To get to Jackson we crossed the Teton Pass which is probably the steepest pass we have been over in Fred yet.
His new brakes worked well which was a relief as you wouldn’t want to have to use the braking run off lanes which look scary as! We spent a day in Jackson at The Town and Snow King Hill.
We chilled in the park watching rockclimbers on the boulder wall. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are a beginner or a pro – it has something for everyone and all for free. If you didn’t fancy that you could have a go at slack lining there too.Next we went to the famous resort of Jackson Hole which is 12 miles away. This is where skiing and snowboarding really developed in the 60s and 70s and where crazy people successfully descended from the Grand Teton Peak, among others.
After a lovely cold beer in the sun overlooking the pistes we headed into the spectacular Grand Teton National Park and pitched up for the night on national forest land called Shadow Mountain looking straight across at the huge Teton Mountains. On the way we passed our first pronghorn.
Pete had read about the mountain biking there so the next morning we waited for the rain to pass over and then climbed the forest road. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed but we did get to sticky beak at all the other campsites on the way. Eventually it levelled off and the single track revealed itself. Woo hoo!
It was a fast and furious descent the rocky sections made it seem hairy scary on a Wal-Mart bike. We both couldn’t stop laughing at the bottom. After a quick outdoor shower we headed off to Jenny Lake, back inside the national park.
We took a one-mile boat trip across the lake and walked up to Hidden Falls.
And onto Inspiration Point where we were greeted by some cute ground squirrels who were happy to pose for photos.
The view over the lake was stunning and then we set off around the perimeter of the lake back to our van. We were on the lookout for bears (with bear spray in our back pack) but unfortunately we only saw a groundhog from a distance.
We drove off North through the park and soon saw lots of cars pulling over with hazard lights on. And there, just off the road was a huge and magnificent elk complete with massive antlers simply chilling. Just breathtaking!
As we got to the most Northern part of the park suddenly Fred jumped out of gear and then he wouldn’t go into 3rd or 4th gear. Uh oh! We decided to wait for sunset and then limp the 50 miles back to Jackson to a garage in 1st and 2nd gear.
Unfortunately the next day our worst fears were confirmed, we needed a new transmission system. A reconditioned one would take 5 days to be delivered. This area was fated – we had already met another couple in Bend whose van dropped all its transmission fluid in Yellowstone and they had to pay $1000 to be towed to Jackson. Thank goodness we could still drive back albeit slowly. It was quite funny trying to wave tourists past who seemed to think we’d seen some wildlife – in the pitch black – really!So we decided to go and see our first rodeo, those guys and girls are really brave or maybe just a bit crazy, especially riding the big bulls. In the bareback horse round, sometimes the rider would stay on for the qualifying eight seconds and then the horse would get up so much speed three guys on horses would have to help the rider off the wild horse. Nuts! One of the best performances was a little girl, aged about four, who rode a sheep across the arena at a million miles an hour before getting chucked off. Super tough!
And the cowgirls who rode horses around the barrels where so fast – what a great night!We decided to limp 15 miles to Curtis Canyon where we could stay in the national forest for free. Up a dusty gravel road we found a free shady site but after a lunch with the flies and mossies we decided to move on. Not before a female elk passed through our site!
Our next campsite had an amazing view of The Tetons in one direction and The Sleeping Indian in the other. Our nightly trip up Sheep Mountain let us enjoy the most spectacular sunsets. Not a bad place to have to wait for a few days.
The stars were amazing and started at the ground and spread all throughout the sky to the ground on your other side. Breathtaking!We did some exploring on our mountain bikes, chatted to other lovely campers and vanlife like-minded souls like Karen (and her little dog Moshi), and touched up some rust on Fred’s sills.
It felt a bit like a holiday within a holiday. We didnt quite make it to Goodman Lake on one cycle but did meet a cool little family and Ryan and his girls gave us some great trail tips for Canada. Our daily trips down to the stream revealed a mum and baby moose seeking shade in a wooded valley we passed each day.
And the Pikas (or chizlers) provided entertainment each morning.
The evening mossies weren’t quite so entertaining but an evening fire to deter them have a good excuse for toasted marshmallows. Yum!
And then it was time to return to Jackson for the transmission to be fitted. While Fred was being sorted we did a 20 mile long mountain bike ride and not surprisingly the Skyline trail was not a low trail – it was the trail that just kept giving (in elevation that was) but the amazing views and then the crazy descent on Ferrins trail made it all worth it.
FedEx didn’t quite manage to deliver on time so several hours delay meant that the Roy’s Automobiles couldn’t finish the job in a day.
Although Pete asked a few times if we could stay overnight in Fred in the garage, the answer was still no so we had to quickly find a motel. Not the cheapest time to look just two days before Independence Day but it was the best shower ever after a hot, sweaty ride. The receptionist even felt sorry for us and gave us a 10% discount.After a great breakfast of fresh pancakes we were reunited with Fred and all his gears. Thanks Roy’s Autos for squeezing us in just before Independence Day!
