Walleighs at Jackson Hole, March 2010
Flying in from Raleigh, Boston and San Francisco, Rick, Wendy, Adrian, Diana,
Bryan and Ericka met at the Jackson Airport bar on Feb. 28, 2010.
Turns out that Adrian knitted ski hats for all of us, so we pulled on ours
matching hats, had a beer together, then drove to the condo about 30 minutes
away. All but Wendy (and Erika who left Wed.) skied Sunday to Thursday
which enabled Rick to earn his gold Jackson Hole belt buckle for
skiing 1 million vertical feet, Adrian his silver buckle for 500,000 vertical
feet, and Diana her pin for her first 100,000 vertical feet.
On Friday, 5 of us rode on our own snowmobiles the 9- mile round trip inside
Yellowstone Park to see Old Faithful, bison, mud pots, and thermal pools.
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say the landscape of the Grand Tetons (Above Far L), Teton Village
(Above L) and Jackson Hole ski area (Above C) is stunning is an understatement. (Above R) The Gang of 6 in matching ski hats (knitted by Adrian) poses before the lower ski lodge. Then it was time to get on the tram (Above Far R) which holds 20+ people. |
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(Above Far L) The tram certainly looks small as it takes off near
the bottom of the mountain then looks like a toy (Above L) as it climbs over a mountain notch. The full-size trees look like twigs (Above C) on the mountain lower peak. But that doesn't stop our intrepid family (Above R & Far R) from plunging off the mountain top trail. |
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(Above Far L) Behind Rick is a mountain shrouded in fog. (Above L)
Diana points to "our" personal trail, Wally World. (Above C) Bryan and Diana relax on the gondola ride, then he leads the way (Above R) down the trail. Once again, the perspective is amazing (Above Far R) when you see tiny dots on the slope--skiers--and large trees. |
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(Above Far L) Ericka and Diana hang out with their friend, Sasquatch
then (Above L) the Walleighs pose under one of the 4 twinkling arches made of elk antlers--which are naturally shed annually) comprising the corner entrances to Jackson Square. One evening before dinner, we relaxed (Above C & R) on saddle-topped stools at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson. (Above Far R) The rewards of 5 days of hard skiing thousands of vertical feet: gold and silver belt buckles and a pin! |
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After suiting and booting up at the Jackson snowmobile center, we
drive for an hour to the (Above Far L) Yellowstone entrance, where (Above L) Wendy mentally prepares then joins (Above C & R) Adrian and Diana on our individual machines for our 45-mile trip past the Continental Divide (Above Far R) into the park. |
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(Above Far L) After riding past the bizarre landscape of distant
bison nibbling on tender grass between snow and thermal pools and geysers, (Above L) we stop to meet the bison by the side of the road, appreciate (Above C) the timely, impressive spouting of Old Faithful Geyer, and the strange beauty of the (Above R & Far ) multi-colored, algae-covered thermal pools, blurping mud pots and baby, steaming geysers. |
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