BREAKFAST CRUISE

We celebrated Ann's birthday by taking a breakfast cruise on Jackson Lake.  Our company operates two touring boats, each with a capacity of about 45 passengers, for scenic cruises, breakfast cruises, and dinner cruises.  We left the marina at 7:30 a.m. and were docked at Elk Island in the middle of Jackson Lake by 8:30.  Paul is shown below getting warm by the campfire on Elk Island.

The meal is served buffet style with the cooks, first mates, and boat captains all sharing in the serving duties.  The cooks are taken to Elk Island before sun-up to prepare the meal on site. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, fried trout, and pancakes never tasted so good!  There was also a selection of freshly cut fruit, croissants baked earlier in the morning before the supply boat left for the island, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and orange juice.  

Paul is about to partake in the feast with Mount Moran in the background.  You can still see plenty of snow, especially on Skillet Glacier, which is the patch of white just to the left of the center.  It is named Skillet because it is shaped like a skillet with a "handle" that leads towards the top of the mountain.

While we were finishing our meal, a resident mule deer named "Matilda", came visiting. Yes, it is named Elk Island because there is a large herd of elk, but there are also mule deer.  Lore has it that the wildlife swims out to the island to escape the bears on the mainland.  
At first, Matilda was hiding in the bushes.

Then, Matilda decided to come closer to the camera.

This photo was taken right before boarding the Teewinot to go back to the marina.  The boat is named after Mount Teewinot, which is the 6th highest peak in the Teton Range at 12,325 feet.  The large "depth charge" on the top of the boat is actually an inflatable life raft.

DINNER AT THE BAR J RANCH

We decided to visit the Bar J Chuckwagon Ranch for a traditional cowboy supper show experience.  Dick and Sheri, our friends from Wyoming, came along with us on a delightful summer evening.  The Bar J feeds over 750 guests in less than 25 minutes with a meal consisting of meat (steak, pork ribs, BBQ chicken breast, or BBQ beef), baked potato, cowboy beans, chunky applesauce, biscuit, spice cake, and beverage (coffee, lemonade, or ice water).  The meal is  authentic cowboy from the cattle drive days of the early west.  Remember, refrigeration was non-existent back in those days so fresh vegetables including salad fixings were not on the menu. 

If you look closely, you can still see plenty of snow on top of the mountains in the background, even in mid-July.   

This carved arch welcomed us to the eating area.  The singing bears on the roof reminded me of the "Country Bear Jamboree" at Disney.

We were offered biscuit appetizers, made in authentic dutch ovens and served with honey.  The cowboy below is taking some baked biscuits from the large baking dutch oven to a smaller dutch oven used to keep the finished biscuits warm.  Dutch oven baking is done with cast iron "ovens" that are put on a bed of coals with more coals put on top of the lid.  The lids to the left have a ring of coals around the lid.

We wandered the grounds and found this cattle skull among the antiques and other relics.

Paul is seen here sitting in an old-style swing made from wagon wheels.  It would have been "too touristy" to take a photo in front of the bear on the right. 

We then entered the dining hall where old boots and saddles, complete with dust from who knows when, adorn the rafters for decoration.  You can also see the edge of a Texas state flag hanging from the rafters on the right.

 

After the meal, we were entertained by singing cowboys who told the story of the old west with song and humor.  Many of the songs were sung without musical background, and the harmony was much appreciated by the sell-out crowd.  There was also some outstanding fiddling and banjo playing--not because we are judges of music but because the accomplishments and awards of the individual musicians were noted during the introductions.

During the winter, the Bar J Wranglers tour the western U.S. performing shows similar to the show we saw this evening.

IDAHO FALLS CHUKARS

We drove about 2 1/2 hours to Idaho Falls to "get away" from the touristy environment of Jackson Hole for a change of scenery.  We followed the Snake River for most of the drive to the Potato State.  We got our Walmart fix by purchasing many staple items, had a good meal at a nice restaurant (the lobster bisque was outstanding), and got to see a minor league baseball game too.  

We stayed overnight in a hotel, had a long hot shower using all the hot water we wanted.  In the RV, we take "military showers" getting our body wet, soaping-up, then rinsing off with the purpose of conserving hot water and also not putting too much water in our "gray tank" (sink and bath water with the "blank tank" being from the toilet). 


Paul is pictured with the Chukar mascot, who did a good job of engaging the fans during the game.  The crowd was about 2,200, which isn't bad for a surprisingly warm weekday night.  What is a Chukar you ask?  It is a species of bird introduced in the western U. S. for hunting purposes.     

The Idaho Falls Chukars are the Pioneer League (short season A level) team of the Kansas City Royals.  These players are mostly new draftees from the June baseball draft of high school and college players and have been playing together for a over 3 weeks.  The opposition was the Casper Ghosts, a Colorado Rockies team.  The baseball was more offensive oriented as both teams combined for a total of 7 errors.  

The Chukars have a hot tub picnic area located in right field with the hot tub just over the first base umpire's right shoulder in the picture below.  Not quite as deluxe an environment as Chase Field in Phoenix where the All-Star game was played earlier this week.  

The Chukar's won the game to even their record at 9-9 for the season.

THE SYMBOL OF OUR COUNTRY

We took a short hike around parts of Jackson Lake and were thrilled to see this bald eagle watching over it's territory from a dead lodgepole pine tree.  Bald eagles are found near large bodies of open water; Jackson Lake being roughly 15 miles by 7 miles with a depth in excess of 435 feet at its deepest point.  They get the white head when they reach sexual maturity which is usually the age of 4 or 5 years.  Bald eagles are not actually bald, but the name comes from an older meaning of "white headed".

Our weather has been fantastic with no clouds in the sky most mornings, as you can see from the photo below.

LUNCH FLOAT TRIP ON THE SNAKE RIVER

Since the weather has been so nice with the temperatures in the 70's, we decided to take a scenic float trip down the Snake River.  One of the benefits of working for the Grand Teton Lodge Company is that we get to enjoy many of the activities our guests get to enjoy for a fraction of the price.

The first photo shows several river guides waiting for our group to arrive.  These large  rafts are manned by two river guides and can hold about 18 passengers each.

After a safety briefing, we boarded our raft and began the journey down the Snake River.  The river is running very fast and high due to the increasing snow melt from the near-record snowfall this past winter.


Our lead boatman was Dan, who is in his 2nd year here at GTNP  The large rudders like the one he is holding are used to steer the boat away from the many obstacles, such as rocks or tree limbs found in the river.

The first wildlife we saw was this bald eagle flying overhead at our launch site.  Notice there are no clouds in the sky - what a beautiful day to be on the river.

We also saw a pronghorn antelope, but it quickly disappeared behind some brush before we could get a photo.  Later along the journey we saw this bald eagle in a tree keeping watch over "his river".  Bald eagles are very territorial and generally stay within the same 2-mile area.

The views of the Teton Range were spectacular with the sun rising in the east shining brightly on the mountains which, as you can see, are still mostly snow covered on the last day of June.  Here you can see the color of the river almost matches the raft.  The water is murky brown in color from the sediment the melted snow picks up as it travels down the mountains and flows in the Snake.

Here is a view of the Grand Teton (13,775 ft.) from the river.

This particular part of the river reminded me of canopy roads, found in rural Florida.  Notice how the pine trees are curved over the river.

Lunch was served at the end of our 2 1/2 hour float at Deadman's Bar, named after a triple killing which took place in the summer of 1886.  In summary, the cook who was working for 3 gold miners killed them when he was not paid any wages for a month (was supposed to be 25% of the gold the miners found).  The bodies were later discovered her.

What a beautiful setting for lunch with the Grand Teton as a backdrop.

THE CABINS AT COLTER BAY

Accommodations for guests at Colter Bay Village, where we live and work, consist of 166 rustic cabins, an RV Campground with 112 sites (where Paul works) with full hookups (water, electric, & sewer) and a campground with 250 sites (where Ann now works) with no hookups. 

Ann began this season working at the Cabin Office, checking guests in and out of the rustic cabins.  Rustic means no TV's or radios, phones, AC, mini frigs, etc. which we come to expect as standard, even at budget hotels. 

There are 166 log cabins ranging in size from rooms in a cabin with a bath shared with other guests up to a 2-bedroom cabin with a private bath.  The history of these cabins tells a unique tale about the early west and the development of  tourism in the valley.

In 1927 John D. Rockefeller formed the Snake River Land Company and began buying over 35,000 acres of land he later donated to the U. S. Government.  He wanted the visitors of the future to see the Tetons and the valley floor as close to a pristine state that once existed.
Rockefeller also wanted tourists to have a more cost-effective place to stay as compared to Jackson Lake Lodge, which was being built 5 miles to the south of Colter Bay. 


Rockefeller's plan included moving 166 of these structures from various dude ranches, homestead cabins, a complex of cabins in Moran for tourists (a 1930 motel if you will), and some from movie sets filmed here in the valley, to Colter Bay Village.  Some of these cabins date back to the late 1880's.  The remainder of the structures on Rockefeller's land were burned to the ground.


Mary McKinney, a local historian, gives historic talks several times a week about these cabins.  Mary is standing on the porch of #471.  This is the only cabin with a porch in Colter Bay.  Notice how the corners of the logs are all cut flush.  The gray filler between the logs was all redone when the cabins were moved.  This filler is called chinking.

Paul is standing in the doorway of a cabin built for John Wayne's first movie, "The Big Trail", which was filmed in Jackson Hole in 1930.  In contrast to the cabin above, notice how the corner has a more finished look.

 

These log buildings today stand as the proud remnants of the society which first settled in the valley.