Got up later than usual and headed for breakfast. Last night a place called Bubba’s was recommended, but I ended up in the Virginian just up the road. Famous old place. I’d walked past here in the dark last night and rejected going into the bar. If I had the cops would probably have missed me! Fantastic chicken steak breakfast country style with gravy etc. Just like back east I’m sure.
Went up into the park. Flashed my pass and ID, got the maps etc. and drove to the Visitor Center. Went up to a ranger and said I was looking for a good 5-6 hour hike to keep me out of the bars downtown in Jackson Hole. The ranger laughed and recommended driving 2 miles up to the Taggart Lake trailhead and doing whatever I felt like up there. Good plan.
Loaded up with drinks, reset the Garmin and headed out. Awesome views of the main peaks high above. Blue skies. South Teton and Grand Teton thousands of feet above. No way I was making it anywhere near these summits on this trip. Got to Taggart Lake, then Bradley Lake and climbed a bit. Grand Teton was still 5500 feet above my highest point. It would be miles and many switchbacks to get anywhere near that summit. Got to a strategic point where the trail headed down to the start of steep switchbacks and turned back. By the time I reached the SUV I’d done 6.5 miles and gone up and down a fair bit. On the way back clouds had appeared to give a contrast in the view.
Drove back to Jackson Hole. Went into Wendy’s for food. Had managed to avoid McDonald’s and Burger King so far, this chain was generally better. Staff however were completely indifferent. They didn’t care. They’ve probably got a chip on their shoulder because they’re not making tips in the fancy places downtown.
Back to motel for siesta. Headed back into Jackson Hole by taxi while it was still light. Took a wander through the square, no sign of the cops. Went into the Cowboy Bar again. Could ride the saddle this time. Avoided the Sierra Nevada. Took a while to find a free one with all the customers on a busy Friday night. Went into the Silver Dollar Saloon again. Talked to a guy from Denver who was quite interesting. Then into the Town Tavern again where they remembered me from last night. Exchanged tales with a retired guy from Penrith who came over here often to tour around. He was from the Sydney, Oz version. He’d done reciprocal visits to the English one with a rugby club in the past. Bought him a beer, he bought me one back, then the bartender bought us both one back! The cops may not like me much, but the rest of the place was no issue.
I told various people all day about the cops, and most people laughed their heads off. The locals didn’t have a high opinion of their officials. I was asked by different locals if they'd acted like jerks towards me. I guess they have a difficult job to do in a party town like this with all the drunken behaviour. It’s probably even more insane during skiing season. One guy said that he’d seen people drinking wine out of glasses in the street as they toured from gallery to gallery on an organised tour. I guess it the Sierra that was the issue, and I wasn’t putting serious money into the local economy! Only in America.
Took a taxi back to the motel. I was heading south tomorrow, but I had an idea for a slight detour early on.
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