"Unplug" At Jackson Hole

Above, a view of Jackson Hole from the Jackson Hole Aerial Tramway. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last summer, a friend and I headed into Jackson Hole, Wyoming for some camping, visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, shopping and whitewater rafting. It is a vacationer's paradise.

KSL.com has listed five reasons to "unplug" at Jackson Hole in a new article.

Above, inside the Jackson Mercantile store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

They begin with:

Long before the west was settled, a place called Jackson’s Hole was little more than a beautiful valley, appreciated only by the fur trappers and traders who made their way through the area. 

Now, Jackson Hole has become a popular destination for people from all walks of life. Flanked by a pair of the world’s most majestic mountain ranges, Jackson Hole is a place unlike any other and is a nostalgic throwback to the American West. 

While an obvious destination for winter adventures, Jackson boasts a variety of equally exciting and fun reasons to visit in the summer; here are five of them.

Above, yours truly rafting the Snake River. Photo by Float-o-Graphics.

To read more, go here. 

Social Distancing On A River Raft

Above, yours truly (right) rafting last summer on the Snake River. Photo by Float-o-Graphs.

Last summer, I did something that I hadn't done since the late 1980s: white water river rafting.

The occasion was when a friend and I went to Jackson, Wyoming for camping and visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I went with the Dave Hansen Whitewater company for some rafting on Wyoming's Snake River. I had a great time. During the raft trip, we saw two bald eagles.

This year is a little different with social distancing, but the rafting companies are adapting.

According to the Jackson Hole News & Guide:

In any year not as strange and off-putting from the jump as 2020, David Cernicek would see a steady stream of large groups rafting the Snake River in 20-minute intervals during the busiest days of the season. 

That’s not the case this year, and it won’t be. Still, the Bridger-Teton National Forest river manager is overseeing an industry finding ways to paddle through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Coming out of the gate it was, ‘How can we do this?’” he said, “because there were people who believed we couldn’t do it.”

Chief among the limitations on rafting this season is the amount of people who can occupy one craft. This summer the Bridger-Teton is not issuing its traditional group permits for parties of more than 15 people. 

Cernicek said restrictions like that have been managed well on the commercial side by whitewater outfitters. For private parties from outside Wyoming, though, there’s been pushback. 

“There’s a lot of unhappy people, mainly from out of state, that would like to be bringing their usual groups like they do every year,” he said. “It’s very understandable, and they do want to know if commercial outfitters are being restricted as well. 

“The folks that don’t really believe in COVID being a real virus, they seem to be much angrier.” 

Reports of substantially less angry river-users came from Dave Hansen Whitewater and Scenic River Trips’ Bud Chatham. After months of uncertainly about the future of the business in 2020, Chatham said his team is just happy to be back. And the customers, too, are keeping their distancing but in the same boat.

Above, a final photo at the end of the raft trip last summer. Photo by Float-o-Graphs.

To read more, go here. 

Snake River Whitewater Rafting

Back in July, I did some whitewater rafting on the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming with Dave Hanson Whitewater. A separate company handled the photographs of the raft trip.

About a day after the raft trip, I ordered a couple of 5 x 7" prints of the trip, but they never arrived.

Last week, I called up the company and they told me they were mailed a day or so after I ordered them, which was around July 31.

They re-sent the order and it arrived in today's mail.

Here's the prints:

Above, our raft hitting the "Big Kahuna" rapids on the Snake River. Photo by Floatographs.

Above, after we were done with our rafting and before we went ashore. Photo by Floatographs.

2019 Travels Are Over (Well, Almost)

Above, J. D. Lees and Armand at G-FEST. Photo by Reagan Lees.

With the exception of the fall clampout of the Lost Dutchman Chapter of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus near Oatman, Arizona in late September and a Christmas trip to my cousin's, my travels for this year are over. (Of course, that could always change if something interesting should come up.).

It seems like I spent most of July away from New Mexico.

Above, catching up with Jessica Tseang at G-FEST. Photo by Steve Ryfle.

First, I spent a couple of days in Albuquerque to get a haircut and get a few things done, including a visit to Cabela's.

Then, a few days later, I headed to the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois for the first G-FEST I've attended in ten years. I was amazed, but not surprised, at how the convention had grown. In years past, the average attendance was somewhere around 1,500. Today, that had multiplied to around 3,000 to 4,000. It is now a tight squeeze at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois (near O'Hare International Airport). It was good seeing a lot of people at G-FEST that I haven't seen in a while. I was out-of-town for the convention for four days. Getting there was painless, getting back home was anything but. I have decided that I shall avoid flying on American Airlines, if I can, in the future.

Then, after a little over a week's respite, I headed on the road for Buhl, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming in The Beast with Mitch Geriminsky. We were going to the Wells Fun Run car show and rally in Wells Nevada, but one of our friends, Bill Wilson, has a life-threatening illness and couldn't go, so we and many others headed to his home in Buhl instead. The gathering seemed to give Bill a boost. I've known Mitch and Bill since junior high school.

Above, Mitch Geriminsky, Bill Wilson and Armand in Buhl, Idaho. Photo by Linda Wilson.

From there, Mitch and I headed to Jackson, Wyoming for a few days and rode the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram and I did some whitewater rafting on the Snake River (great fun!). We also explored Grand Teton National Park and took a drive through southern Yellowstone National Park up to Old Faithful Geyser. I wasn't planning on going to Yellowstone due to the hordes of people there. But we ended up going.

Above, rafting the Snake River in Wyoming.

I got home last Saturday. The trip ended up being a 12-day trip. By the time I got home, I was ready to be home. This was my longest trip since the Great American Eclipse trip two years ago.

So now, I am settling back into a normal homebody routine. 

More Whitewater Rafting Photos

Here are some more photos from my rafting trip down the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming.

Wells Fun Run and Whitewater Rafting

Later next month, Mitch Geriminsky and I will be heading back to the "scene of the crime" at Wells, Nevada.

The "crime" was my little medical emergency that led to my having two stents put into an coronary artery in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Hopefully, this year I will be able to enjoy the Wells Fun Run. As I was flown out of Wells by a helicopter air ambulance, I completely missed the Wells Fun Run as it started a couple of hours after I was stricken.

Above, the "Purple Gang of the California Republic" rafting down the Kern River in 1985.

Thankfully, the heart attack happened at the right time, where there were people around, so that quick action was taken. I was told later that my pulse rate went down to 24.

This year, provided all goes well, following the Wells Fun Run, we'll be heading into Wyoming for some R & R and do some whitewater rafting on the Snake River. Mitch has never rafted before, so he's in for a treat! This will be the first time for me since the late 1980s.

I am looking forward to it.