September 5th, 2024
I am located in southeast Idaho and am only about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Grand Teton National Park. That is a “day trip” distance, so I decided to drive there and hike on the String and Leigh Lakes trails. I would also stop in and do a little shopping in Jackson, Wyoming.
I started out as the sun was just rising over the peaks to the east. To get to the park, I needed to drive up the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. Except in it’s upper reaches of Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, the river always seems to be in a canyon. I am not sure why this one is named Grand. There is also Hell’s Canyon and just plain old Snake River Canyon. The name “Grand” conjures up pictures of a vast desert crack in the earth like down in Arizona. This one though is not near as deep or wide and is covered in pine forest. It flows a Coke bottle green (if you are old enough to remember them) over rocks and ledges. To the west it flows through Targhee National Forest and closer to Jackson, it runs through the Bridger-Teton National Forest. It is whitewater rafting country. Outfitters are located in Jackson and at Alpine Junction, at the mouth of the canyon where the Snake flows into Palisades Reservoir. There it is captured and released as needed so that the farms and ranches further downstream can keep America fed with steaks, burgers and Idaho potatoes.
I did not think too much about this drive until I started up the canyon and a sign caught my attention, “Kahuna and Lunch Counter Rapids Overlook”. Then the memories flowed from all the way back in the late 70s and early 80s. In 1977, I went on a whitewater raft trip down the river with my wife Gail. Kahuna was the biggest drop on the river and everybody in our raft got wet. Right after it was Lunch Counter, which kept us wet, and finally Champagne. It got its name from the drop over a ledge that sucked huge amounts of air deep into the pool below. Millions of bubbles where then released as you floated through, giving you the feeling that you were in a giant glass of bubbly.
After the trip in 1977, we drove our brand new Buick Special down the canyon and parked at the overlook so we could watch other rafts and kayakers drop over Kahuna. It was very entertaining, as some rafters would fly out of their raft and end up swimming. Kayakers would surf in the large standing wave and slide into the eddies to rest when the next raft came through. I remember that quite well, as I left the keys in the car and locked us out. Fortunately, a tourist stopped and donated a clothes hanger, which I bent up and used to break into my own vehicle.
We repeated the raft trip again in 1979. I have driven down through the canyon a couple of other times to view the scenery, once in the winter with friends when I lived in Park City, Utah. Prior to today, I have only been there one other time.
I came up with the idea during the early winter months of 2005, that it would be nice to plan a trip out west with my two sons, and my father. He was just turning 77 in February, and I reasoned that it would be good if 3 generations of Scott boys could do a big trip together. It would be one that Zach and Tyler, 11 and 9 years old respectively, would experience with their grandfather, one that they would remember for many years. My father was aging and slowing down, and such a trip would probably not be possible for much longer.
We planned to fly from Minneapolis to Billings, Montana. There we would rent a car and drive southwest past Red Lodge and up and over the mountains on the Beartooth Highway, arguably the most scenic road in the lower 48 states. We would then enter Yellowstone National Park’s northeast entrance at Cooke City, tour the northern half of that park and stay in West Yellowstone. After a couple of days, visiting geyser areas, seeing waterfalls, and spotting wildlife, we would drop down to Jackson and visit Grand Teton National Park. The highlight of the trip would be a scenic trip down the Snake River, with breakfast along the shore, and finally float the whitewater section of the river through the canyon.
So you see, after many years, I would return to the canyon to build a lot of memories. Except often, things don’t turn out like you planned. We did fly to Billings. We stayed overnight in Red Lodge as we had a reservation there. But the next day we had to backtrack to the Chief Joseph Highway to detour around a section of the Beartooth Mountains, where a storm the previous fall had washed away the Beartooth Highway. We did reverse course to cover most of the Beartooth Plateau, where I had been backpacking for many years, and finally arrived in Cooke City. But that night, my father did not get much sleep, as he had difficulty breathing due to the mountain altitude. He suffered from an earlier injury to one of his lungs.
We travelled on across northern Yellowstone, seeing lots of bison, deer, and elk, and stopping at many of the thermal areas to watch geysers erupt and mud pots bubble. Of course, we also experienced the lovely rotten egg sulphur scents. We stayed that night in West Yellowstone.
For my father, that was the only night in West Yellowstone. He felt as though he was suffocating. I suggested that we get him back to Minneapolis, where the air pressure would be higher. At 3 a.m. we started the drive back to the airport in Billings, about 5 hours away. He got his return flight moved up, said goodbye, and Zach, Tyler and I started back to West Yellowstone. The three of us then completed the rest of the trip.
We were down one, but we still had a good time. The boys rode the Alpine Slide down the mountain in Jackson several times. We rode the gondola to the top of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort and Tyler climbed the rock wall at the base area. We had dinner at a burger joint across from the town square. You sat at a horseshoe shaped bar, looking inward on the cooks who talked rudely and made fun of the customers. Zach and Tyler could not stop giggling. You did not get a menu, as there were only 3 things to order, a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. It was so good, and fun, that we went back two nights later for more. The next afternoon, we watched the re-enacted cowboy gunfight in the town square.
We went on the raft trip that we had booked back in February. We saw great blue herons, geese, ospreys, eagles and sandhill cranes. There were elk and mule deer. Zach and Tyler liked the breakfast best. We climbed out of the rafts and hiked up into the forest, enjoying pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs under an awning visited by hummingbirds.
Jumping back into the rafts, we pushed off and hit the waves. The air was much warmer by then because the sun was up over the canyon walls. We got soaked in the rapids. Afterwards, the boys fell asleep on the bus ride back to Jackson.
A couple of days later, we started the long but scenic drive back to Billings for our flight home.
Now, as I drive up the river canyon towards Jackson, the memories of that trip come back. I know now that the plan was mostly more for me than the boys. They barely remember it. Zach remembers the Alpine Slide, and the burger joint. I am not sure either of them really remembers the raft trip. They don’t remember their grandfather being with us in the Beartooth’s or Yellowstone. They were just a little too young. And, my father passed away in 2020.
There is a lot of smoke in the air here in the Tetons. It is from the fire over in the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho. Like the way that smoke obscures the views now, the years obscure my memories of 2005, both good and sad. The plan didn’t really turn out the way I envisioned it. But I remember the boys laughing as we plunged over the wave at Kahuna. I remember walking on the boardwalks through the geyser basins with my father, as the boys ran ahead to see the next thermal feature. I suppose that is enough.
We are just here to be memories for our kids. Once you are a parent, you are a ghost of your children’s future. — Unknown
Starting All Over 