My last blog post ended with us arriving in Jackson Hole, WY, the gateway to Yellowstone National Park. On this trip, Yellowstone was our ultimate destination, but there was so much beauty along the way that we ended up staying a bit longer in Jackson Hole than we had planned.
You might remember from our stop in Omaha that we enjoy trying local craft beer. The brewery we chose to visit in Jackson Hole turned out to be our favorite of the entire trip! Snake River Brewing is Wyoming’s oldest brewery, and they have the process perfected. We enjoyed it so much that we ate there twice in our short stay. We found the ambiance welcoming, the servers friendly, the food fantastic and the beer refreshing! If you plan on visiting Jackson Hole, be sure to check them out.
We are not snow skiers, but we are mountain lovers, so we decided to get the best vantage point of the beautiful Tetons. We took the Aerial Tram skyward to an elevation of over 10,000 feet! This gave us the view from “The Top of the World,” a half-mile easy trail that only takes about 20 minutes to hike. In the short 12-minute tram ride, we were treated to some of the most breathtaking views of the trip.
If you decide to hike one of the many trails in the Jackson Hole area in the spring, summer or fall your sense of sight and smell will be delighted by the many wildflowers in bloom. We were there in August and were treated to beautiful clusters of Silver Lupine, Indian Paintbrush and Larkspur – I name these as they were the ones I could identify. A wildflower book and my Mountain Air Drive Time® Wheel Spinner® would be a lovely way to lose myself in the Wyoming landscape.
We spent three days there, ending our stay with a walk downtown where we found several rock shops. One had the biggest geode we had ever seen. The inside was so sparkly and beautiful. What a site to end our visit on.
We then made our way to Yellowstone National Park. Due to the popularity of this park, we made reservations near the north entrance. We checked into the lodge, and then my husband headed down to the Yellowstone River to do some gold panning. Breweries and gold panning were high on his list of things to do.
I decided to hang out at the lodge, unpacking a bit and settling in. I opened the drapes and found myself face to face with eleven elk! They were majestic, eating low-hanging leaves and looking in my hotel window. I called my husband because I was sure he’d want to see them, but the calls kept failing. I was about to give up when he came pulling into the parking lot. He rolled down the car window and took some great pictures all the while keeping a safe distance. He had been having his own dealings with an elk on the other side of the river where he was gold panning, and it took him awhile to make his way safely to the car.
The next day we headed into Yellowstone National Park, the oldest national park in the country. We were able to see the Old Faithful geyser erupt and walk the Fountain Paint Pots boardwalk. We enjoyed the gurgling, boiling and steaming activity of the geysers and colorful mud pots. Yellowstone is about 2,000,000 acres and teeming with wildlife. The buffalo act like they own the place, so visitors beware. Remember, they were there first.
While in Yellowstone we got a call from some friends from California who were visiting Helena, MT so we decided to make a detour and head there since it was only a 2.5-hour drive, and we’d get to see more beautiful scenery. I’ll save that and Glacier National Park for the next blog.
Lori Herr for The Gift of Scent