Fall in the Hole

Summer stretched for 117 days in Jackson Hole - between the last snow of spring on June 9 and the wet snow that hit the valley on October 6.
While strict calendar adherents assert the season starts at the summer solstice and ends with the fall equinox, I am a believer that frozen flakes falling from the heavens are a more tangible sign of changing seasons! The unfortunate result of this early October storm, was a shortened season of yellows, oranges and reds that we were thoroughly enjoying...it was shaping up to be a glorious Autumn!

The conditions are pointing to a repeat of last year's La Nina winter, including ample winter and spring snows bombarding the valley. So while it may be difficult to let go of the warm-weather, there are many hardcore Jackson residents who are pushing the season already - yes there were people skiing the Teton Pass and the Grand Tetons this past weekend! The bottom line - four months of glorious summer; eight months of winter...time to get out the coats, boots and skis!

Here are some pictures of the beautiful Autumn colors! I must admit that the addition of the snow capped mountains has been a sensational reminder of the ever-changing beauty that beholds Jackson Hole.

Bella thinks that the yellow leaves match her yellow coat!

Yummy Bear Food!

The Aspens are gorgeous!

Hiking on an overcast day is even spectacular!

Cooler temperatures, colorful leaves = perfect swimming weather for Bella!

View from my kitchen window

Backyard in full fall color!

Rainbow ending right in the Snake River in our backyard - where are the leprechauns and gold????

Fall Sunset

One of our resident visitors; snacking in the backyard!

Good Morning Snow-capped mountains!

Fall waters @ Phillips Ridge Hike

I am finding that my point & shoot camera does not do a respectable job of capturing the rich, deep colors that we are enjoying - so come on out and visit! Although the temperatures are getting cooler, there is still plenty of fun to be had before the snow blankets the valley. We are still hiking and mountain biking every weekend and the wildlife are migrating into the area. There have been road closures right here in the Valley due to the Grizzly Bear activity - YIKES!

Hunting season is in full-swing (I am sure that is not a term that hunters use to describe it - but what does a girl from Kansas know). There are constant rings of gunfire and texts from my friends saying, "he just got a 6 point !" Hope we get invited over for dinner!! Here is something that you probably never thought you would see Barry doing:

Barry admiring our neighbor Kurt's Bison kill that he got on opening day of Bison Season!
Kurt, you da man! (He is also the one who got the 6 point elk this weekend!)

Ah, the beautiful Wild West - we are still loving it!

SUMMER REWIND 2011 - Hiking & Biking

Roughly 500,000 people call Wyoming home. That makes the “Equality State” the least-populated state in the U.S. The number of tourists that come to Jackson Hole annually is more than six times the state’s population! So we welcomed the beautiful summer weather alongside millions (literally) of tourists in our small town. The weather definitely over-shadowed the throngs of tourists found in and about town, cameras around their necks, always! The only suggestion that I would give the tourists is “don’t stand in the middle of the intersection to get the perfect picture of the Antler Arches on the Town Square." Next year I may not be as patient!  We had plenty of wildlife sightings in early summer. After the wildlife headed North into Yellowstone, the most dangerous thing we had to avoid on the roads was this:

You would not believe the number of RV rentals we saw...SCARY!

Here is a brief overview of hiking and biking this summer:

• Hiking….hiking and more hiking. Ashley was great at choosing some very challenging and beautiful hikes. The trails are never-ending, and one was more beautiful than the next. We found ourselves on new trails almost every weekend. We did much more hiking outside of Grand Teton National Park, since dogs are not permitted in National Parks. As you can tell by the pictures, Bella LOVES to hike, and there are plenty of great trails in the National Forest and around town to keep us all happy! Hope to keep more detailed fact tracks of our hikes next year – would be fun to look back at the mileage, elevation gains/loss, etc.  I currently have our hikes recorded by color-coded “degree of difficulty” and a few field notes (Barry thinks it is funny, but it comes in handy when company arrives and is looking for a specific type of hike)! Here are some of our highlights~
• We hiked with Ashley to the Summit of Jackson Peak - the tallest peak in the Gros Ventre Mountain Range. There was still quite a bit of snow at the top, so it was a very strenuous, but very rewarding hike. Our favorite hike to date!

Lunch break @ Goodwin Lake, before the final ascent to Jackson Peak

It was difficult to find the trail, and to hike through all of the snow (unless you were Bella)!

Ashley & Barry almost there. I took any opportunity to stop and take pictures (and rest) - especially at the final ascent!

WE MADE IT!!!!

• We hiked Teewinot Apex (in Grand Teton National Park) when Paige was out visiting Ashley. The Apex Trail starts up the East Face of the 12,325-foot Teewinot Mountain.

Teewinot here we come!

Overlooking Jenny Lake

Pretty girls in pretty flowers!

Happy Hikers! Enjoying the beautiful falls on Teewinot.

• Black's Canyon/History Trail - Hike from the bottom of the Teton Pass to the Top!

Top of the Teton Pass - Black's Canyon

Hiking up the History Trail amongst the gorgeous flowers!

Granite Canyon - GTNP

Granite Canyon

Top of Alkalai Ridge - Gros Ventre Mountain Range

Granite Hot Springs

Shoal Falls

Josie's Ridge

Summit of Rendezvous Mountain - Top of the Tram

Bradley/Taggert Lake Hike - GTNP

Bradley Lake - GTNP

Hidden Falls with our best buddies - GTNP

Inspiration Point with Shayna & Terri - GTNP

Snow King Summit with Harvey & Kim

Putt-Putt (Cache Creek)

String Lake - GTNP

Atherton Ridge

String Lake with (Mighty) Lia and Zak

Snow King with Mike

Ferrin's to Summit of Snow King with Lori& Jim

Cascade Canyon - GTNP with Mazureks & Greiners

Biking…mountain biking and pathway biking are both fantastic out here! I am a bit skittish of the downhill side of mountain biking, so I opt for the trails that have less elevation gain. Barry has been much  more adventurous in that category.

That's Barry in the blue shirt waiting in the lift line at the mountain resort. You ride the lift up and then ride down the mountain. I was a spectator this day for sure!

Bikes ride up on the chair lift too!

Mountain Biking on Cache Creek

 My favorite is the pathway biking in Grand Teton National Park – stunning!

Now you have an idea of what has been keeping us so busy this summer! We were thrilled that we had so many visitors to share the fun and adventures! Already counting down to Summer 2012~



Winter Wonderland…in October???

Well, as many of my loyal blog followers (ok, so I'd like to think you are out there, humor me!) may have noticed, it seems as if I had fallen off the face of The Grand! Not so, I have just been busy enjoying every minute of my first Jackson Hole summer season. "WOW," is the simplest way to describe it! So why do I finally have time to blog today?

View to the backyard from our deck - SNOW! October 6, 2011!!!!

View to the side yard - MORE SNOW!

Should I have brought the pansies inside? Thought that they could last at least through October! OOPS!

These are the pictures from the top of the Tram on our first snowfall, 10-06-11. For some reason everyone in JH is "Happy" about this!!
They sent out an email promoting skiing in JH with these pictures today - ugh people, it is October!

Yes, summer/fall came to a dramatic end yesterday with the accumulation of 3” of snow! Hard to believe since Barry & I spent last weekend hiking and mountain biking in glorious 80 degree weather.

Although I knew that summer would not last forever, I was at least hoping that Fall would slowly usher us into the long winter season. No such luck, the beautiful fall colors were quickly stripped from the trees this week with a day of rain followed by a day of snowfall. And to think that when this happened last year, on October 24^th, I was shocked at the “early arrival” of winter! Funny thing out here, you remember the exact dates of season changes – we received the “gift of summer” on June 22; and the arrival of winter on Oct. 6^th! I guess we anticipate for so long, and then the “changes” are always dramatic. Hopefully summer will make an earlier curtain call next year!

Needless to say I am a bit disappointed, but happy to be blogging again (always a silver lining)! And I must admit that I can’t complain, since our new home has 360 degree views of the beautiful Jackson landscape. So I blog to you today looking out at the snow-covered fields bordering the Snake River (not a bad view, I must admit).

My kids don't think that I have a legitimate job, but I sit here today in my "office" sending out this ever-important blog!

Yes, Ashley arrived home last night for her Fall break and was surprised to get off the plane (in her shorts and T-shirt she donned as she departed from the Texas heat earlier in the day) to find a snow-covered winter scene. We are thrilled to have her home for a long weekend and are quickly re-engineering our plans for the weekend due to the recent weather activity…skiing anyone?

So what have we been up to for the last three months that I have been “AWOL?” Well to recap it all may put you into a long winters’ nap, so I have decided to bullet point the highlights, throw in a few pictures, and invite you out to look through our thousands of pictures/scrapbooks if you need more detail! Check out the next Blog entry for “Summer Rewind 2011.”

In the meantime I exalt, "Welcome Winter," it has been such a short summer that my winter coat is still warm!