beautiful view of the river valley we would be hiking up. Not a half hour into the hike, we were crossing creeks. We wound our way up the valley, along the river, to a beautiful lunch spot next to a waterfall. Here, we ate and took a quick nap to refuel for the second half of the hike. The second half of our hike cut through a spring creek meadow. We walked and talked and were at the campsite before we knew it. When we got there, we set up camp, but it wasn’t long before the girls were swimming and some of the guys were trying to catch fish in the river. As the sun began to set over the tall mountain ridges, we made our way back to camp to start dinner. Ella and Henry R. prepared ingredients for Mexican bowls. We feasted and then sat around the fire. We turned in early, tired from a long day of hiking.
Waking up in the backcountry is a great thing. It is quiet and serene. It is even better when you wake up to the smell of M&M pancakes hot on the stove. Our mid-morning pancakes tasted as good as they sound. And everything tastes better in the woods anyway. We enjoyed a slow morning, but we didn’t have too much time to waste. There were places to see and fish to catch. We packed a few bags and hit the trail once again. We climbed up to a beautiful little glacial lake. We made a fire and made some pan pizzas when we got there. After putting food in our bellies, it was time to fish. Before we even finished, Ty and Henry H. had rods in hand. They were ready to add to our success the day before. It wasn’t long before both of them were hooked into beautiful brook trout. We lingered at the lake for a while. Afterwards, we hiked back down to our previous camp and rested our legs for a moment. For dinner, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in July. We made bacon mashed potatoes, cranberries, green beans, rolls, soup, and sausage. With full bellies, most of the group took a walk to go see the waterfall from the top while some stayed to help with dessert. Because you must have dessert with Thanksgiving, we had peach cobbler to finish off the meal. After a sweet Moonup, we headed to sleep.
Time to get out of the woods. The group was eager to get up early and see the sunrise as we started our hike. And that we did. After a convenient oatmeal and granola breakfast, we threw packs on and hit the trail. In record time, we made it out of the backcountry. This is probably because Brooks made a deal with Jake and Lucy that if we made it out by a certain time, then we could get burgers from Pinedale’s famous burger barn. They agreed. What better motivation to hike fast? Sure enough, we made it out with enough time to get there. And so, with tired legs, we sat down at the barn and enjoyed some big, juicy burgers as a reward for our hard hiking. This crew was so deserving. They killed it in the backcountry. Time to get back to Jackson home. We got back to the campsite, got unpacked and reorganized from backpacking, and started cooking dinner. Henry R. and John prepared a fresh caprese salad while Jake grilled some chicken and veggies over the fire. It was a great meal. The highlight, though, was definitely George’s homemade, hand-cut, Cajun Parmesan fries. And yes, those are exactly as delicious as they sound. He killed it. We ended with a sweet Moonup and we’re so excited for rafting.
Trip shoutouts to the wonderful families of our awesome kids:
Ty says he loves and misses his family.
Brooks wants everyone to know that the trips good and everyone’s great! Henry Roberts says he misses you and loves you and wants you to say hi to the dogs for him.
Dilara says she’s having a lot of fun and she loves you.
Ella says she loves you and she’ll see you soon.
Amelia says she misses you guys and she’s having a lot of fun and she loves you.
Campbell says Wyoming is beautiful and she is having a great time. She misses and loves you.
Lauren says she loves and misses you guys, but she’s having a lot of fun here.
Maddie says the trip has been a lot of fun and we’ve done a lot of cool things, but she loves and misses you guys.
Henry says he misses you and hopes you are having a fun time in Europe.
John says he’s having a lot of fun and he loves you all.
George says he loves you and misses you and wants you to tell Margaret hi for him.
Again, these kids are killing it. Until next time,
Jake and Lucy