Number 42

After an uneventful flight, intermittently punctuated by 10 second power naps, I glanced out the plane window and saw a large mountain staring back at me. I was briefly taken back to a fly-by of Mt. Fuji I experienced about ten years ago. It is at the same time inexplicably fascinating and utterly disconcerting to look out a plane window and see a huge hunk of rock and ice at the same altitude

Seconds later the plane bounced down the runway as we decelerated and turned toward the terminal of the Jackson Hole Airport. After descending the stairs onto the tarmac, I looked up and was awe-struck at the bigger than life vista of the Tetons. They are far by no means the tallest mountains I have ever seen, but to understand the true reason this group of mountains are so famous you have to understand that Jackson Hole itself is a very unique place. Technically a valley, really its more like a very flat plain from which the Grand Tetons rise without warning to straight up to heights exceeding 13,000 feet.




This moment also marked my first in Wyoming, the 42nd state I have visited and which would, by the next morning, be the 33rd state in which I have spent a night. After letting a noble steed to convey us upon our journey (more details to come). We grabbed our bags and hit Jackson for lunch at a sports bar called Sidewinders. I had a green chile smothered burger with sweet potato fries (yum), while Sara enjoyed a country fried steak. We stocked up on snack foods at the Jackson Whole Grocer (nice name), including a curious creation called chocolate tortilla chips, and headed off to spend the remaining few hours of daylight checking out the Grand Tetons National Park.




We squeezed a lot into a few hours: checking out Jenny Lake (which reminded us of our friend MJ), driving to the top of SIgnal Mountain (where we watched a couple of deer wander across a nearby ridge), crossing the Jackson Lake dam (where a pair of Sandhill Cranes stood in a nearby marsh), and getting some great views of the Tetons from the eastern shore of Jackson Lake. Exhausted, we wrapped up our day by checking in at our home for the next two nights, the Togwotee Mountain Lodge within Teton-Bridger National Forest. And enjoyed incredible meals (chicken etouffee and pork tenderloin) at the lodge's Grizzly Steakhouse. A very full day, but an excellent start to our vacation!

~Shawn

- Posted by Shawn from our iPad

Location:16 miles east of Moran, WY