Teton Valley Magazine - Summer 2014

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COMPLIMENTARY COPY

Rarified Places TARGHEE MUSIC CAMP TETON CREST TRAIL WILDERNESS

SUMMER 2014

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Exceptional Properties... in an Exceptional Place

Teton Valley, Idaho

S T U N N I N G H O ME N EXT T O N AT I ON AL FOREST Custom 4,900 sq ft log home borders National Forest.

Breathtaking valley views, 3.1 acres of private hillside, mature trees, an alpine meadow, a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, wrap-around decks, main level master bedroom suite with fireplace and jetted tub, and a walkout basement. $899,000

S T O N E R I D G E T O WN H OU SE This 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,450 sq ft townhouse is perfectly located on Ski Hill Road, on the way to Grand Targhee from Driggs, ID. With vaulted ceilings throughout, large windows, propane fireplace, and overlooking a beautifully landscaped open area featuring a pond, this end unit townhouse is a perfect vacation/ski getaway or income producing short-tem rental. $189,000

NORTHERN VIEWS Stunningly located 3,866 sq ft home has perfect views of the Teton Range and a ranch style layout with 4 bedrooms and 5 baths. Located in the north end of Teton Valley amongst several large ranches, this high end home sits on 30 acres atop a knoll offering sweeping valley views.

Featuring beautiful grounds, circular driveway and an outbuilding for storage. $945,000

C U S T O M M U LT I - L E V E L H O M E

HOME ON THE RA NGE

Designer 3,400 sq ft home is centrally located between Driggs and Victor, ID, and features 42 acres with two spring-fed ponds, mature willow and aspen groves, fenced pasture and Teton views. Post and beam home offers 3 bedrooms, 3 baths and a detached game room perfect for entertaining. $1,195,000

This 2,975 sq ft custom home boasts fabulous views across the Teton River to the Teton Range. With 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, this home features in-floor hydronic heat, white ash custom cabinets, hickory floors with mahogany stairs and full Teton views. Easy to maintain with a thoughtful layout and 20 acres to explore. $662,500

There has rarely been a better time than now to buy property in Teton Valley!

My expert knowledge of this area can make your Teton Valley dream a reality.

Ken Dunn BROKER

208 .221.3866 kdunn@sagerg.com

Y E L L O W R O S E H O ME! Impressive 4-bedroom, 4-bath home in Alta, WY sits on two lots totaling 13 acres. Fabulous valley views and adjoining BLM and National Forest. With great riding trails out your back door and a short 20-minute drive to Grand Targhee Ski Resort. A detached shop, backup generator, hot tub and loafing shed complement this wonderful home. Horses are welcome. $950,000

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189 NORTH MAIN SUITE 100 DRIGGS ID 83422 208.354.9955 www.sagerg.com

BEST Little HORSE HOUSE in Idaho 535 Moraine Court Located 1.5 miles north of downtown Driggs, Idaho, on the “Western Side” of the road

208-354-3389

SUMMER 2014

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• Orthopedics • General Surgery • Infusion Therapies • Pain Management • 24/7 Emergency Care • Medical Imaging Suite • Laboratory

(208) 354-2383

Learn more about our care, services and medical team www.tvhcare.org

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SUMMER 2014

Properties a World Apart ...

Properties thatthat are aare World Apart…..

Service That is World-Class SERVING Buyers and Sellers in IDAHO and WYOMING Two convenient locations!

Main Gate—TETON SPRINGS And our New Location at ...

40 EAST LITTLE AVE... DRIGGS (next to O’Rourkes)

208.787.8000 Toll Free 866.445.3328 www.allseasonresortrealty.com

Homesites

Condo/Hotel

Fractional Ownership Opportunities

Variety of Homes SUMMER 2014

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TETON VALLEY’S ONLY

FULL SERVICE BROKERAGE.

BUY IT

RENT IT

SELL IT

BUILD IT

LEARN MORE AT

WWW.TETONVALLEYREALTY.COM

208.354.2439 Main Street, Driggs ID 83422

“Local Brokerage, National Results” 4

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contents

SUMMER 2014

6 Editor’s Note 10 Contributors

top to bottom

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30 Ways to Play | Local Cheese Teton Geotourism Center Grand Music | Wellness Backyard Camping

our neighbors

20 valley voices

24 all in a day’s work

28 familiar faces

32 back when

Stripping for a Cure

Balancing Act

40

Slim’s Chance

High Mountain Harmonies

The Man Behind the River

features

the 34 Tackling Teton Crest

34 Tackling the Teton Crest 40 High Mountain Harmonies

46 Keeping the Wild in Wilderness

compass points

54 out below

56 over the hill

Heise Heaven

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BEN WINSHIP, T. HAMISH TEAR, STEFANIE REED, COURTESY OF ROB MARIN, JAMYE CHRISMAN, SUSAN TRAYLOR LYKES

Pedaling, Paddling, and Sailing

20 Stripping for a Cure

60 far flung

64 local flavors

Rapa Nui at Last Warbirds Redux Keeping Things Wild

directories

46

11 66 68 70

70

Advertiser Directory Dining Guide Lodging Guide Church Directory School Directory

exposure 72 Route Scouting

on the cover The American

Paddling, 56 Pedaling, and Sailing

28 Slim’s Chance

pika (Ochotona princeps) is a denizen of the high mountain ecosystems of the West, where summer conditions are cool and moist. It’s also considered an indicator species of climate change. Photo by Mark Gocke.

SUMMER 2014

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LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST

307.256.6837

sports recovery deep tissue neuromuscular therapy myofascial release integrated swedish prenatal massage paleo nutrition coaching Two Studio Locations 110 E. Little Ave. Driggs 125 E. Pearl St. Jackson

CHANDLER INSURANCE Protection Since 1963

editor’s note

U n f u r l Th e ra p e u t i c M a s s a ge

Danielle Monique

Ah, summer at last!

Regular readers of Teton Valley Magazine will instantly recognize that this edition of the publication looks significantly different than it has in the past. We at Powder Mountain Press were inspired to put a redesign in motion after the sale, around the turn of the year, of the Western Design Conference and our three other magazine titles. Suddenly finding ourselves with adequate time to devote to such an undertaking, we decided putting additional resources into our favorite, and now only, magazine, was the way to move forward. Thanks to freelance graphic designer Linda Grimm, who served a stint as our art director a decade ago, for her flair and enthusiasm; and muchas gracias as well to current art director Sage Hibberd for her talented support.

We hope you like the new look.

One organizational change we’ve made is to place the peopleoriented stories at the front of the book and the place-based pieces at the back. In this edition, the former includes a profile of Frank Trotter, the manager of Giant’s global mountain bike team (making him a true “globe Trotter”), along with an intriguing look back at Andrew Henry. An entrepreneur, explorer, and trapper, Henry first visited our area in 1810, just four years after the Lewis and Clark expedition made their way back east from the Oregon coast to St. Louis. Henry’s legacy is reflected in the shimmering Henry’s Fork of the Snake, a river legendary throughout the world for its clear waters and wily trout.

Toward the back of the book, the place-based stories include visits to nearby Heise Hot Springs and to faraway Easter Island. You’ll also find an Over the Hill tale about riding the waves of Jackson Lake in a wind-and-pedal-powered Hobie Tandem Adventure Island trimaran (Polynesian-influenced, like Easter Island itself). Contributor and seasoned sailor Rob Marin found the craft to be such a blast that he wonders, not once in his story, but twice: Why don’t more people do this?

Nestled between all the people and places is a trio of feature stories inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, by the high-but-never-lonesome Targhee Music Camp, and by a four-day trek on the Teton Crest Trail. “Wow,” writes T. Hamish Tear. “We’re in the midst of giants. From the wild, airy alpine chaos of the rubble of still-forming peaks, we plunge into our descent, deep among these peaks.”

Craig Chandler

(208) 624-3721 • craigc@myidahomail.com

220 East Main • St. Anthony, Idaho 83445 6

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Like John Muir said, “The mountains are calling, and I must go.” Here’s hoping you find yourself deep among them this summer.

Have it Made in

PHOTOS: MARK FISHER

Teton Valley, Idaho

Idaho’s Teton Valley offers unparalleled year-round recreation, scenic beauty, a thriving arts culture, and an affordable, soul-nourishing, low-stress lifestyle. Many of our 10,000 residents came to play and have stayed to live and work.

A Great Place to Grow Your Business Teton Valley Business Development Center’s

mission is to develop a stable and diverse economy by retaining, strengthening and expanding businesses in Teton Valley.

Brian McDermott, Executive Director 57 South Main St., Driggs, Idaho 208 354 1008 | TetonValleyBusiness@gmail.com | www.MadeInTetonValley.com SUMMER 2014

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SUMMER 2014

publisher

Your Teton headquarters for peaks to paddling

OPEN DAILY 9-6 • 285 E LITTLE AVE • 208•354•2828 • www.yostmark.com

nancy@powdermountainpress.com

editor in chief

Michael McCoy

mac@powdermountainpress.com

art director

Sage Hibberd

graphics@powdermountainpress.com

redesign

Linda Grimm PHOTO TOP LEFT: ©LANEGRIFFIN PHOTOS TOP RIGHT / BOTTOM LEFT: CAMRIN DENGEL

MIX IT UP

Nancy McCullough-McCoy

marketing + sales representative Nancy McCullough-McCoy

nancy@powdermountainpress.com

marketing + sales assistant Joan Mosher

info@powdermountainpress.com

copy editor

Kate Hull

contributors

Jeanne Anderson Deb Barracato Jamye Chrisman Mark Clark Meghan Hanson Amy Hatch Kate Hull Molly Loomis Susan Traylor Lykes Rob Marin Sue Muncaster Mary Neil Dan Peha Stefanie Reed Jenn Rein Bruce Smithhammer T. Hamish Tear Teton Valley Magazine is published twice yearly by Powder Mountain Press, Inc. 110 E Little Ave | PO Box 1167 | Driggs ID 83422 (208)354-3466 tel | (208)354-3468 fax LifeInTheTetons.com

©2014 by Powder Mountain Press, Inc. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Editorial comments, ideas, and submissions are welcomed. The publisher will not be responsible for the return of unsolicited photos, articles, or other materials unless accompanied by a SASE. Printed in the U.S.A. Volume 18, No. 1

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SUMMER 2014

Get Back toYour Active Lifestyle Choose St. John’s Medical Center for the knee, hip, or shoulder replacement you need • Skilled orthopaedic specialists • Compassionate care team • Area’s only surgical GPS navigational equipment • Patient education classes and support.

Sign up online at tetonhospital.org/jointclass

excellence a center of

in orthopaedics

To view a video on the joint replacement program, scan here or visit tetonhospital.org/coe

St John’s Medical Center 625 East Broadway

Jackson, Wyoming

307 739 7501

888 739 7499 SUMMER 2014

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contributors

Bruce Smithhammer [The Man Behind the River, page 32] lives in Victor where he works for Trout Unlimited, contributes to various sporting and conservation magazines, and co-owns Pulp Fly, Ltd., a digital publishing/media company. When not doing these things, he’s probably either somewhere on the Teton River, wondering where his shorthair pointer is, or looking for elk. “Friends are getting increasingly concerned that I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to ever leave Teton Valley,” Bruce says.

T. Hamish Tear [Tackling the Teton Crest, page 34] is from a small Scottish island, where he gained a passion for expeditionary sailing and mountaineering. With a keen interest in writing and photography, he has chronicled his travels in national mountaineering and sailing magazines in the United Kingdom and the United States for thirty-five years. Having lived in the Rocky Mountain West since 1985, Hamish is a regular contributor to local and regional publications including Teton Valley Magazine and Teton Home and Living. Visit HTPhotographics.com to view more of his work.

Illustrator and frequent contributor Meghan Hanson [The Man Behind the River, page 32] is the owner of Natural Dwellings Architecture and co-owner of Hanson Illustration. Meghan moved to the Tetons after finishing her master’s degree in architecture at Montana State University in 2002. When not architecting, Meghan is usually drawing, gardening, or exploring the outdoors. She currently shares time between Montana’s Bitterroot Valley and the Tetons. See more of her work at naturaldwellings.com and at hansonillustration.com.

WE DO IT ALL!

With over 68 years of serving the public in the same location— We “moose” be doing it right!

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On-The-Farm Service 4x4 Bearing Packs ” Oil Changes “ Alignments Brakes On-The-Road Service Safety Siping & Studs Best Buy on Tires

80 W. Little Ave., Driggs • 354-8161

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: NAME HERE, NAME HERE, NAME HERE, NAME HERE

A longtime outdoor educator, mountain guide, and park ranger with a passion for Wilderness, Molly Loomis [Keeping the Wild in Wilderness, page 46] was tickled to learn that her house once hosted formative meetings concerned with the designation of the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area. Recently, Molly traveled to the wilderness of Northern Myanmar, where she completed the first ascent of Southeast Asia’s disputed highest peak, Gamlang Razi. Visit Molly’s blog, wildmatter.com, to learn more.

advertiser directory 3 11 Blue Ox 39 Broken Spur 1 Chandler Insurance 6 Community Foundation of Teton Valley 13 Corner Drug 52 Dang Blessed 65 Driggs Digs Plein Air 44 Driggs Health Clinic 27 Drs. Toenjes, Brizzee & Orme P.A. 59 Fall River Propane 44 Fall River Rural Electric Co-Op 59 Fitzgerald’s Bicycles 30 Garage Door Handiman 8 Grand Targhee Resort Property Management 26 Grand Targhee Resort BC Grand Valley Lodging 22 Guchiebirds 11 Habitat 38 Kaufman’s OK Tire 10 Linn Canyon Ranch 43 McDonald’s® of Jackson Hole 53 MD Nursery & Landscaping, Inc 21, 23 O’Brien Landscaping 27 Peak Printing 57 Plan One Architects 31 Powder Mountain Press Custom Publishing 53 Royal Water Systems 52 Sage Realty Group IFC Sotheby’s International Realty IBC St. John’s Family Medical Center 9, 30 Targhee Village Golf Course 57 Teton Aviation Center/Warbirds Café 45 Teton County School District 401 31 Teton Springs Resort & Club 69 Teton Thai and The Indian 18 Teton Valley Bible Church 12 Teton Valley Business Development Center 7 Teton Valley Cabins 25 Teton Valley Dental Center 26 Teton Valley Foundation 71 Teton Valley Hospital 2 Teton Valley Lodge 19 Teton Valley Magazine­—Subscribe 63 Teton Valley Realty 4 Teton Valley Trails & Pathways 65 The Driggs Stovehouse 51 The Lodge at Palisades Creek 39 The Rusty Nail 65 Unfurl Therapeutic Massage 6 Valley Lumber & Rental 51 Victor Emporium 43 Victor Health Clinic 63 Victor Valley Market 25 Wildlife Brewing 22 Yöstmark Mountain Equipment 8 All Season Resort Realty

Barrels & Bins Community Market

Representing over 150 American artisans

208-354-GIFT(4438) Open 10-6 • six days a week • Closed Tuesdays 160 E. Little Ave. • Driggs, Idaho www.guchiebirds.com

Fresh-Pressed

Juice &

New

Smoothie Bar Healthy Grab & Go Items

Eat Well

Pre-orders Call or Text:

play hard

208-329-5573 9am-2pm Daily

Natural Grocer

7 DAYS A WEEK 9AM-7PM • 208.354.2307 36 S. MAIN, DRIGGS, ID SUMMER 2014

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SUMMER 2014

7th Annual

TIN CUP CHALLENGE

GIVE Donate to participating nonprofits between Friday, May 23 and Monday, July 28, 2014 and your gift will be increased by the Tin Cup Challenger Fund.

RUN 5K Fun Run/Walk and Competitive 5K & 10K Begins 9am.

Family activities starting at 9:30am.

FREE breakfast at 10am.

CELEBRATE

SATURDAY JULY19 DRIGGS CITY PARK The Tin Cup Challenge supports Teton Valley nonprofits.

Donate, volunteer and register at: cftetonvalley.org / (208) 354-0230 Community Foundation of Teton Valley PO Box 1523, 175 North Main Street, Driggs, ID 83422 SUMMER 2014

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Mountain bike the South Horseshoe trails in the Big Holes west of Driggs

Rather road ride? Inquire at a local bike shop about the 25-mile valley loop

Tuck into an apple strudel and espresso at Pendl’s Bakery & Café

Rent a kayak or SUP and glide over the Teton River’s glassy waters

Spoil a good walk (as Mark Twain would say) by golfing at one of our three public courses

Play a round of disc golf at Grand Targhee (discs available at Teton Mountain Outfitters)

Fish the Teton or South Fork with one of our local professional outfitters

Soar over the Tetons on a glider ride beginning at Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport

Stock up on produce at the Driggs Farmers Market (Fridays beginning at 9 a.m.)

Volunteer to walk a dog or two at the Teton Valley Community Animal Shelter

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*

Visit our Dining Guide for some bodacious breakfast ideas

PHOTOS: JAMYE CHRISMAN [STRUDEL, BIKING, FISHING, SANDWICH, HIKING, MUSEUM, PIZZA, AIRPLANE] ; STAFF [SPUD DRIVE-IN]

Ways to Play

Midday

top to bottom

Morning

30

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Evening 11

Munch a lunch of fish tacos at Big Hole Barbecue in Victor

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Tackle Grand Targhee’s ever-expanding network of hiking and biking trails

Sample a Cowtipper or another sandwich from Victor Valley Market’s delish deli

Battle it out with snowballs in July at the top of Table Mountain

Slurp a huckleberry shake at the Victor Emporium or a lime freeze at Corner Drug

Take a wildflower hike up Teton Canyon and into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness

Prowl around the past at the Teton Valley Historical Museum

Grab a late lunch of scrumptious Mexican fare at Agave’s in Driggs

Hike the trails at Harriman State Park, where you can camp or rent a cabin

Enjoy a snack and cold drink on the deck outside the Trap Bar

*

Check out our Dining Guide for additional local lunch options

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Pull up a lawn chair or spread a blanket at Thursday’s Music on Main in Victor

Order a pie and a pint of Point It! Pale Ale at Wildlife Brewing & Pizza

Try the Thai food at Bangkok Kitchen (but beware of the heat level ordered!)

Mount a horse and take a sunset dinner ride at Linn Canyon Ranch

Hang with the locals at the Royal Wolf, where “snow sagas and fish tales are told nightly”

Foraging for dinner? Try Forage, for a local cheese platter and other goodies

Inspect the vintage aircraft then relax and repast runway-side at Warbirds Café

Watch the sun dip behind the Big Holes and sip a nightcap on the patio at Teton Springs

Catch a flick under the stars at the Spud Drive-In

Hoot with the owls and dance to live music at the Knotty Pine

*

Flip over to our Dining Guide for more delectable dining suggestions

SUMMER 2014

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top to bottom Geotourism is defined as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the wellbeing of its residents.” Teton Valley will soon have its own Teton Geotourism Center (TGC), which will serve as the guide and resource center for the Swan Valley-to-Ashton Teton Scenic Byway. Construction is underway and on schedule for completion in early July. The design phase for the interpretive exhibit gallery is complete and all 250 graphic panels, which include some 225 images and more than 150 artifacts, are now in the fabrication process. Interactive displays will focus on the rich tapestry that is our region’s past and present, with exhibits covering topics ranging from drift boats to dogsledding; from potato farming to all that can be enjoyed on our profusion of public lands.

Backyard Camping

The facility’s extensive tourist services and way-finding information will include 24-hour restrooms and WiFi, as well as activity bookings during business hours.

Construction of the adjacent City Center Plaza began in late April, with an expected completion date of June 30. The plaza and TGC are expected to serve as a welcoming community gathering spot, hosting the summer farmers market, the Plein Air Art Festival, the Winter Snow Fest, and other events. Watch for news about the grand opening, currently scheduled for August 1.

Campout!

The National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest conservation organization, is again heading up the Great American Backyard Campout on June 28. The event is designed to get kids and families in

KRISTY MEYERS

touch with nature. “Kids need to experi-

called

local

cheesemaker

Marianne Sturken to inquire about what she’s whipping up these days and where it can be found, she said the cheese she makes most often is chèvre. “It’s a soft, fresh goat cheese,” she said, “very easy and quick to make since it does not require aging. I also make goat milk feta, aged for approximately thirty to sixty days in a whey brine. I make small amounts of goat milk cheddar, aged sixty-plus days, and I am experimenting with an aged chèvre and an Alps style Tomme, which is brined for eight to ten hours and aged for six to eight weeks.

During the summer months I’m selling at the Teton Valley Farmers Market in Driggs

when the wonders of the outdoors can

year-round at the Liquor Market in Driggs

influence their future love for nature

and the Victor Valley Grocery in Victor.”

nwf.org/Great-American-BackyardCampout.aspx SUMMER 2014

we

and the Victor Farmers Market. I also sell

marketing officer for the NWF. More info:

magazine

Pleasing Cheese

ence camping, especially in their youth

and wildlife,” said Maureen Smith, chief

16

When

JAMYE CHRISMAN

Coming to Driggs

Made in Teton Valley

Geotourism

Travel Guides

Nearby Adventure

JAMYE CHR ISMAN

Fostering Wellness

A new, 4,500-square-foot fitness center at Huntsman Springs—along with adjacent outdoor pool and hot-tub area— is slated for a grand opening in June.

The Wellness Center features state-ofthe-art TechnoGym® equipment, a pair of treatment rooms, locker rooms, and plenty of space to hold yoga classes, seminars, and workshops. Also on tap is the Watering Hole poolside bar and grill. Charged with helping patrons to keep their bodies and spirits aligned is the newly hired wellness director, Kari Erdman. In addition to holding a master’s degree in health promotion management from Nebraska Methodist College, Kari is a certified yoga instructor. The Wellness Center will be open for year-round use by Huntsman Springs property owners and their guests, and social memberships will be available to the public.

For more information, call (208) 354-9660.

Mountain Music

Huntsman Springs

STAFF

Adventure Begins in Eastern Idaho is a newly revised tourism publication that covers the Yellowstone Teton Territory made up of Teton, Fremont, Clark, Jefferson, Madison, and Bonneville counties. It’s a terrific resource not only for visitors, but also for residents, who will discover a wealth of new things to do and see close to home. Pick up your free copy at the Teton Valley Chamber of Commerce or visit yellowstoneteton.org.

Targhee Tunes

Picture a place lost in the mountains where the sun shines all day, only peaceloving people are permitted (or so it seems), and the beer is cold and the tostadas spicy. And where year after year some of America’s top musical acts arrive to put on their harmonies and finger their fretboards. It’s enough to persuade even the stiffest of concert-goers to loosen up and move to the groove.

Is this Shangri-La? No, it’s Grand Targhee. But it’s a transitory resort transition that, as usual, will exist for a total of just six days this summer, during the 10th Annual Targhee Fest (July 18–20) and the 27th Annual Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival (August 8–10). Headliners at this year’s Targhee Fest include Tedeschi Trucks Band, showcasing the slide-guitar prowess of Derek Trucks and the vocals of his wife, Susan Tedeschi; the Royal Southern Brotherhood, featuring a couple of guys whose last names grow musical roots deep in the South: Cyril Neville and Devon Allman; those touring fools out of Colorado known as Big Head Todd & the Monsters; and the soul-saturated sounds of Trigger Hippy, featuring Joan Osborne and Jackie Greene.

The lineup at the August bluegrass festival, perennially one of the best in the West, includes the Sam Bush Band, Nickel Creek, the New Reeltime Travelers, and Leftover Salmon. Check out the full schedules for both events at grandtarghee.com.

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top to bottom

Try both of our restaurants

Kids’ Art

Farms

The CSA Way

Colonial Indian Cuisine

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SUMMER 2014

The programming is not limited to 2D expression. What may garner further interest are two classes that foster acting and design talent. For the 5th Random All Star Comedy Club, kids ages six to sixteen will learn how to produce a comedic performance. They will demonstrate their newfound skills and hidden talents in a show on June 27, with an additional performance held at the Driggs City Center on July 12.

Adopt Me

Looking to adopt? Three Idaho Adopt-aHighway sections are currently available on State Highway 33, and even more pieces of road are available on State Highway 32.

But if you have State Highway 31 in your sights, you are out of luck—all sections are currently under the care of diligent volunteers. Clean-up happens during spring and fall; further details may be found by visiting itd.idaho.gov/ Highways and clicking on AdoptA-Highway. –JR

Summer Creativity

Kids in Teton Valley can look to artistic programming this summer to keep their creative juices flowing. At the Local Galleria in Driggs, owner and artist Teri McLaren has developed a schedule of classes that will start in early June. On most weekdays, kids will get a chance to work with a variety of art media. Offerings include a spray paint and airbrush art class, jewelry making, and sidewalk chalk art. The Young Rembrandts class to be held every Thursday morning, as explained by McLaren, will “allow kids to think outside of the box through a variety of art projects.”

STAFF

Roads

Changes at Victor’s Snowdrift Farms mean more organically, locally grown produce options for the rest of us. Erika Eschholz and Ken Michael, both former employees at Snowdrift, established Full Circle Farm at the beginning of 2014.

CSA shares at the property, formerly known as Blue Flax Farm, were sold out by mid-April. For those who failed to beat the rush, Full Circle will be at the People’s Market in Jackson selling their produce every Wednesday, starting on June 18.

Snowdrift will no longer offer CSA shares, but their harvest will still be plated at local eateries like Forage Bistro & Lounge. Every Friday starting in late June, they will set up shop at the Teton Valley Farmers Market in Driggs. And on summer Saturdays, Snowdrift sells at the Jackson Hole Farmers Market on the Town Square. For more information, check out tetonfullcirclefarm.org and snowdriftfarm.org.

–Jenn Rein

Kids with an eye for design may attend the Fashion Diva Design Workshop. Starting on Tuesday, June 10, the class will teach students to design and make their own garments, and will culminate in a fashion show on August 1. For more information on pricing and dates, go to tetonvalleylocalart.com.

–JR

CATCH WHAT YOU’VE BEEN MISSING

CONTINUING ON WITH ALMOST A CENTURY OF TROUT LEGEND AND TRADITION, COME TAKE A TRIP WITH OUR WORLD CLASS GUIDES

To book a trip for the ultimate fly fishing experience, see us at tetonvalleylodge.com

For phone reservations call 1-800-455-1182 or email us at flyfish@tetonvalleylodge.com

SUMMER 2014

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our neighbors

Valley Voices THE LADIES KNOW THEIR FLIES AND THE WATER, AND ALSO HOW TO HAVE A GOOD TIME.

Stripping for a Cure ‘Whitefish Queen’ finds giggles and fellowship at “annual celebration of women, fly fishing, and philanthropy”

BY KATE HULL PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN TRAYLOR LYKES

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Come fall, the South Fork of the Snake River is alive with the vibrant, warm colors of the season, along with cooler temperatures and an abundance of spawning brown trout, robust and hungry. It’s a fly fishing enthusiast’s nirvana, and ClackaCraft drift boats filled with Orvis-clad anglers, anxious for the next big catch and soaking up this spectacular time of year, are abundant.

But for one weekend in mid-September, a different kind of angler can be found on the water. Decked out in pink attire—one lucky group even oc-

cupying a bright-pink ClackaCraft, part of the team Rowing for a Cure and practicing their skills with specially tied pink flies—the “Strippers” take over the South Fork for the annual Stripping for a Cure, coming together in the fight against cancer.

Jackson Hole’s Susie McDowell and Kay Jones started the event in 2009 as a celebration of women, fly fishing, and philanthropy, following in the wake of Jackson Hole’s renowned One Fly tournament. But this one is for women

Don’t let the pink fool you: These women know their flies. only. With a slew of dedicated volunteers, keen participants, and some of the region’s best guides, Stripping for a Cure has switched gears from focusing solely on breast cancer nonprofits at its launch, to now spreading awareness of and encouraging charitable donations to other cancer-based organizations in the Tetons. These include Camp Magical Moments, located at Hansen Guest Ranch in Swan Valley—a summer camp experience for children who have had or currently have cancer—and St. John’s Oncology Center in Jackson.

Now, don’t let the pink fool you.

These women know their flies and the water, and how to catch a big one. And no matter if some of them are novices with a rod; all know how to have a good time for a great cause.

With my cohort Bailey Watson, I participated in the Fifth Annual Stripping for a Cure in September 2013. We were excited for a weekend getaway at Swan Valley’s Lodge at Palisades Creek, recently named the 2014 Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year.

More notably, I was anticipating a great weekend on the water with a unique and spirited group of women.

A charity tournament at its core, the event includes a two-night stay at area resorts, including but not limited to Palisades Lodge, Hansen Guest Ranch, and South Fork Lodge. The event is capped at sixty women and costs $525 to participate in. All proceeds, aside from the event’s direct costs, go to the beneficiary groups. Last year, Stripping for a Cure raised $48,600 for local charities (this included $16,243 raised at Susie McDowell’s August party prior to the event).

Once at the lodge, smiles and laughter filled the air as Jackson Hole and Teton Valley ladies mingled, sipped wine and cocktails, and perused the silent-auction and raffle items. The enthusiasm in the room was contagious, and Bailey and I dove right in. Greeted with welcoming embraces, we were quickly part of something we knew to be special.

The group of women encompassed a bigger purpose, underscored with stories of determination and hope shared over dinner. Some were currently battling cancer; others were in remission.

But all, no matter their story, radiated a positive outlook that was infectious.

Bright and early the next day, Bailey and I grabbed our box of specially tied pink flies (we were going for the biggest fish, but extra points could be earned for a fish caught on custom pink flies) and met our guide, WorldCast Anglers’ Brian Johnson. Although the competition would be fierce, sixty women dressed in pink and laughing over who would catch the biggest trout on a pink San Juan Worm started the day off on a light-hearted note. We headed for Section Four of the South Fork, hoping to get some late-season big catches and avoid the low-water algae some stretches had. The rest of the boats were spread out along the river, as well.

Admittedly, my competitive side quickly set in motion; I thought I had a chance to win this thing. Why not? I love

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“STRIPPERS,” READY FOR THE 2013 STRIPPING FOR A CURE, SHOW OFF THEIR PATAGONIA VESTS EMBROIDERED WITH PINK RIBBONS.

fly fishing, go often, and thought I knew a thing or two. Bailey and I, with Brian’s guidance, took to the score sheet like two gals with their eyes on the prize, whatever it may be. We hooked double brown trout (each with one on the rod at the same time), caught nineteeninch cutthroats (okay, maybe sixteeninch), and marked extra points for spotting bald eagles and moose. Surely this was in the bag.

The weather was perfect and the sportsmanship friendly, an ideal day for any angler. We passed other boats, cheered on our fellow competitors, and excitedly caught fish after fish. I even hooked one on a pink nymph fly, double the points and bragging rights!

But in between all the big, exciting fish were the whitefish, one of fly fishing’s less prestigious species. Lots of them.

Nonetheless, I kept marking tallies. Every bit helped, right?

Fly fishing is one of the most relaxing pursuits out there, yet it’s equally as exhilarating. A cold beer or two, while admiring Mother Nature and watching a trout snap up your fly presented smoothly on the water: not much beats

it. But there is something even more spectacular about fishing with a group of women for a cause so far reaching that it touched every participant, guide, and volunteer in one way or another.

Once we were off the water, we hurried to the tent for dinner, anxious to hear if we were in fact the fly fishing champions. Strippers strolled in, sharing joy and big-fish tales of their own.

The awards ceremony began. Anticipation settling in thick, the woman behind the microphone held up a gorgeous colorful painting of a rainbow trout.

She joked, laughing, “This painting goes to a young lady who may never see a trout, so we decided to give her one.”

Laughter rang out from the room. “This year, the award for the Whitefish Queen goes to Kate Hull.”

It was no first place—and my cheeks turned as red as a trout’s brightly colored stripe—but I barrel laughed all the way to the stage to claim my prize.

The perfect end to a wonderful weekend, I felt like I had been initiated into a group of women I hope to know, and fish with, for years to come.

Proudly I wear the title of Whitefish Queen. But next year, I want a tiara!

The 2014 event will be held September 10 and 11. To register and learn more, visit strippingforacure. com

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our neighbors

All in a Day’s Work

Balancing Act Frank Trotter manages to have a life, despite a job that takes him around the world

BY SUE MUNCASTER

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ALTHOUGH FRANK TROTTER HAS GRADUATED FROM THE ROLE OF MECHANIC FOR GIANT TO MANAGER OF THE COMPANY’S GLOBAL MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM, HE HASN’T FORGOTTEN HOW TO TURN A WRENCH OR TRUE A WHEEL.

My four-year old son has a keen eye for cool. In his estimation, Frank Trotter is the coolest dad in town when he pulls into the daycare parking lot in his cobalt-black-and-blue Giant Factory Off Road Team Dodge Ram 3500. Indeed, it is pretty cool that Trotter’s job as manager for Giant’s global mountain bike team takes him to hip locales around the world in support of the likes of Britain’s Danny Hart, the 2011 UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) Men’s Downhill world champion.

Although Trotter is not the guy on the podium, without his hard work and dedication Hart might not be there.

“At some point, when I realized I didn’t have what it takes to be an amazing racer, I searched out another career path,” he says. “It dawned on me the ultimate job for me would be a race mechanic. I bought a tool kit and work stand and took every course I could find. I sent out a hundred resumes and reached out to everyone I knew.”

And it finally happened.

On a whim in 1995, Trotter drove to Spokane with his tools and work stand. There he cruised around a national mountain bike event that was in session, where he connected with the crew for Marin Mountain Bikes and

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“When you go like hell as a mechanic all summer, you need a break in the winter.”

But without a lifelong passion for mountain biking and the flexibility to work from a place like Teton Valley, Trotter might have burned out long ago.

Growing up in the “backwoods of Northern California,” Trotter snapped up one of the first mountain bikes around when he was in fifth grade. “Of course, when you get a bike you ride it, then you race it,” he says matter-offactly about his early days in the sport.

Racing became his full-time passion from 1988 through 1994, as he worked his way up through the ranks to the semi-professional “Expert” division.

Paralleling his racing career, in 1989 Trotter started working at the Tour of Nevada City Bicycle Shop through a high-school occupational program. He was employed there through 1995—recalling that working at a super-highend, well-respected shop created a solid foundation.

volunteered for them. He was eventually hired. “It was a bit of a fairy tale, really,” he says.

Trotter spent three seasons with Marin and then a season with Trek as a downhill race mechanic, following racers around the planet with one mission: keeping their bikes in top condition. At that time he was also driving the “team rigs” and was “on the gas, all the time,” he says.

“When you go like hell as a mechanic all summer, you need a break in the winter. I decided I needed to go to where either the biking or the skiing was amazing.”

Trotter fell in love with the Tetons while working at Wilderness Sports in Teton Village during the winter of 1996–97, and in 1998 decided to call Teton Valley home. He began his tenure with Giant as a mechanic in the spring of 1999.

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AS FLEET MANAGER FOR GIANT’S NATIONAL DEMO PROGRAM, WHICH INCLUDES A TRIO OF PICKUP-AND-TRAILER RIGS, TROTTER TRAVELS TO MOUNTAIN BIKE FESTIVALS AND OTHER EVENTS AROUND

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After Myles Rockwell won the UCI Downhill World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, in 2000, things got pretty hectic. Surviving various transitions and restructuring within the company and the team, Trotter took on the team manager duties in 2003, doubling as both manager and mechanic until 2007. That’s when, after thirteen years on the road, he decided the mechanic’s lifestyle was unsustainable. It was the first year he enjoyed a summer in the Tetons.

Now forty-two, as Giant’s team manager Trotter oversees eleven professional riders (including one woman) from Colombia, South Africa, Britain, Spain, Australia, France, and the U.S., who compete in downhill, cross country, and the super-popular new “enduro” mountain bike events. He also juggles the schedules of four mechanics (two abroad, two in the U.S.), a road manager, and a soigneur (“swanyer”), who is in charge of the racers’ day-to-day needs like meals, clothing, and massage. He has a downhill coach in Spain, cargo trailers on two continents, and Sprinter vans around the world.

Trotter and his road manager spend hours managing brain-twisting details like flights, lodging, rental cars, race fees, and visa applications. He orders “every spoke and every tire, bolt, and frame,” he says, and plans the season’s schedule. He also helps Giant recruit athletes and sponsors, and is responsible for ensuring that his athletes follow the sponsors’ rules (not his favorite part of the job, he says). If that weren’t enough, he acts as fleet manager for Giant’s national demo program, which boasts three demo rigs (pickups with trailers) and two Sprinter vans that move three hundred bikes—which he has to make sure are in top condition—around the nation to festivals and other events.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF FRANK TROTTER

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Living in Teton Valley, Trotter says, affords him the luxury of the “technical singletrack with some challenging climbs and downhills” that he loves, and the opportunity to compete in fatbike and cyclocross races during the off-season. He married Kim in 2005 and they have two children: Tyler, six, and Anika, four. “It’s an awesome job [that affords] flexibility,” he says. “But when I’m gone, it’s hard. It’s a big juggling act to be present with your kids, keep your boss happy, and sneak in a little exercise now and then.”

Trotter doesn’t go to every race any more, nor could he. “That involves a whole other lifestyle,” he says with a grin. “I would blow up if I did that now.”

Despite limited free time, he recently attained a lifelong goal of designing and building his own bike frame from piles of tubing. It’s a project he says was one of the hardest, most rewarding things he’s ever done.

As they say, there’s no “I” in “team,” and Frank Trotter has the right mix of experience, stamina, and commitment to get his athletes on the podium.

Asked to pinpoint the best part of his job, he says, “There’s nothing better than when we win, you know? Sponsors are happy; my bosses are happy.

When you win races, you justify everything you have spent, and every aspect of the hard work you’ve put in.”

A Giant success, indeed.

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our neighbors

Familiar Faces

Slim’s Chance

Weston-Plennes wedding steeped in valley lore, love of the local ski culture

BY JENN REIN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE REED

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O CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DECORATIONS ON THE TREES LED TO THE CEREMONY SITE; FATHER AND DAUGHTER DANCED TO LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S “WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD”; VINTAGE SUITCASE USED TO COLLECT WEDDING CARDS; BRIDE AND GROOM RELAX ON THE RED VELVET COUCH.

n a hot Saturday morning in August of last year, Chandra Weston settled into the comfort of her stylist’s chair and started texting and making phone calls. She would be married within a matter of hours. While Elevate Salon’s Erika Goddard got to work on her hair, maid of honor Rachel Briggs calmly went over a list of things that needed to be accomplished prior to the ceremony. The number of women in the room crept up to fifteen.

Libations were poured. The bride-tobe lifted her small, champagne-filled plastic cup and declared, “Here’s to the first of the last.”

Indeed, it would be the first of the drinks she would raise that day in her last hours as a single woman.

A true local, Chandra was born and raised in Teton Valley, the daughter of legendary Grand Targhee lift operator Leon Weston. Given the nickname “Slim” by filmmaker Warren Miller, Chandra’s father was one of the first employees to work the ski hill. Famous for his broad grin, his ever-present cowboy hat, and the shoulder rubs he doled out in the lift line, Slim’s reign as Targhee’s unofficial ambassador started in 1969. On the day of his daughter’s wedding, his close-knit Targhee family would be there to help celebrate.

The late morning ceremony was held at Reunion Flat in Teton Canyon, with shade from towering lodgepole pines keeping guests cool in the summer heat. The forest setting was embellished with an eclectic mix of vintage furniture pieces—a red velvet couch, a chest of drawers, and a chandelier that hung in a tree above the bride and groom. Ribbons and carefully draped fabric marked the path to the altar.

A quiet melody from the guitar of local musician Greg Creamer drifted through the forest, and Slim waited patiently for his daughter in a chair at the edge of the forest. The bridal party and guests fully understood the signifi-

cance of the day as more than simply celebrating a new union: In the battle Slim had been fighting with cancer since 2011, this day was a triumph. He was able to stand and walk with his daughter, and, wearing his characteristic grin, give her away to groom Chris Plennes.

Ordained as a minister just for the occasion, Troy Weston’s role at his sister’s wedding was a far cry from his regular job of physician’s assistant. For inspiration for the vows, he turned to the most romantic of sources: rocker Huey Lewis. With the Weston family sense of humor fully on display, Troy quoted lyrics from “The Power of Love” (“… don’t need money, don’t take fame, don’t need no credit card to ride this train …”), and also advised his sister and new brother-in-law to “never be afraid to wear out the words ‘I love you.’”

An outdoor brunch was a true reward for guests, with the talent of local vendors bringing the bride’s vision to life. The artisans at 460° Bread, along with staff from Pendls Bakery and Big Hole Bagels, provided the ingredients for a wedding meal that also featured locally made jam.

While Chandra had managed to juggle the catering and other critical details leading up to the ceremony, Teton Valley firefighter Plennes was tasked with replacing one of his groomsmen.

A forest fire was to blame: With the exception of firefighter Corey Gittus, Plennes’ firehouse family had been deployed away from the valley. His longtime friend Scot Hanson saved the day.

“I was measured for the suit during my connection at the Detroit airport,” Hanson confessed. When asked how he had managed to arrange that, Plennes looked around the site at his many happy guests and said with a smile, “At this point, I don’t really know.”

Under the twinkling lights of a massive party tent, the evening reception at Grand Targhee brought family and friends together to honor the couple SUMMER 2014

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and rejoice in their union. The wedding ceremony itself seemed to have been carted up Ski Hill Road; guests cozied together on the red velvet couch for photos, and danced under the chandelier that had hung near the forest altar.

For many, the night was still young by the time the crowd had thinned out, so the party moved into the Trap Bar. Months of preparation and a day full of joy had given way to the kind of revelry that can only be found at the Trap. Wedding guests found Slim holding court from his table, looking perfectly pleased and happy, encouraging shot-ski action at the bar, and chatting with partygoers. His ability to share this day with Chandra, even after cancer had made him fragile, caused many tears to be shed during the traditional father/daughter wedding dance.

Slim’s lanky silhouette, towering over his daughter’s petite frame as he held her close, will be long remembered by those in attendance.

LEFT: THE BRIDE FLANKED BY HER MOTHER, CINDY, AND HER FATHER, LEON “SLIM” WESTON. ABOVE: CANDLES FOR GUESTS TO TAKE HOME AS MEMENTOS.

T

he heat of August had long been forgotten in the face of another Teton Valley winter, when the valley learned of Slim’s passing.

He succumbed after his hard-fought battle on February 12, 2014. During the celebration of Slim’s life that was also hosted at Grand Targhee, Troy Weston did not mince words in front of the tightly packed crowd that had gathered: “We were there for him in the end, but all of you kept him going. We had him with us longer because of his Targhee family. He got up in the morning because of you.”

The seventy-two-year-old skiing cowboy, the face of Grand Targhee, the generous-hearted yet tough soul— to his daughter Chandra, he was just “Dad.” Dozens lined up to ride the Dreamcatcher lift for one last run in his honor. Poised patiently at the top while a crowd waited below in the Targhee Plaza, snowboarders and skiers dropped into powder amid fading light to negotiate the run known as Slim’s Shot. The legendary lifty’s fellow Targhee employees brought up the rear with a torchlight procession. As the red, glowing stream of handheld lights descended toward the base of the hill, the night was filled with more tears, laughter, and, above all, big hugs.

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our neighbors

Back When

The Man Behind the River

PHOTOGRAPHER NAME

BY BRUCE SMITHHAMMER ILLUSTRATION BY MEGHAN HANSON

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O

n an early summer’s day in 1810, a group of sixty-some men hiked up and over the Continental Divide at Raynolds Pass on the present Montana-Idaho border.

A broad valley revealing a lake and a sizable river spread out before them, full of unexplored promise— and, the men hoped, far away from the Blackfeet.

Previously they had built a small trading fort in the Three Forks area, near the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers, having pushed into little-known territory in search of beaver pelts. It had not gone well. From the time the men arrived, it was abundantly clear that they were

1775, Henry was an enterprising young man who, in his early twenties, moved to Missouri to work in the lead-mining industry. Within a few short years, he had saved enough money to purchase a share of the mine he worked for. By 1809, Henry was a moderately successful businessman with the resources to partner in the founding of the Missouri Fur Company with Manuel Lisa; Reuben Lewis, brother of Meriwether Lewis; and William Clark, co-captain of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Henry had led the company’s first expedition up the Missouri River into territory explored by Lewis and Clark only a few years earlier. The group wintered at a trading fort Lisa had established near the confluence of the

Henry’s Fork namesake was an entrepreneur, explorer, trapper-trader, and a soldier not welcome by tribes of the Blackfeet Confederacy, who had long used the area as a hunting ground. Increasingly, men returned to the fort after a day of trapping in the hinterlands with disturbing tales of near-death encounters at the hands of natives. Some men never returned at all, their mutilated bodies discovered days later by co-workers. The trappers knew this couldn’t continue; that the wholesale decimation of the small fort was not an unlikely outcome.

After just a few months at Three Forks, the decision was made to move on. Approximately half of the men returned to the East, wanting nothing more to do with the wild region, while the other half continued west in the quest for new trapping grounds.

The man left in charge of the remaining expedition members was Andrew Henry. Born in Pennsylvania in

Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers. The following spring, Henry and a team of others, led by John Colter, pushed farther west, establishing the small outpost at Three Forks in early 1810.

The deprivations piled up, culminating in an attack that left five trappers dead, and horses, food, ammunition, and furs captured by the Blackfeet.

Although discouraged, Henry was still determined to make the endeavor a success. After abandoning the fort at Three Forks, and while searching for a new place to establish operations, hostile encounters with the natives continued. Blackfeet persisted in harassing the men, and Crow Indians stole horses and supplies as the party journeyed onward.

Distant from any possibility of resupply, these encounters were grim reminders to the party members of the uncertainty of their enterprise; of just how far “out there” they were.

The men worked their way along, trapping as they went, looking for a suitable place to overwinter. In the fall of 1810, construction of a new outpost began on the banks of what would come to be known as “Henry’s River,” near the present town of St. Anthony.

Consisting of a few makeshift huts, it may have been generous to refer to it as a “fort,” though it undoubtedly offered welcome refuge as a particularly brutal winter approached. “Fort Henry” was christened, named after the expedition’s leader, and the men settled in for a tough season of trapping and simply surviving in the first fur-trading post established west of the Continental Divide.

The search for pelts cast the group far and wide, into the upper Fall River drainage and into Teton Valley. As the winter wore on, accounts tell of morale deteriorating and tempers flaring. Food was scarce, and the men turned to eating their horses. Fort Henry was abandoned in the spring of 1811. Its namesake returned to Missouri, exhausted from the rigors of his adventures in the Rockies.

Henry subsequently attained the rank of major during the War of 1812, and returned to mining when the war was over. Tempted back by the burgeoning fur trade, in 1822 he returned to the West as co-founder of what would become known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Once again, Major Henry led a group of trappers to the mouth of the Yellowstone and to the establishment of another new trading fort, also named Fort Henry.

By 1824, after a profitable season and nearing fifty years of age, Henry retired for good to his Missouri farm, where he passed away in 1832. Famous among fly fishers worldwide, the Henry’s Fork still bears his name—a legacy borne of hardwon experiences two centuries ago in a rugged land known as the Oregon Country, far from what was then the United States of America.

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Tackling

the Teton Crest STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

BY T. HAMISH TEAR

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Forty-two-mile trek dishes up immeasurable rewards

I BARE ROCK GIVES WAY TO SPARSE STANDS OF CONIFERS.

Lightning may strike, and squalls of snow may plunge you into a whiteout.

It’s the names that get you: Hurricane Pass, Death Canyon, Alaska Basin. Even at the planning stages of our four-day Teton Crest Trail traverse, as Rochelle and I pore over the map, the names give us goose bumps. They suggest—and, we found, often deliver— whipping winds, vertical exposure, and sudden, fierce cold in the grey rocky shadows after sunset. But then there’s Moose Divide, Marion Lake, Paintbrush Canyon, and the drama is softened; there’s nothing more comforting than spying the palmate antlers of a moose that’s browsing in the late afternoon sun, nothing more satisfying than the still waters of mountain lakes, and nothing more beautiful than alpine wildflowers thriving in the high tundra.

Mid-September is when we shoulder our packs at the Phillips Pass trailhead near Teton Pass to spend a few days in the high country. It’s a great time of year to do so: Indian summer has usually arrived by then; fall frosts, having nixed annoying insects, are followed by high pressure that brings a string of clear, settled days with warm midday temperatures. The previous winter’s snow is long gone, and conditions are generally dry. You can’t beat such conditions for high-country backpacking, as not only comfort, but also relative safety is inherent in them.

Our destination is String Lake in Grand Teton National Park—some forty-two northeasterly mountain miles away, with a few thousand feet of ascent and descent thrown in to build character.

Meadows of recently dazzling wildflowers wilt and droop on their long stalks, nipped and browned by frost.

The forest understory, though now in autumnal dress, survives a little longer with protection from the canopy of skytouching Engelmann spruce. Clearing the trees, our path takes us across southfacing slopes, purpled by a sea of shoulder-high fireweed—though now subdued and in cotton with seeds on the fly.

Phillips Pass marks our first thousand feet of elevation gain. Behind us lies the Bridger-Teton National Forest and ahead is the Caribou-Targhee National Forest; our trail stitches in and out along the border between the two.

A view of tall Taylor Mountain’s skyline ridges and sweeping basins unfolds, and a breeze out of the Coal Creek drainage teases at the loose, dangling ends of our pack straps.

Small wonder the Teton Crest ranks in the top tier of mountain hikes on the planet: There is instant immersion into 360-degree, eye-popping mountain scenery. With a distinctive, well-maintained path, and clear direction signs at every junction, a traverse of the trail should be achievable by fit, acclimatized individuals with mountain backpacking skills and experience.

That’s not to say it’s easy, or to invite complacency! Although fine weather is abundant in the Tetons, you’re still up there at 10,000 feet above sea level, and wintry blasts may come on any day of the year. Lightning may strike, and squalls of snow may plunge you into a whiteout, bury your path, or take your tent in the night. And though I consider myself well schooled in matters of the mountains, an extra pre-trip precaution on my part would have saved Rochelle and me from having to be rescued by a park ranger at our first camp …

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TOP: CLEAR DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE IS FOUND AT JUNCTIONS. BOTTOM: NO BEARS, BUT WE ENCOUNTER A SOLO MULE DEER THAT FREEZES IN PLACE.

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From Phillips Pass, moving slowly to preserve energy and day-one legs with day-one packs, we gain another thousand feet to skirt the high flank of Rendezvous Peak, the dominating twinpeaked massif that defines the backdrop of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

The ensuing descent gives relief at first, but the delight of downhill soon turns discouraging: Losing altitude isn’t necessarily a good thing while hiking in the mountains; we will have to earn it all back again, twice, before we arrive at our camp by Marion Lake.

We bottom out almost in the broad, pastoral valley of the Moose Creek drainage, and climb to the ridge again at Moose Creek Divide, where we enter Grand Teton National Park. Two more drops into and climbs out of the middle and north forks of Granite Creek, now just a trickle, bring us at last, after 10.5 miles and about 3,500 feet of climbing, to Marion Lake. A moaning wind sends scurrying cat paws across the water, accentuating the quick chill of evening at 9,500 feet as it greets our moist bodies.

Other campers are there before us and we pitch our tent next to park ranger Jon Politis, whose job is to patrol the backcountry. Camping permits are required in the national park; bearproof food canisters, available to borrow from the Park Service, must be used; and proper trail, camping, and environmental etiquettes are expected of all trail users. And who knows, some people might just need assistance.

Rochelle and I have not been backpacking together before. My pre-trip failure to check the compatibility of her stove burner and my butane tank—they are not the same thread—portends a hungry, cold night, and an even hungrier retreat from the ridge the following morning, and an early end to our trip.

But we are rescued by Jon, who loans us his stove not only for that camp, but for the next two nights, with no more than a promise to leave it at his cabin near Lupine Meadows. We sleep well, warmed by hot chicken curry and cozied up in winter-grade sleeping bags, grateful for this most unlikely salvage of our outing by the Lone (Park) Ranger.

I HURRICANE PASS IS AN EXPOSED VANTAGE POINT, REVEALING IN-YOUR-FACE GRANITIC SPIRES

It’s hard in the morning to leave the deep turquoise waters of Marion Lake behind as we climb out of its glacial cirque. But we are soon riveted to the front by the terrain unfolding ahead: The entire Teton Range rises in the distance, with the Grand Teton, granddaddy of them all, towering a thousand feet above its neighbors. In two days, we will be in their shadow. Mount Hunt, Prospectors Mountain, Static Peak, and Buck Mountain line our eastern horizon like a handrail, and today’s hike will parallel these mountains to our camp in Alaska Basin.

On our left is 10,916-foot Fossil Mountain, under whose massive, limestone-grey ramparts we must pass, with the yawning maw of Death Canyon falling away beneath us to the right. Our passage between the two is along the Death Canyon Shelf, a unique, four-mile long plateau that’s a fifty-five-million-year-old shallow sea bed—as evidenced by the abundance of fossilized sea creatures found here.

Tectonic plate movement at the Teton Fault caused the Tetons to start rising up—and Jackson’s ‘hole’ to subside— some five million years ago (and still going), bringing the shelf to its current lofty position. There’s a magic-carpetride quality to hiking along it, seemingly suspended in the air between these contradictory high-mountain features.

The surface of the shelf consists of undulating hillocks and ridges, pocked by house-sized boulders deposited from thousands of feet above. Foliage is limited to occasional stubborn stands of pine and puffs of pale dry grasses. Here sentries of yellow-bellied marmots pose on ledges amid the talus before dashing off with their high-pitched alarm call into the safe crevices of rocky retreats.

At 9,750-foot Mount Meeks Pass, our high point of the day, we leave the park and enter the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. Buck Mountain stands large to the east and dominates our situation as we scramble down the steep Sheep

Steps—tricky footwork taking us through a break in the headwall escarpment of Alaska Basin, and on down to subalpine elevation. We make camp in one of Alaska Basin’s many low meadows, surrounded by pine trees, small lakes, and low domes of rock on which we lounge to eat and soak in the last of the day’s sunshine.

H

Hurricane Pass lies to the north; at 10,338 feet, it’s our big objective for day three. The jewel of Sunset Lake is the last of the basin’s water as we climb up the glacial valley’s western wall. While the miles of this hike already behind us have all delivered sensory overload, Hurricane Pass is an exposed vantage point of nothing but in-your-face granitic spires, and the Grand Teton seems like it might topple right on our heads.

A sign informs us we have re-entered Grand Teton National Park, and we start once again to lose altitude as we descend into South Fork Cascade Canyon. The rubble of erosion from ice, wind, and rain is everywhere as we traverse barren slopes past Schoolroom Glacier. This tiny remnant of the last ice age some 15,000 years ago has classic glacial details such as crevasses and well-defined terminal and lateral moraines surrounding its proglacial lake.

With the rate of decline of glaciers in the Tetons, Schoolroom is predicted to be gone by 2030.

Cascade Canyon is a classic Ushaped glacial canyon; the broad floor and steep, scoured walls were sculpted by the glacier’s broad mass scooping out all but the hardest granite. About a dozen of these magnificent canyons flow to the east and west from the Teton Crest, and contribute to an excellent system of pathways providing for innumerable hiking variations. There-and-back day hikes, round-trip overnight hikes, or up-and-over hikes between Jackson Hole and Teton Valley are all wonderful ways to enjoy these canyon accesses.

Bare rock gives way to the first SUMMER 2014

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TOP: ROCHELLE GANOE FILLS HER WATER BOTTLE FROM CASCADE CREEK. BOTTOM: THE AUTHOR AND ROCHELLE AT LAKE SOLITUDE.

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stumpy, sparse pine trees of the upper canyon and we stride along an easy path into deeper forest as the walls on either side tower to heights from which we just came. Cascade Creek builds from small, high-canyon ice-melt cascades, to a deep-pooled clear river where water ouzels do their dipping.

There’s excited talk of bears when we reach our next trail junction. There we will turn north up the main fork of Cascade Canyon to our camp just below Lake Solitude (continuing down the canyon would take us eventually to Jenny Lake). Hikers coming down report two black bears in their camp and we hear other similar tales. Bears are a part of the backcountry experience, although my few sightings have usually been of bear butt disappearing in haste.

Nonetheless, there is scat on the trail and we know that they know where we will camp. We assume “bear-aware” attitudes, but encounter only a solo mule deer that freezes in place.

This is our first camp with the sidewalls of a canyon preventing evening and morning sun from warming us.

Shadows fall on the valley floor while alpenglow lingers on the north face of the Grand Teton, Mount Owen, and Teewinot Mountain. Wearing every layer we have, and gloves and hats, we eat almost the last of our food while watching a moose family browsing the wetland willows in the middle distance. Our breath freezes to the tent fabric in the night, landing as a frosty film on our sleeping bags by morning.

A

Lodging, Dining and World-Class Guided Fly Fishing on the South Fork of the Snake River

A

SHADOWS FALL ON THE

VALLEY FLOOR WHILE ALPEN-

GLOW LINGERS ON THE NORTH FACES OF THE GRAND TETON,

MOUNT OWEN, AND TEEWINOT.

Aptly named Lake Solitude is a mirror pond of sheer delight nestled beneath the headwall cirque of Cascade Canyon. Landslides of eroded rock and tongues of snow lick at the lake surface, which holds the entire scene in perfect reflection. This is another scene to look back upon (we tell ourselves that next time, we’ll do this trek in the other direction) as we climb yet another trail cut into a steep slope of loose rock.

Some 1,700 feet of elevation gain later, we’re at the highest point on our journey, 10,720-foot Paintbrush Divide.

This broad pass gives us our first sighting of mighty Mount Moran, Rockchuck Peak, Mount Saint John, Mount Woodring … and there’s the Cathedral Group from a new perspective. Wow. We’re in the midst of giants. From the wild, airy alpine chaos of the rubble of still-forming peaks, we plunge into our descent, deep among these peaks. The pattern repeats: steep at first, then into the scrub, then the fir, and eventually the lush deep lodgepole-pine forest with its undergrowth and streams. Ten miles of Paintbrush Canyon delivers us, leg-weary and satisfied, to the shallow waters of String Lake and trail’s end.

We reluctantly enter crowds of park visitors.

But then, life is good: A couple of beers await us in a cooler, thanks to our thoughtful shuttle-car driver.

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SUMMER 2014

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High Mountain Harmonies

BY DAN PEHA, MARK CLARK, AND MARY NEIL

THE GRAND FINALE: CAMPERS PERFORM ON THE MAINSTAGE FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE TARGHEE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL.

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Three regulars reflect on what Targhee Music Camp means to them

Dan Peha was born in the “great bluegrass state of Southern California,” he says, but moved to Durango, Colorado, where he’s lived for the past thirty-plus years. He plays banjo and dobro and is currently part of the bluegrass/Americana group Sugar Creek. Dan supports bluegrass music in Durango and is on the board of directors of the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, a multi-venue festival that takes place each April. This will be his sixth year at Targhee Music Camp.

PHOTO: BEN WINSHIPCALL

E

very year I look forward to the first Saturday in August. That’s when I pack my bags and banjo and head to the Targhee Music Camp at Alta, Wyoming’s Grand Targhee Resort. The route of my thirteen-hour drive from southwestern Colorado passes through the red rocks of southern Utah before bisecting that state and continuing north on two-lane roads to Teton Valley.

Why make this pilgrimage every year?

The Targhee Music Camp sets itself apart from other music academies by being small, yet staffed with incredible teachers. Each summer about fifty participants experience personalized instruction in classes of just three to ten students.

Their teachers are among the best; they’re some of the headliners who will perform the following weekend at the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival.

In addition to daily instrument classes, electives are offered on topics ranging from sound reinforcement to singing in three-part harmony.

Although it’s called a “camp,” the majority of “campers” stay in the Teewinot Lodge at the Targhee base area and dine as a group. The optional meal plan gives participants a chance to visit with all the instructors and other students. The food is quite good.

For me, a highlight of camp is the Wednesday afternoon “High on the Mountaintop Jam” at the top of the Dreamcatcher chairlift. Students and instructors pack their instruments and ride up two thousand vertical feet, for an unobstructed view of the Tetons and the valley below. It’s always an amazing pick.

For those staying on for the bluegrass festival, there’s an opportunity to practice and perform a camp song for the opening of the festival in front of an audience of thousands.

Evenings in the Trap Bar feature instructor performances and a “Band Scramble” where students perform (optional). Names are thrown into a hat at noon and assigned to groups. Each band creates two songs to play live on the bar’s stage.

It’s lots of fun with an enthusiastic audience. After all, mistakes are made and we’ve all been there. But evenings at the Trap are not the end of the day. Jams throughout the resort can last long into the night. I think the jams are a large part of why I come back year after year.

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Mark Clark has been a teacher, a ski coach, and, periodically, a school administrator since 1979. His history in music is definitely not as long, he says.

Mark lives in Teton County, Wyoming, and will be attending his fourth Targhee Music Camp this August.

ON THREE OF THE CAMP’S FOUR NIGHTS, INSTRUCTORS PERFORM INTIMATE SHOWS FOR CAMPERS. HERE DELLA MAE PLAYS IN THE TRAP BAR.

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PHOTOS: STRYKER CONSULTING - DIGITAL DESIGN, WWW.CONSULTSTRYKER.COM; OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP, RICK JOHNSON, BEN WINSHIP, THOMAS SNEEDALL

T

erence Simeon, a great Creole/Zydeco performer, may have put it best when he said, “Things are always better with other people.” My experiences at the Targhee Music Camp make up a powerful example of the “rightness” of this observation.

But playing and learning about music has not always been a part of my life, and until a few years ago I’d never listened to bluegrass music.

Things were going well enough for me; I had my routines, and listening to, much less playing, bluegrass wasn’t part of them. I mean, why fix things if they ain’t broke?

But, as so often happens in our lives, The Fates had other ideas for me. About five years ago I got really sick, and the particular virus I had moved into my right eye, making it very difficult, and for awhile impossible, to read. It was also very difficult and painful to be outdoors, especially when it was cold and windy. So, here I am in Wyoming in January, unable to read, a huge passion of mine; and unable to go outside and into the mountains, another huge passion of mine. What to do?

A year or so prior to this I’d found a mandolin in my mom’s attic that had belonged to my grandfather. I had thought about trying to play it, but hadn’t done a thing with it. Jeanie, my wife, suggested that I pick up “that mandolin” and mess around with it, especially since I couldn’t do what I was accustomed to doing and had some time on my hands.

So I did. In doing so—in addition to directing some of my energy away from self-pity, which was prominent at that specific time in my life—I unexpectedly found this “music stuff” to be more seductive, more elusive, and more inspiring than almost anything I’d ever tried to do before. To be sure, I feel taken by surprise by this experience, grateful for it, and grateful for all that it has brought me since.

One of the things it brought me was to the Targhee Music Camp. To go back to Terence Simeon’s observation, many of the “other people” who make life better for me are the folks who are kind enough to teach me and to let me play with them during the four days of camp in the three years I’ve attended.

Most remarkable to me is not just the skill level of many of these folks, or their tolerance of fledgling players, but the variety of backgrounds they bring. Many of these folks my “normal” life would never have put me in contact with. Some have very different political bents than I do. Some have very different religious inclinations. Many have very different sporting interests and don’t care a whit for the ones I have. But none of that matters when we come together and play music. All are appreciative and supportive of the others, and it’s all done in the name of making music as well as we collectively can.

This has been such a wonderfully eye-opening experience for me … one I could never have guessed might happen. I also would like to think that it’s shown me the importance, in a very tactile and direct way, of how tolerance and diversity can make themselves present in the midst of the joy of music. For that, I’m a very happy camper!

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TOP: ERIC TURIN MOVING IN FOR THE WEEK WITH BABY IN TOW. MIDDLE: HIGH ON THE MOUNTAINTOP JAM, A FAVORITE OF MANY CAMPERS. BOTTOM: CAMP GENERALLY COINCIDES WITH THE WILD HUCKLEBERRY SEASON.

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PETER ROWAN PLAYING AN EVENING SHOW IN THE TRAP IN 2011.

Mary Neil, affectionately known as “Moonshine Mary,” is originally from the mountains of North Carolina, but she has lived in Teton Valley intermittently since 2001. She is a singer and songwriter, and plays the guitar and fiddle.

Mary has been attending the Targhee Music Camp since 2011, and has helped organize the “Band Scramble” that takes place on the last evening of camp.

Mary is a regular on the stage at Targhee’s Trap Bar, where she organizes and performs at the popular, weekly-in-winter White Lightning Invitational.

July 25 – August 2, 2014

Driggs, Idaho www.driggspleinair.org

“Teton Storm” by Susan Thiele

Quick Draw at Music on Main July 31st Awards Gala August 1st and more... www.tetonvalleychamber.com TVCC

Thomas Sneed, the camp’s director for the past three years, has assembled another all-star cast of instructors for 2014. Their bios, along with all camp and registration details, can be found at targheemusiccamp.com.

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PHOTOS: TOP, COURTESY OF TARGHEE MUSIC CAMP; BOTTOM, STRYKER CONSULTING - DIGITAL DESIGN, WWW.CONSULTSTRYKER.COM ALL

E

very August, world-class musicians travel to Targhee Music Camp to teach aspiring artists how to be better at our crafts. For four days, we absorb their expertise and apply our honed skills while we play music together.

Campers come from as far away as England, but I can see Grand Targhee from my house.

My first memory of camp is in the front room of the Ski School building. I sat with four people whom I had just met, nervous with caffeine and anticipation. We tuned our instruments and played a few songs to break the ice.

Our “singing instructor,” Peter Rowan, walked in and casually pulled out his guitar. Between stories about his days on the road with Bill Monroe, he asked us each to play a tune. Lovely songs ensued, and Peter sang and played along.

When my turn came, I played a song I had written called “Walking Shoes.”

Peter asked me to play it again and write down the words. He was intrigued, saying it sounded like a Carter Family song. Believe me when I say, this was a surreal compliment. I have been listening to Peter Rowan’s music and seeing him perform on festival stages for as long as I can remember.

Yet as it turns out, this was a fairly typical day at camp.

The enchanting sounds of fiddle tunes creep from every nook and cranny of Grand Targhee during camp. Between classes, I seek out melodies that I know, and occasionally jump into a jam that is way over my head. After dinner, I play a few old favorites with new friends on the Trap Bar deck. Later, I walk into a nearly abandoned conference room and discover a Grammy nominee and a beginner songwriter finding common musical ground. By three in the morning, twenty people are playing along. Every night that I stay up into the wee hours, I get deeper and deeper in. In the words of Peter Rowan, I “find myself in a state of song.” Music runs through my head constantly while I write ideas all over my arms and on every scrap paper in sight.

When people start to arrive for the Targhee Bluegrass Festival, I feel as if I am awaking from a dream. I have become so involved in this musical world that I forget anything else exists—but I cannot think of a more fulfilling predicament.

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Destined to be one of the most unforgettable highlights of an already spectacular vacation—a scenic flight above the Tetons promises to be an adventure of a lifetime.

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Your visit to Teton Valley is not complete until you have experienced the surroundings from the air. Teton Aviation offers scenic flights that cater to the customer’s interests. Choose from a fleet of aircraft ranging from three passenger Cessnas to a seven passenger turbine-powered Kodiak and fulfill whatever air adventure you have in mind.

Glider Scenic Flights

If you are looking for a unique “once in a life time” experience, then you need to let us take you on a scenic glider flight. Gliders offer an unparalleled experience of serenity. It’s like sailing through the air viewing the Tetons in your own private Imax Theatre, except it’s real life.

Warbirds Café

As the daylight lingers late in the summer months, and the light rests low on the mountains, you can catch the beauty of the fading day by scheduling a sunset flight.

Follow it up with dinner at the Warbirds Café situated right on the flight line. Warbirds Café’s bistro style food and full bar is complemented by stunning views of the Tetons.

While you wait for your meal, step out into the Warbird Museum and enjoy their collection of vintage aircraft including the last flying FJ-4B Fury in the world.

800.472.6382 208.354.3100 tetonaviation.com Warbirds Café 208.354.2550 253 Warbird Lane Driggs, SUMMER 2014 ID 83422 magazine

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Wil

Keeping the in Wilderness

BY MOLLY LOOMIS

Valley experts reflect on its meaning and relevance 50 years after the Big Act

PHOTO: JAMYE CHRISMAN

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. With the region’s numerous Wilderness Areas, including the Jedediah Smith right in Teton Valley’s backyard, the Wilderness Act is an important piece of legislation that directly affects the lives of valley residents—whether you’re a hiker, snow machiner, wildlife enthusiast, hunter, or someone who’s trying to figure out the best place for cutting firewood.

Wilderness Areas, as opposed to the generic term wilderness, are tracts of public land that have been afforded a higher level of protection by Congress and are closed to development, mining, logging, and motorized and mechanized equipment. The aim is to keep these parcels of land as untrammeled as possible by humankind.

While valley residents don’t always agree on how either Wilderness or wilderness should be managed and used, we are lucky to have several nationally, and even internationally, recognized Wilderness experts in our community.

Earlier this year I invited several of them to my home for a lively discussion about Wilderness on a local and national scale. It turns out that thirty years earlier several of these same individuals had gathered in the very same living room— then the home of Martha and Hobart Collins—for meetings Martha had organized about gaining Wilderness designation for what, in 1984, would become the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.

Following is what they had to say in response to my inquiries, edited and organized for clarity and length.

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ld

Where did the idea originate for Wilderness designation on the west slope of the Tetons?

Michael Whitfield: The idea goes way back. Olas Murie talked about it, the Craigheads talked about it. There were others that wrote about Alaska Basin being the cream of the alpine environment, a place that should be Wilderness.

Linda Merigliano: I think it was the 30th anniversary of the Wilderness Act the first time I heard Ed Zahniser [son of the Act’s author, Howard Zahniser] speak. … He started talking about his family coming out to this area with the Muries. They would go up to Alaska Basin all the time, and it was Alice Zahniser’s favorite place in the whole world. Chills went up my spine—to have the privilege to be charged with taking care of an area that the author of the Wilderness Act utilized and was one of his family’s favorite areas!

What might the west slope look like today without Wilderness designation?

Dan Burgette: When they were rebuilding the Jackson Lake Dam [in 1911–16], before they decided to put in the Reclamation Road between Ashton and Flagg Ranch, one of the plans was to put a railroad up over Jackass Pass and down through Berry Creek. That would have changed things.

Dan Burgette

Linda: We’ve seen old plans for road and timber harvest across the whole part of the west slope.

Michael: There was a heli-ski operation that wanted to operate on the west slope. I probably overstepped my authority [as a Forest Service employee], but I told them no, that was being considered for Wilderness. A year or two after I left they allowed it and had heliskiing off Table Rock. So when the Wilderness discussions were going on, the Wyoming delegation got a real strong push from the heli-ski folks to exclude areas they were using. They also got a big push from Louisiana Pacific to exclude all of Jackpine [Creek drainage], claiming it was valuable timber. They were just carving it up and the Wyoming delegation was going with it. It was looking nasty.

Chad Grossenburg: I think [the past] fifty years is really just a sneeze in time.

All the things that the Forest Service tends to put in the [non-Wilderness] backcountry, from antennas to monitoring stations—they build up. So if you look down the road a hundred years, two hundred years … the Wilderness Act will keep those things away.

Linda: That’s already apparent in the Pacific Northwest. If it isn’t Wilderness, it’s either developed or it’s timber [for logging].

Dan began his career in conservation in 1977 as a ranger in Grand Teton National Park.

He stayed with the Park Service for twenty-seven years, working as both the Jenny Lake and Colter Bay Sub-District Ranger.

He was the principle author of the park’s Backcountry Management Plan and chair of the Wilderness Committee. In 2004, Dan received the Park Service’s Wilderness Champion Award. He lives in Tetonia.

Chad Grossenburg Chad was introduced to the northern Rockies as a kid on backpacking trips with his father, eventually returning to the region to conduct research on campsite impact in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness as a graduate student at Montana State University. For nearly a decade, Chad has worked as the Wilderness Manager for the CaribouTarghee National Forest, which includes the Jedediah Smith.

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To protect it, you’ve got to know it and love it.

Maura Longden Maura spent three decades working in more than a dozen different national parks as a wilderness manager, climbing/ search-and-rescue ranger, and climbing management specialist focusing on Wilderness Areas. Retired from the Park Service, she stays involved as board chair for the Society for Wilderness Stewardship and by consulting on climbing-management topics. Maura splits her time between Moose and Victor.

Has the public’s attitude toward Wilderness changed?

Linda’s outdoor career began in 1979 with the Student Conservation Association in what is now the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. She went on to work as a backcountry ranger in the Palisades area, as a wilderness ranger in the Jedediah Smith, and now as a Recreation, Wilderness and Trails Program Manager for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. She lives in Victor with her husband Mike.

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Chad: A couple of decades ago, people were general outdoor recreationalists and Wilderness advocates. Now people identify with a single recreational activity so much that it becomes a big part of their identity. I think their sense of entitlement to do what they do and go where they go when they’re out there is a lot stronger than it used to be.

Linda: Just listen to Teton Pass Ambassador Jay Pistono—he deals with that every day, trying to talk to skiers and snowboarders. He just gets constant lip from people about, “You can’t tell me what to do.” But still, he gets through to a lot of people.

PHOTOS: LINDA MERIGLIANO (2)

Linda Merigliano

Michael: A lot of my motivation for Wilderness is concern for wildlife. The issue I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot more interest in extreme skiing and snow machine access. There’s a whole crowd that feels entitled to go anywhere, and they’re going into remote places that they didn’t used to go, like where bighorn sheep winter. I remember sitting on Forellen Peak one time watching these snow machiners coming up Survey Peak and they pushed these elk off. They didn’t know it, they never even saw the elk, but the elk jumped off into thirty-foot-deep snow and were toast. That kind of stuff irritates me—how entitled we [think we] are as a species, to go anywhere we please without regard to other critters.

SIERRA CLUB VOLUNTEERS BUILDING WATERBAR ON SOUTH TETON TRAIL.

Maura Longden: There’s an element of that, but there’s a greater element of people just not knowing. Technology is allowing for skiing the bigger, deeper, and steeper. Because more people are doing it, just like wildlife, skiers get displaced. They get pushed out to other areas looking for lines in less-visited areas. Some of it may be an, “I don’t care, you can’t tell me what to do” attitude, but I think a larger percentage doesn’t know what their cause and effect really is.

MICHAEL WHITFIELD AND SHARI GREGORY SILHOUETTED AGAINST THE SKY ON FORELLEN PEAK.

Linda: A lot of the outfitters have been saying that they can’t fill summer trips like those into the Teton Wilderness where you need a few days. The trend, at least in Jackson, is the “do Jackson Hole” mentality. People want to make sure they get all the highlights—so, it’s a day on the river, a day riding horses; day activities where you can come back to a really good restaurant and be in a comfortable bed. Technology is allowing people to get back further in a day, so the pressure in the day-use areas is just tremendous.

What about getting kids outside?

Michael: A huge issue, probably one of the bigger issues of our time. To protect it, you’ve got to know it and love it. So many of us these days live in a virtual world, we don’t know what nature is.

Maura: Families here are lucky to live right on the doorstep to Wilderness.

The opportunities to get kids outside starts at home, [but] if the schools are not supportive of that then there’s a huge void. I was talking to a teacher in Jackson and he’d just gotten permission to take his students on field trips into Grand Teton. It was such a breakthrough and he was so overjoyed. He said, “I’m shooting for Yellowstone next year.”

What’s the importance of Wilderness, capital W? Linda: It’s the only designation that’s forever wild, permanently protected.

Increasingly, we’re going to need that antidote from the insanity that is the rest of everybody’s lives. We’ve got to have these wild places that force you to remember things that create a bit more of a connection and true human interaction. We’re becoming such an impatient society. Everything has to be done really, really fast and it’s become about lowest cost, easiest way to access things, and what’s convenient. It’s the culture. If it weren’t for the Wilderness Act, I think those kind of forces would be invading everywhere.

Dan: I see Wilderness as a setting for human experience. One of the things people get from it is in touch with their own soul. That undisturbed land with opportunities for solitude, or going out and figuring out how to cross a creek by yourself, whatever; it’s that setting that provides the opportunity to find yourself and find a different space to live in, versus the virtual space we live in so much now.

Maura: We talk in terms of the life-sustaining benefits of Wilderness; you look at any wellness package at a spa and you’re trying to buy what you can gain from going into a wild place—lower your stress level, raise your self-awareness, be healthy, breathe fresh air.

What does the future hold?

Maura: Wilderness Managers are the positions that are being cut. We talk about our early days and how big our staff was in the late seventies, early eighties … those are positions we are seeing go by the wayside. So, it’s not just up to the rangers and managers.

It’s up to the people and how we take SUMMER 2014

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s e n r e d l i W Mike Merigliano

Mike is a plant ecologist and affiliate faculty member at the University of Montana. In the 1970s, he was the Adirondack Mountain Club’s very first trail-crew coordinator, where he worked with the state of New York and dozens of volunteers. He and Linda met in the High Peaks Wilderness near Lake Placid, and eventually made their way to the Tetons.

LINDA YOUNG (MERIGLIANO) ON THE TETON IN BACK.

care of it. The adjacent communities; how we think about it from a distance, how we write about it. How we picture it in artwork—everything.

Dan: And having the managers accept that that is one added layer they need to consider when making management decisions, because a lot of them would rather ignore it.

Linda: I think a lot of it goes back to The North Face slogan, “Go Explore.”

That sense of adventure and exploration, and figuring something out on your own, is declining. I still think there’s some intrigue—people would like to do it, but they’re shy.

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Mike Merigliano: That’s the thing that gets me in education. I’m in a big university setting, and I’ve seen a big trend in less field education. We used to have long summer field camps, and during the semesters we’d get out.

There’s still some of that, but it’s an insidious thing—the [young] professors had less field time themselves, so their emphasis is away from it.

There’s a lot of modeling and virtual work now—that’s where all the money is. So all the incentives point away from being outside. What I’ve noticed with graduate students is that there’s hardly any aptitude for adventure, self-reliance, or any unscheduled, unstructured thinking. It’s really frustrating for me since I’m the other way.

The grad students I work with hate me. I make them struggle on their own, make mistakes, and they’re not used to that. They want everything to be just like a cookbook—and I’m trying to make them chefs. I think it’s rel-

Michael Whitfield Born and raised in Teton Valley, Michael’s studies in conservation biology and work in the outdoors have taken him throughout the Rockies and to the Far East. From 1975 to 1981, he was Recreation Manager for the Targhee National Forest. The founding director of the Teton Regional Land Trust, Michael is currently executive director of Heart of the Rockies Initiative, a partnership of twenty-three land trusts in the northern Rockies.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF USFS; OPPOSITE PAGE, LINDA MERIGLIANO

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evant to what we’re seeing in Wilderness, because it is unstructured and you’ve got to just figure things out [when you’re out there].

Dan: The positive, bright side is, although we have an abundance of users now, if we had a bigger percentage of the total human population that wanted to come to Wilderness Areas, we’d really have problems. But the downside is that the majority of people don’t have Wilderness in their brains, they don’t support political action.

Linda: There’s still a high interest among a lot of young people to protect things, but it tends to be more about protecting the global environment, not so much about wild places or Wilderness.

Michael: I think that might be a product of their training. Kids are taught more about the rainforest than they are about their backyards.

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Linda: Right, they’re more globally connected, but not connected to the places that they have locally. But I don’t think you can write off people in their twenties if they don’t get Wilderness now. People change.

Maura: It’s such an interesting and important point that the Wilderness Act is not what’s going to protect Wilderness. It’s those charged with managing Wilderness. The Wilderness Act is intentionally vague in some areas, and we’re constantly struggling with interpreting it. We’re constantly going back to “what did that really mean, what did those who crafted these words, what were they intending?” There’s still a lot of work to be done both to interpret and protect Wilderness. It’s up to the managers and the users, the American people; even those that never go to Wilderness but enjoy the idea of Wilderness existing, to be a part of the discussion.

PHOTOS: MICHAEL WHITFIELD

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Out Below

THE WATER IN HEISE HOT SPRINGS’ MAIN POOL, OPEN MEMORIAL DAY THROUGH LABOR DAY, IS MAINTAINED AT 84 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

Heise Heaven Where history and hospitality converge STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEB BARRACATO

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For nearly the whole of Teton Valley’s settled history, eastern Idahoans have relaxed in the mineral waters at Heise Hot Springs. Even before European settlers journeyed this far afield, Native Americans relieved their aches and pains in the soothing waters. In the 1890s, German immigrant Richard Camor Heise learned of the hot springs from Blackfeet Indians he met around Fort Hall, who told him the magical waters would help his severe rheumatism.

Heise felt so much better after soaking in the springs that he decided to give up his job as a traveling salesman and become a homesteader. After acquiring the land surrounding the springs, he set about developing a re-

sort fashioned after the healing spas of Europe.

By 1900, Heise Hot Springs included two enclosed pools, a store, a post office, and a log hotel with a parlor, dining room, kitchen, and large dance hall. Early guests crossed the Snake River on a ferry boat, and many came to stay awhile. Some lived in the hotel year-round; others spent extended vacations soaking in the healing waters.

You can cross the river on a modern bridge today, but you may still find yourself wanting to stay a spell.

Although Mr. Heise had European spas in mind, the resort is a portrait of Americana, right down to the Fourth of July barbecue-worthy fare the snackbar staff passes through the kitchen window in red plastic baskets. With the atmosphere of a boys and girls summer camp, Heise includes enough activities to keep the entire family entertained— even if your idea of fun involves nothing more active than napping in a soft patch of grass under a giant weeping willow next to the river.

The outdoor summer pool opens daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The 84-degree water feels welcomingly refreshing on summer afternoons when

Must-do: A screaming descent through the famous 350-foot green tube. the temperature reaches into the 80s and beyond, yet oddly warm when the air shoots the mercury barely above 70. Behind the diving board, a small grassy area with a few picnic tables provides a bit of room to spread out on the ground, but for the most part concrete surrounds the pool. If you want to score one of the coveted wood-plank chaises, go when the enterprise opens

LEFT: THE GRASS IN THE SHADE OF THIS WEEPING WILLOW TEMPTS ONE TO KICK BACK. ABOVE: THE FAMOUS GREEN TUBE GIVES UP AN EXCITING, 350-FOOT RIDE.

(10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon on Sunday). Happily, your admission armband allows you to wander in and out of the pool area at will, so if you don’t snag a chaise, you can still set up on the lawn outside. Be aware, though, that the riverside picnic tables require reservations at the busiest times of the year.

On the must-do list is a screaming descent through the famous 350-foot green tube. First you climb up the side of a mountain on a timeworn cedar staircase, then wait impatiently as, one by one, kids, teenagers, and adults disappear into the rush of water with a “whoop!” When your turn arrives, you’re swallowed whole. After a seemingly endless, twenty-five-second ride, the tube spits you out, thankfully still whole, into the swirling water of the cold catch pool. A disoriented moment or two passes before you realize you’ve conveniently landed at the bottom of the stairs, so you can head right back up for another run.

Eventually you might need a therapeutic dip in the 105-degree mineral springs, housed behind the building next door. The unmistakable scent of sulfur clings to your hair and swimsuit even after you emerge from the waistdeep water and cross over for a dip in the 92-degree freshwater pool.

The water fun at Heise continues onto the legendary South Fork of the Snake River, where Heise Expeditions guides use their extensive knowledge and experience to help you aim your cast right at the mouth of a rainbow,

brown, or native cutthroat trout. If a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding terrain is more your style, you can clip into the new zipline for a mile-and-ahalf-long, heart-pounding swing above the valley.

After all the activity, you’re bound to feel a hunger pang or two (unless you’re the one napping next to the river). You can pack a picnic, but then you’ll miss the distinctly summertime pleasure of a snack-bar lunch prepared by local high-school students. You won’t find sushi, or menu notes on the birthplace of your burger, but you can order an expertly grilled American cheese on thick-cut white bread, hamburgers, hot dogs, and that perennial child pleaser, chicken strips. For a more extensive menu, visit the Heise Pizza Parlor. In addition to the locally revered pie, this sit-down restaurant serves up a variety of entrée-style salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes, with the Idaho-requisite dessert of a hot-fudge-brownie sundae.

By now you’ve probably realized there’s no way you can pack all the fun into one day. (Did I mention the ninehole executive golf course?) The stillstanding original log hotel no longer accepts guests, but Heise’s RV park/ campground makes it easy to turn your trip into an overnight. With an expansive field reserved for tents and a range of RV parking, both with and without hookups, you can surely stake out a spot for a fine weekend home-awayfrom-home.

Learn more by visiting heise hotsprings.net.

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Over the Hill

Pedaling, Paddling, and Sailing Unique hybrid craft provides splashy thrills on Jackson Lake

MOUNT MORAN CREATES A MEMORABLE BACKDROP TO A SAILING EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER.

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M

ount Moran hovered over Bear Paw Bay as we pushed off onto the glassy, emerald waters of a summer morning three years ago. Our previous night’s camp quickly receded into the distance as we propelled our double kayak to a brisk, three-knot pace. Feeling the warmth of a July day coming on, I cracked a beer.

No protest came from my kayak partner and girlfriend Sabine, since I wasn’t slacking on paddling duties. Neither of

PHOTO: LANE GRIFFIN VALIANTE

BY ROB MARIN

us paddled at all. We were using our legs to push back and forth on a pedal drive, leaving both hands free to apply sunscreen, eat a snack, and, yes, drink a cold one.

As we cruised toward the main body of Jackson Lake, ripples appeared on the water’s surface. Within minutes, a steady breeze crossed our bow. “Shall we?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” replied Sabine. She ceased pedaling and I gave a line to my right a pull, unfurling ninety square feet of Dacron. Shazam, our craft instantly accelerated and we were sailing. A

half-hour later, the breeze turned to a full-on blow, one that would have most small sailboats seeking shelter. But no worries, our sailing kayak sported outriggers on either side to keep it upright.

Looking up at a panoramic view of the Tetons, I couldn’t imagine a better way to experience Jackson Lake.

Our unique rental craft—manufactured by Hobie, of sailing catamaran fame—is known as the Tandem Adventure Island trimaran. At the end of our two-day sailing/pedaling/camping excursion, we both had one big question: Why don’t more people do this?

T

here is no shortage of local water sports to choose from in the Tetons. I’ve been fortunate to take part in most of them, but thinking about ocean sailing excursions from years past—including a forty-nine-day trip across the Atlantic—this landlocked sailor was jonesing to ride some wind.

I’ve thought about scraping the money together to buy an old sailboat, but there are some daunting factors to consider: maintenance, rigging time, towing issues, and mooring costs, to name a few. Plus, mountain lakes have a short sailing season and highly variable conditions. Jackson or Yellowstone Lake will be entirely devoid of breeze for hours, only to have gale-force winds come blasting in out of nowhere. Given these realities, what kind of sailboat makes the most sense?

Enter the versatile Hobie Adventure Island, which is really a kayak-trimaran hybrid, inspired in part by ancient Polynesian outrigger designs. It is light, virtually maintenance-free, super-easy to rig and sail, and has an efficient backup propulsion system. And it’s a convertible boat: the sit-on-top, tough plastic kayak hull can be used alone, either propelled by conventional paddling or by its “Mirage Drive” pedal system. Alternatively, fitted with its carbon-fiber mast, sail, and detachable outriggers, it becomes a three-hulled trimaran that can reach speeds of close to ten knots.

Its Mirage Drive is a surprisingly efficient marvel of engineering, driven by a back-and-forth leg motion, as opposed to circular pedaling. Beneath the boat,

two fins flap back and forth, mimicking penguin flippers. Its obvious advantage is that when the wind dies, you have a backup motor (you) without the need for a noisy, heavy outboard engine. We found pedaling faster and more efficient than paddling when winds were absent. Hobie makes both a single and tandem version of the Adventure Island; the latter can be controlled from either the forward or rear seat, so both crew can participate.

I soon obtained a lake campsite permit through the backcountry office in Grand Teton National Park, and Sabine and I drove to Jackson to pick up our sailing “yacht.” Rendezvous River Sports’ owner Aaron Pruzan gave us a rundown on its key features: the furling system, which wraps the sail around the rotating mast when not in use; the retractable centerboard; the mainsheet (or sail control line); the flip-up rudder; and adjustments on the Mirage pedal The Spud drive. He raved about how fun the boat Drive-In Theatre was, expressing disappointment that he rarely rents it out (cost: $100/day).

The Tandem Adventure Island comes mostly assembled on a trailer, but since my small pickup truck lacked a hitch, we disassembled and Copies Shipping Graphic Design car-topped the eighteen-and-a-halffoot-long craft. After arriving at the Architectural Prints Faxes Gifts Signal Mountain boat ramp and unloadLOCALPrinter Ink Computer Accessories ing a pile of parts, I feared putting the contraption back together would beKodak a Photos SOLUTIONS Posters Frames head-scratcher. But ten minutes later Signs Invitations Greeting Cards we were ready to go. Hobie’s design is logical and truly well-thought-out— Flyers Lamination Binding no manual required. Storage was adPassport Photos Invoices Postcards equate for carrying a weekend’s worth Logos Presentations Letterhead of camping gear, utilizing the hatches in the main hull and one judiciously Business Cards Public Computer packed dry bag strapped to the deck.

UPS FedEx Office Supplies With no wind at the ramp, sailing would have to wait. We used a paddle to move away from shore, since the Mirage Drive requires a foot of depth to operate. After adjusting the pedals to our respective leg lengths, we stowed the paddle and started pedaling. Initially, using the Mirage Drive made us feel like we were piloting a decidedly un-cool paddleboat at a low-budget info@peakprinting.net amusement park. However, we got over 208-354-7337 it pretty quickly, realizing how fast we could move the boat without breaking a sweat. Plus, the ability to drink beer

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HYBRID CRAFT, KNOWN AS THE HOBIE ADVENTURE ISLAND. BOTTOM: PLACID WATERS CALL FOR PEDALING OR PADDLING; IN WINDY CONDITIONS, A QUICK TUG ON A LINE UNFURLS THE SAIL.

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O

ur maiden voyage had been so much fun, and left us with such fond memories, that last summer we planned a three-day trip, reserving camps at opposite ends of Jackson Lake.

A reservation for the trimaran was not needed; a Rendezvous employee said we were the first to take it out all summer.

The wind was initially uncooperative, forcing us to rely on the Mirage Drive for extended periods. We pedaled the considerable distance from Colter Bay Marina north to Wilcox Point campsite with nary a breeze. An hour’s worth of decent sailing after setting up camp helped justify the effort, at least.

The long pedal south to Elk Island the following day was like passing through equatorial doldrums, and almost as hot. Tired and sun-baked when we reached camp, Sabine and I hid in the shade, disappointed with the wind situation. There we met up with friends and fellow Teton Valley residents Chris and Lane Valiante, who had paddled from Signal Mountain to spend the night. I was a little embarrassed with the wind situation, since I had talked up sailing on the Adventure Island so enthusiastically.

Just as we were settling into camp for the evening, Chris pointed at a large sailboat in the distance, which had been creeping along. The boat suddenly heeled over at an extreme angle, whitecaps erupting all around it. Thirty knots of wind screamed across the lake. I looked at Chris and shouted, “Let’s go!”

Grabbing life jackets, we sprinted toward the trimaran. As we pedaled out of the sheltered inlet next to camp, I gave Chris a hasty orientation. Unfurling the sail, we took off like a rocket.

Up front, he took big hits to the chest as we plowed through waves, and our carbon mast bowed like a willow tree in a hurricane. Flying past a nearby group campsite, a party of young campers ran toward the shore, jumping, waving, and cheering us on.

It was one of my favorite sailing moments ever, and it was right here in the mountains on a crazy little rented boat.

And I asked myself again: Why is it that more people don’t do this?

PHOTOS: ROB MARIN

TOP: THE AUTHOR RIGGING HIS RENTAL KAYAK-TRIMARAN

simultaneously helped mitigate the dweeb factor. During breaks, we discovered the trimaran layout served as an ideal swimming platform. Getting on and off was easy, with no risk of capsizing the boat.

The wind made its appearance around noon, and a light breeze quickly ramped up to ten knots or more. With a quick tug, the sail unfurled, and off we went. Sailing a kayak-trimaran is a touch intimidating at first, in part because the sense of speed is exaggerated sitting at water level, but also because it’s a very wet ride at higher speeds. As the wind began to howl, we layered up with paddling tops and pants and drove the boat hard, testing its limits. During the biggest gusts, with full sail deployed, the rudder was a bit unresponsive and the steering lever difficult to control. Performance was best with the sail partially reefed (rolled up a turn or two around the mast to reduce sail area). Never did we feel close to flipping. When overpowered, the boat’s leeward outrigger would drive slightly below the water’s surface, causing the boat to slow and round up into the wind, rather than becoming unstable.

I realized I would never again be satisfied traveling across this lake in our slow, ancient canoe. This is how you should do it: fast sailing, unreal views, paddling optional.

At camp, we stored our food and kitchen gear in the provided steel bear boxes. Meals were simple, backpackingstyle affairs, owing to the limited storage of our boat. But we bedded down with the satisfaction of having spent an exhilarating day on the water.

On the second day, after an early hike to nearby Leigh Lake, we sailed downwind to Colter Bay, then beat upwind toward our launch point at Signal Mountain, again in high winds. We discovered that a few pedal strokes when turning through the wind kept the boat’s momentum going nicely, making for smooth tacks. Bearing down on the ramp on a fast reach, we moved at eight or nine knots, as a curious beach crowd looked on, probably expecting us to come crashing ashore. But with a quick pull on the furler, the sail stowed neatly and we glided gently in.

It was a great weekend. Quite simply, we didn’t want to give the boat back.

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Far Flung

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: EACH MOAI “HEAD” ACTUALLY HAS ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF ITS BODY BURIED BY DIRT BLOWN IN AND DEPOSITED.

Rapa Nui at Last Easter Island proves as mysterious and memorable as this seasoned traveler had hoped STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEANNE ANDERSON

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I’d wanted to travel to Easter Island for just about as long as I could remember. In September 2012, we made it happen.

Our mostly empty plane departed Lima, Peru, after midnight. Peter pulled up the armrests in a center grouping of three seats, stretched out, and fell asleep. I watched the South American coast disappear out the window and checked the movie choices, pleased to see that Hysteria, written by Stephen and Lisa Dyer of Victor, was one of the offerings. After that, I tried to nap, but couldn’t relax much.

Our destination was 2,300-plus miles southwest across the Pacific Ocean. That’s the same distance, as the crow flies, from where my sister Joan lives, in Hood River, Oregon, to Philadelphia, where Peter often works. Pitcairn Island, where the HMS Bounty

TOP: HIBISCUS, A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER ALSO USED FOR TEA. BOTTOM: ANAKENA BEACH, WHERE THOR HEYERDAHL’S MEN RAISED A MOAI NEARLY SIXTY YEARS AGO.

mutineers settled, is the nearest inhabited place—1,300 miles farther west.

But Easter Island is a sixty-threesquare mile triangle of land. Could the pilot even find it? And could it possibly live up to its hype?

I pondered these questions as we made our approach. We couldn’t see much except the long runway, built by the United States as a spare landing site for the space shuttle. Soon, we were standing in the dark, waiting to go through passport control. I literally shivered with anticipation.

Most folks think of Easter Island as the place where giant stone heads were carved long ago by the natives. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the statues are actually megalithic whole torsos, complete with hands crossed over their lower bellies. The famously photographed heads, with their surprisingly distinctive faces, sit near the quarry where they were carved. After centuries of lying in the dust, only about four dozen full-sized “moai” have been raised into standing position.

We couldn’t wait to see them.

Eager to settle in, we caught a rattletrap taxi and jolted through the empty streets of Hanga Roa, the island’s only town. But when we arrived at the address of the hotel we’d booked online, the compound looked deserted.

After a lot of cell-phone chatter by the driver, in a language that definitely did not sound like Spanish, we raced back to the airport. Turns out the owner of our lodging, Cecilia, was waiting for us there, evidently the usual procedure for arrivals but something not communicated to us.

Peter handed the unhappy driver twice the fare he’d quoted, and soon we were retracing our cab’s route, this

TOP: THE AUTHOR AND HER HUSBAND, PETER ANDERSON. BOTTOM: BOUGAINVILLEA, A POPULAR AND HARDY ISLAND DWELLER.

time in Cecilia’s van. The other passengers, a brother and sister from Switzerland who hadn’t made hotel reservations in advance, had been accosted at the terminal by Cecilia, who thought they were the Andersons. In just a few moments, we turned into the same dirt driveway we’d seen from the taxi, Cecilia announcing that breakfast would be served shortly.

Tired, upset for having already spent a good portion of the cash we’d withdrawn at the airport ATM, and wondering about our hotel choice after discovering a bright-green gecko in the bungalow’s shower—well, we didn’t really want to eat much of anything.

But an orientation is always a good idea upon first arriving somewhere.

We’re good travelers, right?

We gamely headed across the yard, roosters loudly crowing all around us, the scent of frangipani filling the moist air. After gulping down the meager fare, and receiving a mimeographed island map, we were ready to explore on our own.

We were not disappointed, as Tahei, the nearest moai site, was less than a quarter mile away. Eager to see them close up, we scurried oceanward.

Within moments, we were near enough to touch the giant statues—they aren’t

cordoned off, but we, like nearly everyone we saw, respected the few “stay off” signs.

It was an unforgettable scene.

Waves violently pounded the shoreline. The wind howled. Caught up in the moment, we snapped photos and grinned madly at one another.

Then, in the near distance, we saw a herd of horses being wrangled by a man on a motorcycle. As we watched, the driver conked into a rock and fell off. Before we could head over to assist him, he was shaking off the crash, jumping back onto the motorcycle, and moving the horses along the shoreline.

Like the airport non-greeting, this was among several somewhat unsettling, nearly surreal experiences we were to have on Easter Island.

For a tiny island, it was an unexpectedly complex place, full of surprises around every corner. In some ways it reminded me strongly of Teton Valley—the isolation of its residents; its still-evolving tourist industry, struggling by with little real demand; and, because of its size, the “everyone SUMMER 2014

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Rapa Nui in a nutshell (make that a coconut shell) • Rapa Nui is the name of the island, the native people (Polynesian by genetics), and the language they speak.

• The island’s history is rich but controversial; its settlement, by islanders coming westward from other Polynesian islands, may have started as early as 300 AD or as late as 1200 AD. • The island was named Easter Island (Isla de Pascua in Spanish) when the first-ever ship of Europeans landed there on Easter Sunday, 1722.

At that time, somewhere between two thousand and three thousand people lived there. (That first encounter ended with a “misunderstanding” in which more than a dozen natives were killed by the ship’s crew.)

• Centuries earlier, the island’s population had peaked at approximately 15,000 residents; they lived largely by eating rats, and by cleverly arranging rocks to maximize water retention, growing just enough produce to get by.

• Nearly five decades passed before foreigners visited the island again, in 1772; the captains of those two Spanish ships reported the seashore was lined with stone statues. Few women were seen; many of the natives hid in caves. Four years later, British explorer Captain Cook noted that some statues had fallen over; within the next half-century, no standing statues were visible at all.

• The first Christian missionaries arrived in the mid-1860s; their arrival put an end to the islanders’ bird-man cult.

• By 1876, a century following Captain Cook’s visit, after depredation by disease, slave raiders, and mass forced emigration, only 111 native islanders remained.

• For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the entire island was operated as a sheep ranch, and the Rapa Nui people were restricted to living in the town of Hanga Roa. • In 1888, the Chilean government claimed sovereignty over Easter Island.

• British archaeologist Katherine Routledge systematically collected the island’s traditions when she and husband William Scoresby Routledge came to Rapa Nui in 1914. Her findings, published in 1919, remain critical to the scientific study of Easter Island today.

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knows everyone else” aspect of a tightly knit community.

But it has a deeper, darker undercurrent: These friendly islanders had nearly lost their cultural identity.

Cecilia epitomized this disconnect for us; she talked, looked, and carried herself more like a princess than the operator of a run-down B&B. She told us she knew the late William Mulloy of the University of Wyoming and his family fairly well, and had been one of the island schoolchildren that had visited Thor Heyerdahl’s Norwegian expedition freighter in the fifties, a tragic incident we remembered from reading Heyerdahl’s book Aku Aku. Honestly, we weren’t sure whether to believe her or not.

Peter had picked up a stomach bug before we left the mainland and missed a whole day of exploring. While not a trip breaker, it did slow us down—a reminder that one’s health, like the weather, is something you can’t always control.

The moai, at Tahei and at every site we saw, exceeded our expectations in their scale and mystery. The Rano Raraku quarry—well, it was simply stupendous. How people with only primitive tools could possibly have fashioned these giant statues is beyond understanding. Why did they make them? Why did they stop? The moai are scattered all along the island’s coast, miles from the quarry, so of course the biggest question is, how did they move them?

Five credible theories about their transport have been tested over the last four decades (aliens zapping them into place has largely been ruled out).

Two of the ideas incorporate the use of logs; although nearly treeless now— and the cause of that change is controversial as well—Easter Island was at one time covered with palm trees fifty feet tall.

One of these methods involves yet another local connection: Wyoming geologist and anthropologist Charles Love, longtime owner of a cabin in Fox Creek and brother of my late dear friend Francie Love Froidevaux of Victor, assembled a team of twenty-five in the 1980s to move a standing moai using a wooden sledge on top of log rollers. It took only a few minutes to

TOP: THE MOAI EYES WERE MADE OF CORAL AND SHELL. BOTTOM: RAPA NUI HAS NO PROTECTED SEA ENTRANCES; THESE “PANGAS” ARE STEERED WITH GREAT CARE INTO THE TINY HARBOR AT HANGA ROA. OPPOSITE PAGE: THE ISLAND’S COLORFUL CEMETERY, WITH SEVERAL MOAI IN THE DISTANT BACKGROUND.

252 South Main, Victor

We’re Family 208-354-6307 Kristen Coburn, FNP Troy Weston, PA Heather Bagley, PNP Family Care Women’s Health Men’s Health

move the thirteen-foot-tall, nine-ton concrete moai model about 150 feet.

But the Rapa Nui say, “The statues walked.” Most recently, Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach proved that as few as eighteen volunteers could maneuver a multi-ton monolith down a path by “walking.”

Using strong ropes, the volunteers rocked the model back and forth from side to side on its D-shaped base, stabilizing the motion from behind.

Obviously, the jury’s still out on how the islanders really moved the moai.

Did Easter Island live up to its hype? Overall, indeed it did. I became fascinated with the place and simply haven’t been able to let go. I’ve even started writing a novel set there.

I’d love to return, especially for the annual Tapati Rapa Nui Festival, preferably with Charlie Love as a guide. I’d make arrangements to interview William Mulloy’s daughter, who still lives in Hanga Roa. We’ll incorporate research I’ve done for my book to make even better use of our time. I’ll sleep more on the way over, confident the pilot will find the island.

But I’m guessing that no matter how many times I return, I’ll shiver in anticipation on each visit to Rapa Nui, the storied “land of the moai.”

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compass points

Local Flavors

Warbirds Redux

Dine beside the runway; groove to cool jazz

PHOTOS: JAMYE CHRISMAN

BY MICHAEL M cCOY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMYE CHRISMAN

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T HE R USTY N AIL

L

ong a favorite dining spot for Teton Valley residents and visitors, Warbirds Café is located a mile north of Teton County Stoplight at DriggsReed Memorial Airport. The interior of the enterprise recently underwent a significant renovation, designed to make both dining and imbibing warmer experiences.

“The bar remains in the same place,” said chef Mike Heisey, “but now it’s separated from the dining room with a divider made of aspen trunks. We’ll occasionally show sporting events on the bar’s TV screen, but the atmosphere is more intimate cocktail lounge than sports bar.” Specialty drinks mixed in the full bar range from margaritas to martinis and feature hand-squeezed juices, along with local and regional products.

This summer, Warbirds is serving lunch seven days a week and dinner five days a week, Tuesdays through Saturdays, preceded by happy hour.

“Lunch includes fresh salads and more bistro-style sandwiches,” Heisey said; “beef and buffalo burgers, seafood. We also offer a limited menu between two and five p.m., serving soups, salads, and appetizers.”

Highlighting the dinner menu is fresh seafood flown in from Hawaii and Alaska, along with lamb, pork, and hand-cut steaks and chops.

Music fans will be pleased to know that the onetime Warbirds staple of live jazz on Friday nights resumes.

The establishment also has a private conference room for parties and larger groups. If your group is really big, you can even host the affair in the adjacent hangar, home to the namesake vintage warplanes.

Also available: patio dining, with stunning Teton views.

YOUR WESTERN R E T R E AT F U R N I S H I N G & DESIGN CENTER

rustynailinteriors.com • 208-354-4663 • Broulim’s Shopping Center • 180 S. Main, Ste. C2 • Driggs, Idaho

Clothing, handbags, accessories and more!

New items arriving weekly 37 N. Main St. Driggs, ID 208 • 354 • 3264 Open Monday through Saturday 10:30am - 6pm

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Info & Event Registration

TetonBikeFest.org Clinics • 2015 Demos • Group Rides Races • Music • Family Fun 800-TARGHEE | Grand Targhee.com

SUMMER 2014

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dining guide

Broulim’s Food and Pharmacy 240 South Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2350 Open Mon–Sat 7am–11pm broulims.com/driggs

The Service Deli at Broulim’s grocery serves breakfast daily from 7am to 9:30am. You can order sandwiches to go made from your choice of Columbus meats and cheeses. There’s a full menu at the Pack Saddle Grill, with burgers and sandwiches, as well as hot baked or rotisserie chicken, take-and-bake pizza, and other meals to go. Freshly prepared salads, our own Sushi Bar and hot Asian food, and daily specials (closed Sundays) of smoked meats prepared to perfection in our new smoker. Inquire at the Deli for catering services.

Barrels & Bins

36 South Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2307 Open Daily 9am–7pm

Teton Valley’s source for all-natural and organic products including local and organic produce, meats, cheeses, and bulk food; 460 Bread baked fresh daily; beer and wine; nutritional supplements; health and beauty products; all natural pet foods; and much more! Juice & Smoothie Bar is now open 9am to 2pm daily. Check in for a sandwich of the day selection starting in June, as well as other various grab & go take-out options. [p. 11]

Corner Drug

10 South Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2334 Open Mon–Sat 9am–6:30pm driggspharmacy.com Located at the stoplight in historic downtown Driggs, the familyowned and -operated Corner Drug has been a local favorite for satisfying that ice cream craving for more than a hundred years. Try a fresh lime freeze or a huckleberry milkshake. Corner Drug also has your weekend essentials and a full-service pharmacy. Hunting and fishing licenses and tackle available. [p. 52]

Grand Targhee Resort

Alta, WY 83414 800-TARGHEE (827-4433) grandtarghee.com

Mountainside dining with a menu designed around fresh local ingredients can be found at The Branding Iron Grill. Located at the base of Grand Targhee Resort, it’s the perfect stop after taking in the incredible views of the Grand Teton. Unwind at the Trap Bar and Grill after a day of activities in the high mountain air. Enjoy a pint of local beer and a plate of famous Wydaho Nachos while relaxing after your day’s adventures. You’ll always enjoy great food, great drinks, and live music! See you at the ’Ghee. [BC]

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Linn Canyon Ranch

1300 East 6000 South Victor, ID 83455 208-787-LINN (5466) linncanyonranch.com

Whether you are staying at Linn Canyon Ranch or just want to join us for dinner, the Sunset Dinner Ride is not to be missed! Friendly mountain horses will be waiting to take you for a leisurely guided ride through the foothills of the Tetons, winding through aspen groves and fields of wildflowers. After your ride, members of the Linn family will welcome you back to an elegant western evening at our historic lodge. Appetizers and music on the porch precede a gourmet dinner, after which we’ll gather around the bonfire to roast marshmallows and stargaze. [p. 43]

McDonald’s®

1110 West Broadway @ Hwy 22 Jackson, WY 83001 307-733-7444 Open daily 5am–12am or later mcwyoming.com/6435 Fast, Affordable, and On Your Way! Whether you’re driving over the pass on your way to Grand Teton National Park or commuting to your job on the “other side,” make McDonald’s® a part of your day. We’re serving your breakfast favorites like the classic Egg McMuffin®, new Egg White Delight McMuffin®, and McCafe™ beverages featuring Lattes, Mochas, and Frappes. Premium Salads and new McWraps®, Real Fruit Smoothies, and Fruit and Maple Oatmeal are delicious choices to support your healthy, active lifestyle. [p. 53]

Pendl’s Bakery & Café

40 Depot Street Driggs, ID 83422 (1 block northwest of the stoplight) 208-354-5623 Open daily pendlspastries.com Looking for a latte and warm Apple Strudel? Find them at Pendl’s, where Kitzbuehel Konditor Fred Pendl has passed his baking traditions on to daughter Martha. From Nussknackers to Florentiners, Old World Austrian pastries and confections continue. Delectable Strudels and fruit-filled Danish pastries baked daily, with homemade muffins, quiches, and cranberry granola rounding out your morning. Refreshing iced coffees and summertime drinks can be savored in our beautiful backyard garden. Tasty lunch specials served 11:30am to 2pm.

Range at Teton Springs Resort & Club 10 Headwaters Dr. Victor, ID 83455 208-787-8130 rangedining.com

RANGE at Teton Springs offers new American cuisine, pioneering flavors in an intimate and casual environment affording panoramic views of the mountains and Headwaters Golf Club. Nationally recognized chef Rick Sordahl leads the culinary team at Teton Springs. Under a guiding principle of sustainability, Rick’s menu incorporates meat and game from regional ranches, fresh fish, and seasonally local produce.

Full bar service and an extensive selection of wines. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; hours vary with the season. [p. 69]

Teton Thai

18 North Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-787-THAI (8424) Lunch Mon–Fri 11:30am–2:30pm; dinner Mon–Sat 5:30–9:30pm tetonthai.com Voted “Best Restaurant, Teton Valley” in the Jackson Hole Weekly, Teton Thai offers something for everyone. Enjoy a variety of exotic dishes, from Crispy Duck Pad Gar Pow to Muslim-style Masaman curry, all made from our family’s recipes first created in Bangkok. Sit at the kitchen counter and watch our chefs prepare your dish. Enjoy specialty saki cocktails, as well as a range of imported beers and wine.

Dine in or take out. [p. 18]

The Lodge at Palisades Creek

3720 Highway 26 Irwin, ID 83428 208-483-2222, toll free 866-393-1613 tlapc.com The Lodge at Palisades Creek serves dinner from mid-May through mid-October. The Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing lodge offers incredible food in a spectacular setting. Seating is limited, so reservations are essential! American food, and full bar. Located in Irwin, Idaho, just four miles downstream of Palisades Dam on Highway 26. It’s a beautiful thirty-minute drive from Teton Valley. Call for reservations and directions. [p. 38]

The Royal Wolf

63 Depot Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8365 Open seven days a week; serving lunch and dinner 11am–late theroyalwolf.com Since 1997, locals and visitors alike have enjoyed discovering this offMain Street (from the stoplight, go one block north and turn left) establishment offering a diverse menu of sandwiches, burgers, salads, appetizers, and entrées served in a casual, smoke-free pub-style environment. Complementing our menu is a full bar serving all of your favorite beverages, including cocktails, wine, and a selection of regional microbrews on draft. Enjoy outdoor dining on our spacious deck during the summer. Daily food and beer specials, Wi-Fi, and billiards. Stop by to meet old friends and make new ones. Snow sagas and fish tales told nightly.

Tony’s Pizza & Pasta

364 North Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8829 Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, 11am–11pm tonysbrickovenpizza.com At Tony’s Pizza & Pasta we use 100 percent fresh products for our hand-tossed pizza and Italian entrees, and we bake all of our items in an Italian brick oven. Try our exciting grill items, such as burgers, steak, and salmon. You can choose from our selection of twenty-five beers on tap while you watch your favorite sporting event—including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey—on one of our nine 45-inch flat-screen TVs. Come in and enjoy our vaulted-ceilinged, log-cabin ski lodge/Italian restaurant. We deliver to Teton Valley!

Victor Emporium

45 North Main Street Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2221 Open seven days a week victoremporium.com For more than sixty years the Victor Emporium Old Fashioned Soda Fountain has served milkshakes, including the World Famous Huckleberry Shake. Gourmet coffee and espresso served daily. The Emporium is also a great place to pick up those unusual gifts. Where the locals meet before and after fishing! [p. 43]

Victor Valley Market 5 South Main Street Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2230 Open daily 7am–9pm

Victor Valley Market is your local grocer and THE place to get fresh seafood and choice meats in Teton Valley. Offering a unique selection of groceries, from organic and specialty items to your everyday needs, including a full selection of wine and beer. Our gourmet deli counter offers delicious house-made takeout dishes, along with sandwiches made with locally baked bread, fresh salads, house-made soups, and so much more! Victor Valley Market has all that you need to make a delicious meal, whether for eating in or picnicking. [p. 25]

Warbirds Café/Teton Aviation Center

253 Warbird Lane Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2550 Lunch 7 Days and Dinner Tues–Sat tetonaviation.com/warbirds-cafe Enjoy delicious food seasoned with spectacular views of the Tetons at Warbirds Café, located at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport, one mile north of downtown Driggs. A full bar and thoughtful wine list complement our contemporary bistro fare, which is enhanced by daily specials and occasional live music. Our window-banked dining room parallels the taxiway, where an impressive array of private planes arrive and depart throughout the day. You can turn your meal into an adventure with a scenic airplane or glider ride; or, if you prefer to stay grounded, visit our free display of restored vintage warplanes. [p. 45]

Wildlife Brewing & Pizza

145 South Main Street Victor ID 83455 208-787-2623 Open 4–10pm daily; Lunch Fri– Sun beginning at 12 noon wildlifebrewing.com Teton Valley’s most popular establishment! An award-winning, familyfriendly microbrewery with the best pizza in the Rockies. Also offering salads, appetizers, sandwiches, pastas, wraps, buffalo chili, nachos, desserts, a kids menu, and yes, even vino! Come in and enjoy a game of shuffleboard, pool (free on Sundays), darts, or bubblehockey, and stop by on Wednesday evening for Open Mic Night. Groups and private parties are welcome, and kegs are available on request. Come see why Wildlife Brewing is the locals’ place with big taste! Like us on Facebook. [p. 22] SUMMER 2014

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lodging guide

Fox Creek Inn

273 E 5500 S Victor, ID 83455 208-604-0831 thefoxcreekinn.com

Located on the Idaho side of the Tetons along Fox Creek, the Inn features four luxurious rooms, no TV but free Wi-Fi. Located 3.5 miles from Victor, 6.5 miles from Driggs, 45 minutes from downtown Jackson, and one hour-plus from Grand Teton National Park. For skiers, it’s 30 minutes to either Grand Targhee or Jackson Hole ski resort. A full breakfast is served each morning, and guests enjoy a great room, patio, hot tub, fire pit, and star-studded night skies.

Grand Targhee Resort

Alta, WY 800-TARGHEE [827-4433] grandtarghee.com

After a day of mountain biking, horseback riding, or hiking at Grand Targhee Resort, it’s time to relax with the family in a variety of western-style mountainside accommodations. All lodging is located just steps from miles of trails for hiking and biking, along with dining and other activity opportunities. For those desiring a more intimate family retreat, consider Grand Targhee Resort’s Vacation Rental lodging accommodations perfectly situated in Teton Valley. Call today to book your stay. [BC]

Grand Valley Lodging Property Management

PO Box 191, 158 N. First Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8890 or 800-746-5518 mail@grandvalleylodging.com grandvalleylodging.com Grand Valley Lodging is the premier property management company in Teton Valley, Idaho, successfully renting properties since 1992. We offer great rates on short term rentals that include vacation homes, cabins, and condominiums throughout the valley. We are also the largest long-term (6 months-plus) property management company in the valley, and can help you optimize income and maintain your property.

With twenty-two years of experience in the housing rental business, we would be happy to discuss the management of your valuable investment in Teton Valley. [p. 26]

Linn Canyon Ranch

1300 East 6000 South Victor, ID 83455 208-787-LINN [5466] linncanyonranch.com

Our lodging combines the best of luxurious accommodations with nature’s simple pleasures. Sleep peacefully in one of our luxury platform tents, or indulge yourself in creature comforts and rustic elegance in our artisan-built timberframe cabin. Our guests feel relaxed and inspired in our cozy mountain sanctuary. When you make your lodging reservation, we will also book your riding and dining activities at the ranch. We are also happy to help you reserve off-site adventures such as floating, fishing, hiking, and sightseeing. [p. 43] 68

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Teton Springs Lodge & Spa

10 Warm Creek Lane Victor, ID 83455 208-787-7888 or 877-787-8757 fax 208-787-7889 guestservices@tetonspringslodge.com tetonsprings.com This year-round resort offers fifty-one elegant guest rooms and suites.

Luxury mountain log cabins nestled on the border of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest are also available. The Stillwaters Spa & Salon offers a full range of services, and the Range Restaurant provides an intimate dining experience. Meeting, wedding, and banquet services also available. Summer fun includes golfing the Byron Nelson-designed Headwaters Club, guided fly-fishing trips, swimming, tennis, hiking, and biking. Activities nearby: horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and day trips to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. [p. 69]

Teton Valley Cabins

34 East Ski Hill Road Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8153 or 866-687-1522 stay@tetonvalleycabins.com tetonvalleycabins.com Nestled amongst mature cottonwoods, Teton Valley Cabins welcomes you for your special getaway, vacation home base, or family or group reunion. Quaint charm, rustic cabins, affordable rates, and grounds complete with Jacuzzi await you at Teton Valley Cabins, just one mile from Driggs, with its restaurants and shops. We are centrally located, with Grand Targhee Resort just up the road, and other recreational opportunities within a few minutes’ drive. Various room types available; our rooms are equipped with microwave, fridge, satellite TV, and Wi-Fi. [p. 25]

Teton Valley Lodge

3733 Adams Road Driggs, ID 83422 800-455-1182 info@tetonvalleylodge.com tetonvalleylodge.com During your stay at Teton Valley Lodge, you can expect to fly fish on a different stretch of river every day. With more than twenty-five different sections of river on three blue ribbon fisheries in Idaho, years of discovery await even the most experienced of fly fishermen. Prolific dry fly hatches on the South Fork of the Snake, Teton River, and Henry’s Fork offer you many opportunities for large trout. Experience Teton Valley and the surrounding area with us—you will never forget it. [p. 19]

TETON VALLEY REALTY MANAGEMENT

253 South Main Street Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-3431 mail@tvrmanagement.com vacationrentalstetonvalley.com We hope you will allow us to find that perfect home or condominium to make your vacation a memorable and extra-special one. All of our homes are nicely furnished, meticulously maintained, and fully equipped to accommodate your group at a fraction of what you would pay for a few hotel rooms. All homes come complete with linens, kitchen necessities, cable or satellite TV service, soaps, and paper products; some have high-speed Internet service. Basically, you receive all the conveniences of home, away from home. [p. 4]

Recognized for General Excellence

2009, 2012, 2013

The Lodge at Palisades Creek 3720 Highway 26 Irwin, ID 83428 208-483-2222 or 866-393-1613 palisades@tlapc.com tlapc.com

KEVIN CASS

The Lodge at Palisades Creek is located off Highway 26 in Irwin, Idaho, on the fabled South Fork of the Snake River. Our Orvis-endorsed flyfishing lodge offers nine elegant yet rustic cabins for rent. Lodging is all inclusive and promises a first-class memory of a lifetime. We are proud of our reputation as one of the finest fishing lodges in the “tailwater” section of the Snake River, among the richest trout streams in North America. Recipient of the coveted Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year Award for 2014. Open mid-May through October. [p. 39]

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TETON VALLEY’S ONLY YEAR-ROUND RESORT

Teton Springs Lodge & Spa was recently voted “Best Hotel in Idaho” for the third straight year from U.S. News & World Report! Enjoy deluxe accommodations in one of the well-appointed Lodge guest rooms and suites, or upgrade to a luxury mountain log home. Experience ultimate relaxation in the Stillwaters Spa and Salon and top off a perfect day with an intimate dining experience at the Range Restaurant, complete with mountain & golf course views. Weddings are also our specialty!

This luxury community truly offers the best of all worlds – an extraordinary combination of upscale amenities and endless recreational activities that visitors enjoy year round.

Resort Amenities for Teton Springs Lodge Guests:

SUMMER IS MAGICAL AT TETON SPRINGS RESORT & CLUB! 208.787.7888

www.TetonSpringsLodge.com

• 18-hole Byron Nelson-designed Headwaters golf course • Club memberships available for swimming, golf & fitness • Nationally celebrated Chef leads resort’s new culinary team • 25 meter outdoor heated pool & hot tubs • Private stocked ponds for fly fishing • Hiking and biking • Children’s Camp Programs

SUMMER 2014

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church directory Calvary Chapel Teton Valley

Teton Valley Bible Church

Our motto is to simply teach the Bible simply. Our pattern of study is verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, right through the Bible. Sunday service starts at 10am, and consists of worship, teaching, and fellowship. Dress is nice casual. Children’s church and a nursery room are provided. Wednesday Bible study starts at 7pm; dress is casual. One block north of the stoplight in Driggs, turn left (west) onto Depot Street; the church will be on your right.

Sunday morning worship services at 9:30am (summer) with Pastor Jim Otto teaching. Youth group meets Monday nights (seventh through twelfth grades). AWANA meets Wednesday nights during the school year at 6:20pm. [p. 12]

Church in the Tetons

Driggs City Center | Driggs ID 83422 | 208-354-HOPE [4673] churchinthetetons.org We gather for worship in the Driggs City Center at 9:15 on Sunday mornings, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of the month.

On the fifth Sunday we go out as the hands and feet of Jesus to serve our neighbors however we may. We are a biblically grounded, Christcentered, mission-focused community that exists to serve Teton Valley and the world to the glory of God. We are often described as authentic, relational, genuine, and honest. Nursery is available for infants and toddlers two and under. Education is provided for kids three and over.

Good Shepherd Catholic Church

245 S Hwy. 33 | Driggs ID 83422 | 208-354-8960 uppervalleycatholic.com Starting Memorial Day weekend (May 25) and continuing through September 14, mass held Sundays at 5pm in English, and 6:30pm in Spanish. After September 14, mass will change back to Saturday 4:30pm in English and 6pm in Spanish. Also, every Wednesday, Adoration, from noon to 6:15pm, is followed by Mass at 6:30pm. Confession is offered on Wednesday from 5 to 6:15pm. For more information call 208-624-7459 or email idahocatholic@yahoo.com.

Our Redeemer Church

American Legion Hall | Driggs ID | 208-456-3060 Pastor Steve Gilmore, M. Div. We are a church family that welcomes both valley visitors and residents. Every Sunday at 10am we transform the American Legion Hall into a chapel for our service. A nursery for small children is provided. We exist to love and help one another, and to show God to everyone we meet, as we explore our individual and collective relationships with Him. We are a traditional, non-denominational Protestant church.

LDS Driggs Idaho Stake

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Teton Valley Wards Driggs I Driggs II Driggs III Tetonia I Tetonia II Victor I Victor II Victor III

Roy Moulton Wade Treasure Mitch Blake Brent Robson Jim Douglass Lynn Bagley Val Kunz Stan Marshall

354-8211 354-8806 354-2379 456-2871 456-2362 787-2211 787-2026 787-3678

11am 9am 1pm 11am 9am 11am 1pm 9am

St. Francis of the Tetons Episcopal Church Ski Hill Rd. | Alta WY 83414 | 208-354-8960 stfrancis.episcopalidaho.org

Sunday worship includes Sunday School for children at 10am. St. Francis of the Tetons Episcopal Church welcomes worshippers of all walks of faith. In the shadow of the Tetons, this historic church offers an opportunity to experience God’s presence and join in fellowship, spiritual renewal, and service to others.

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245 S Hwy. 33 | Driggs ID 83422 | 208-354-8960 tvbc@silverstar.com

school directory

53 Depot St. | Driggs ID | 208-354-WORD [9673] ccteton.org

TETON SCHOOL DISTRICT 401 District Office: 208-354-2207 tsd401.org

Teton School District 401 strives to provide a safe and exceptional learning environment, where career and college readiness are the academic cornerstones of a relevant and progressive education. The three focuses for students in all schools are Respect, Responsible, and Ready. [p. 31]

Teton High School

Grades 9–12 | 208-354-2952 tsd401.org As a four-year high school, THS strives to recognize the uniqueness of the individual in preparing the student for a lifetime of learning.

THS provides a safe and academically focused learning environment, where students are challenged for career and college readiness.

Basin High School

Grades 9–12 | 208-354-8280 tsd401.org Basin High School is an alternative option for students who meet the state criteria for enrollment. Students obtain credits through a stateapproved, independent study format, with assistance from certified staff.

Teton Middle School

Grades 6–8 | 208-354-2971 tsd401.org Teton Middle School is dedicated to providing a quality education through which students will grow in academic achievement, respect for themselves and others, self-discipline, integrity, honesty, and responsibility.

Teton Elementary Schools

Grades K–3 at Victor 208-787-2245 | Driggs 208-354-2335 | Tetonia 208-456-2288 | Rendezvous Upper Elementary grades 4–5 in Driggs (208-354-8280) tsd401.org The mission of the elementary schools of Teton School District 401 is to be integral in the partnership between school, home, and community in nurturing and encouraging all children to become productive citizens and lifelong learners.

2014 Lineup: Thursday, June 26, 2014 | 6:00 PM

Mandatory Air

John Wayne’s World

Thursday, July 10, 2014 | 6:00 PM

Young Dubliners Brain Maw Band

Thursday, July 17, 2014 | 6:00 PM

Paper Bird

Maddy & the Groove Spots

Thursday, July 24, 2014 | 6:00 PM

James McMurtry Alta Boys

Thursday, July 31, 2014 | 6:00 PM

The Motet

The Deadlocks

Thursday, August 07, 2014 | 6:00 PM

Victor City Park Victor, Idaho Thursdays June 26 - August 14 (except July 3)

6pm - 10pm Free fun for all ages

Hayes Carll

Screen Door Porch

Thursday, August 14, 2014 | 6:00 PM

Elephant Revival Black Mother Jones

To donate or for more info visit www.tetonvalleyfoundation.org

teton valley FOUNDATION

Teton Valley Foundation is a donor and sponsor supported non-profit organization. TVF works to make the good life in Teton Valley even better by providing cultural, recreational, and educational programs and facilities that boost the local economy and make our community a better place to live and to visit. Our programs include Music on Main, Kotler Ice Arena, the Great Snow Fest, and Oktoberfest.

SUMMER 2014 PO Box 50, Victor, ID 83455 | (208) 201-5356 | info@tetonvalleyfoundation.org

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Route Scouting ABBY BROUGHTON AND JASON POPILSKY, ORGANIZERS OF THE JUNE 28 TETON OGRE ADVENTURE RACE, ATOP STOUTS MOUNTAIN IN THE BIG HOLES. INFORMATION: TETONOGREAR.COM. PHOTOGRAPH BY AMY HATCH

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Hidden Treasures Extraordinary properties are hiding in corners around Teton Valley. ...trust the experts to help you find them.

Having led the way in real estate sales in Teton Valley, Idaho, for more than 20 years we are granted a singular insight into today’s local real estate market.

DriggsRE.com

(208) 354-8880

One South Main, Driggs ID 83455

DriggsRE.com | (208) 354-8880

Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty is Independently Owned and Operated.

SUMMER 2014 magazine 5

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