Wyoming: Grand Teton, Jackson and Alpine

Grand Teton National Park, while one-seventh the size and less famous than Yellowstone National Park to the north, still has much to offer visitors.

The Teton Mountain Range, topped off by Grand Teton at 13,770 feet, offers a dramatic backdrop for hiking, boating and other outdoor activities. My visit just scratched the surface as I arrived in late June via the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway from Yellowstone.

Trail near Jackson Lake Lodge.

The first stop on my Cosmos tour was the recently renovated Jackson Lake Lodge. I had time for a short hike, which unfortunately was made shorter by bear activity shutting down the trail I was on, but that gave me time to take in the beautiful vista with a pint of Snake River Brewing’s fine Hoback Hefeweizen on the lodge's terrace.

A beer and a view. It doesn't get much more relaxing than that.

After moving on and crossing over Jackson Lake Dam, a 30-minute break at Jenny Lake offered more great mountain and water views during a brief walk.

Jenny Lake

Next up was time spent at the Chapel of the Transfiguration, a small log chapel in the community of Moose, Wyo. that was built in 1925. The site also featured a former non-motorized Snake River ferry and Maud Noble Cabin, which provided more information about the history of Grand Teton National Park, which was created in 1929 and expanded in 1950.

Chapel of the Transfiguration

From there, it was a relatively short drive to Jackson, the biggest town in the area at just under 10,000 people, at an elevation of about 6,200 feet. Mountain Modern Motel would be home for the night, and its convenient location made for easy walking access to the rest of the town.

Snake River Brewing was around the corner, and the microbrewery has an impressive facility inside and out to cater to visitors. After imbibing a St. Stephen’s Saison, I walked to Town Square, where the entrance at each corner has an arch made of approximately 2,000 elk antlers.

An elk antler arch at Jackson Town Square.

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar has an iconic neon sign on its roof and saddles on its barstools inside. The bar had a wild west vibe, country-rock covers courtesy of The Winford Band and a decent selection of locally brewed beers sold only in bottles and cans.

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

I’d worked up both a hunger and a thirst by this time and decided on Thai Me Up, a Thai restaurant that had 16 beers on tap from Melvin Brewing. A big $15 plate of “Drunken Noodles” (made with noodles, green onion, green cabbage, red bell pepper, tomato, Thai basil, egg and spicy oyster sauce) acted as a great base for the two flights of four five-ounce beers I consumed as I ate and and drank at the bar.

The locals were conversational and friendly, and one man even insisted on paying for one of my $12 flights just because I moved two spots over so he could sit beside his friend. There wasn’t a bad beer among the eight, as I rated them all between 8.1 and 8.9 out of 10.

I didn’t want to leave, but figured I should check out one more bar before closing time. I had a can of Wildlife Brewing’s Hopstafarian IPA as a nightcap while listening to another cover band at Silver Dollar Bar & Grill before heading back to the motel.

Dave Hansen Whitewater & Scenic River Trips office

After about three hours of sleep, I got up at 6:15 a.m. and took a school bus to the outskirts of Jackson to a Snake River public access point, where 10 of us paid $77 to get into a rubber raft for a 13-mile, two-hour trip down the river with Dave Hansen Whitewater & Scenic River Trips.

A bald eagle on Snake River.

Our guide, Lily Shipley, rowed to steer the raft. It was strenuous even though the current did much of the work. She also provided a lot of information, answered questions and stayed on the lookout for wildlife. She briefly caught glimpse of a moose, but I didn’t, and animals seemed to be shy about showing themselves. There were several bird spottings, however, the most impressive of which were bald eagles.

A view of Jackson from Snow King Mountain.

The early start still left time to explore more of Jackson before the bus pulled out at 3:30 p.m. My friend Inken and I elected to hike up Snow King Mountain, a ski hill overlooking the town. The strenuous trail had some steep sections, but we stopped at plateaus when needed to catch our breath. It took 75 minutes to reach the top, and we were rewarded with some great views.

Another view of Jackson from Snow King Mountain.

We walked about two-thirds of the way back down, then took another trail to where there was a bobsled-like track where you go down the hill on wheeled sleds. You’re  supposed to buy tickets at the bottom of the hill and take a cable car up. But the operator said that since we’d hiked and didn’t have tickets, he’d let us go down for free. It took about two minutes to navigate the banks and speed down the straightaways to the bottom.

We still had time before departure and spent two hours walking around and checking out some of Jackson's high-priced art stores and boutiques. Part of Broadway, the main street, has a covered wooden boardwalk not unlike the one I’d trod over in Keystone, S.D. earlier in the trip.

The view from the trail in Alpine.

It was back on the bus for an hour drive south, through a valley along the Snake River that's surrounded by dark green mountains on both sides, to the Flying Saddle Resort on the outskirts of Alpine, Wyo. Alpine has about 825 people, so it doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife, but I headed down the highway towards town and then found a trail that provided nice views of the river and mountains and cut my walking time down to 40 minutes before I reached my destination: Melvin Brewing.

Melvin Brewing's exterior.

The eight Melvin beers I’d had the night before at Thai Me Up made the idea of trying more of the brewery’s beers at its flagship location too much to pass up. A mouth-watering $16, 12-ounce bacon cheeseburger and French fries filled the spot in a big way after the day’s early walks. The beers once again didn’t disappoint, and a half-price special meant that I sampled eight more five-ounce glasses of varieties I hadn’t yet had for $12. Melvin specializes in highly hopped and strong IPAs, and those I enjoyed ranged in alcohol content from eight to 13 per cent.  I rated all of them at least an eight out of 10.

And as good as the beer and food was, the friendly staff was just as impressive. A waiter gave me two iron-on patches and a waitress took me on a private brewery tour, gave me a baseball cap and offered me 24 free cans of beer. I told her I was on a backpacking trip and couldn’t carry that much, and they might be difficult to carry on the unmarked trail back to the hotel in the dark, so she gave me eight instead.

Melvin Brewing's interior.

I found the trail and, since Alpine is in the middle of nowhere population-wise, I enjoyed the best night sky for star-watching since staying on a small island with villagers on the Mekong River in Laos 18 months earlier.

These two days in Wyoming treated me well.

Gaining an appreciation of small South Dakota and Wyoming towns

Smalltown South Dakota and Wyoming have never been on my list of must-see places. But when the opportunity to spend a few days in them during a Cosmos tour of American national parks and canyons arose, I was happy to do it.

Unfortunately I didn’t make it as far east as South Dakota’s badlands, but travelled through its Black Hills en route from Denver, Colo. to Keystone. Large hills covered in pine trees look black from a distance, which is where the mountain range derived its name. Large, interestingly shaped granite outcroppings occasionally broke up the green and serene surroundings, and it was this granite that formed the backdrops for the region’s two major tourist draws, which I’ll get to soon.

South Dakota's Black Hills region

But first, I spent an evening in the town of Keystone, which was a mining town when it was formed in 1883 and is now home to less than 500 people. Its main street features a covered wooden boardwalk, which came in handy during a torrential rain storm, and most of its shops are aimed at tourists. One of them prominently featured very jingoistic Donald Trump T-shirts hung out front, which i found disturbing, and I spotted a few of them being worn while in the area.

Bad Trump T-shirts

But I quickly learned that, if you don’t talk politics (I was travelling through areas that for the most part don’t share my liberal views), you’ll meet lots of friendly people. I had dinner at Boss’ Pizza and Chicken, which featured an all-you-can-eat salad, pizza, pasta and chicken buffet for $13.99. The food was decent, if unexceptional, but it was the staff and patrons sitting near me at the bar that made my visit memorable when the storm caused the power to go out for 30 minutes.

Cheerful banter and joking ensued, and I was given a free pint of Lost Cabin Hefeweizen before power was restored, the rain had calmed and I ventured down the street to the Red Garter Saloon to have another beer and listen to country singer Jerry Allan in a classic western saloon adorned with vintage memorabilia which is open from April through October. Allan talked and shook hands with every member of the small Saturday night audience between sets, while local legend and 7’4” cowboy “Big Dave” Murra posed for photos with visitors he towered over.

"Big Dave" Murra

It was overcast and rainy when we left at 8 a.m. the next morning to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, so the views of the massive and still-under-construction carving of the Lakota leader from the visitor complex were somewhat disappointing — and the bus that takes you closer wasn’t running because of the inclement weather. Viewing the exhibits of The Indian Museum of North America therefore occupied most of the two hours I spent at the site before driving for 20 minutes to Mount Rushmore.

Crazy Horse Memorial

I’m not American and didn’t feel any pangs of patriotism from viewing the giant carved faces of former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. But I was impressed with the work put in to create them by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and a crew of more than 400 workers from 1927 to 1941. The complex also featured an informative visitor centre, where I watched a 14-minute film about Mount Rushmore’s creation.

Mount Rushmore

The rain had subsided enough that I was able to walk a trail and get closer views, though part of the trail was closed and blocked a loop route, to fill out two hours.

The beautiful Black Hills scenery continued to surround our bus as we headed west. We stopped just outside of Deadwood to visit Tatanka: Story of the Bison, where displays and two Lakota men told us about what the bison meant to their ancestors and their experiences growing up and adapting to both their native and white cultures. The visit ended outside at a recreation of a buffalo jump hunt featuring breathtaking bronze sculptures portraying 14 bison being pursued by three Native Americans on horseback.

Tatanka: Story of the Bison

Actor/director Kevin Costner paid millions of dollars to fund Tatanka, and his admirable work is appreciated for telling the story of how up to 30 million bison that once roamed North America’s great plains were reduced to about 1,000 by the end of the 19th century due to hunting and senseless killing by white settlers and visitors.

Deadwood

A school bus driven by a Kevin Costner Original Deadwood Tour guide picked some of us there and drove us around Deadwood for an hour, telling us entertaining tales of the town’s wild west history, which involved such characters as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

After dropping my bags off at Deadwood Gulch Gaming Resort, I walked 20 minutes to do my own exploring of this town with a population of less than 1,500. Every second or third storefront featured casino gaming (primarily slot machines, but with a few card tables), which I wasn’t interested in, but a satellite operation of Sick-N-Twisted Brewing Co. drew me in for a flight of five what turned out to be disappointing beers.

I paid $12.99 for an excellent meal of a 12-ounce bison salisbury steak, garlic mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and garlic bread — washed down with a pint of Deschutes Fresh Squeeze IPA — at Gem Steakhouse and Saloon. I next visited the Celebrity Hotel and Casino’s collection of celebrity memorabilia and then sampled apple pie, coffee and margarita moonshine (the apple pie was my favourite) at Deadwood Distilling Co.

Jack Lord's Steve McGarrett jumpsuit from Hawaii Five-O at Deadwood's Celebrity Hotel and Casino.

I ended my tour of town with a flight of two beers and two ciders at Deadwood Winery that were much tastier than I had earlier in the evening — particularly Ace Pineapple Hard Cider — before walking back to the hotel.

The next morning saw us depart at 8 a.m. and drive through part of South Dakota before re-entering Wyoming and passing through the town of Sundance, which got its name after outlaw Butch Cassidy’s partner in crime “The Sundance Kid” spent 18 months in jail there in the 19th century. The highlight of a rather long day on the bus was driving through the Bighorn Mountains, which are part of the Rockies, and along the route of Shell Creek before arriving at Buffalo Bill Village Resort in Cody, Wyo.

My accommodation was a small log cabin outfitted like a modern hotel room, wifi included. From there it was a short walk into the heart of the downtown at Irma Hotel, where I got a pint of Snake River Brewing Pako’s IPA and a vantage point on its large deck for the 6 p.m. gunfight staging that’s been taking place on the street nightly since 1979 featuring locals playing tthe likes of Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Belle Starr, Wyatt Earp and others. It was hokey and the acting was poor, but it’s true to Cody and most people seemed to enjoy the 20-minute show.

The Cody gunfight

Cody has about 10,000 people, so it didn’t take long to walk around. I ventured to the Shoshonee River to go on a 1.3-mile nature trail that ended up being flooded and forced me to turn back and return the way I came. I stopped for a six-beer flight at Millstone Pizza Co. & Brewery and wasn’t impressed by any of them. I was much more pleased with the salad, mashed potatoes and 10-ounce chicken fried chicken I ordered for $15.95 at Rib & Chop House along with an Elysian Space Dust IPA.

A backyard visitor in Cody

My last stop in Cody took place the next morning at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which includes the Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Plains Indian Museum and a special exhibition area. The admission fee was $19.50 and was well worth it, as I didn’t get a chance to fully take in everything during the two-and-a-half hours I had to spend there.

Buffalo Bill Center of the West