July 1, 2005
Day 45: Hoback River to Jenny Lake
A glorious, blue sky greeted me this morning - but it was awfully chilly, too.
I rode along the Hoback River to Granite Creek and tried to hitch a ride to the hot springs with no success. Instead, a young guy who had had trouble with alcohol and job came up to me out of the blue and started recounting his story. Why? I don't know. So I told him mine and gave him my XIV-year chip. I hope he will be okay.
I decided to hot-foot it to Jackson. Boy, it is crazier than ever, A zillion cars and tourists, but I caught a noon meeting at the Browse and Buy. Then I took a much-needed shower and stopped by Off Broadway to visit with John Gonella. Such a nice guy - and he was soooooo tolerant of me when I worked there. I told him I missed the restaurant scene. He said he was ready to call it quits when the lease expired. Anyway, the real estate is too valuable for a small cafe with a deck. So in a few years, the best restaurant in Jackson will be gone.
I rode up the hill to see Dana Ahrensberg at Snow King. You can hear his laugh all over the hotel! We reminisced about all the "old folks" and laughed about our many foibles. One of my favorite memories is when we took the big, flatbed truck over Teton Pass to Idaho to get a 30-foot Christmas tree for the main lobby. I mean, we got paid to hike up a snow-covered mountain, inspect every tree, cut the biggest, baddest one out there, and then slide it and ourselves down back to the truck.
Then it was off to do laundry. I finally left Jackson for Grand Teton Park after five - with a great tailwind - but, boy, was it hot and muggy. Just north of town there is a rise where you see the first panorama of the Tetons. It still is stunning.
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I worried much of the way that there wouldn't be any hiker/biker campsites left, but there were. And as always, there were some car folks snitching them. I was over at the camp store when two young guys from Bozeman pulled in on their bikes. I shared some of my cookies and told them about the hiker/biker sites which they didn't know about. I had a nice, long talk with my brother, Tom, then I sat on the shore of Jenny Lake and watched the sunset. After all these years - I still love the Tetons.
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 2,357 miles (3,793 km)
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