5 Sep
This morning we drove just a few miles north of our campground to Teton Village which is a small town that is part of "Jackson Hole" and surrounds the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. On the way up we watched a hot air balloon launching.
In the winter months this is likely a bustling ski resort with literally hundreds of ski runs with a difficulty level that will test your skills. There are upscale shops, boutiques, cafe's, bars, restaurants, hotels and condo's. In the summer, it is still a busy area for tourists but nothing like the winter.
Our goal today was to ride the aerial tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain which is 10,450 ft. At the top of the mountain is "Corbet's Cabin" which specializes in their "top of the world" waffles! The waffles are almost a right of passage from what we understand. OK, now it is a quest! Not only is there the aerial tram, but there is the Sweetwater Gondola that takes you up to 9095 ft and the Bridger Restaurant. So here we go!
We arrived at Teton Village and were greeted in the parking area by a very nice lady who recognized the size of the big ol' brown truck and directed us to an appropriate parking spot. From there we headed to the tram building. We purchased our tram tickets online which gives you all day access to all the aerial lifts and unlimited rides.
At the tram entrance we were issued a wrist band, based on the QR code from the online purchase, and the wrist band is electronically coded for access. You walk up to a turnstile and the wrist band opens the gate. We then boarded the tram along with others, and up we went! We can only imagine what this would be like in the winter as the skiier's board and head for the top. The capacity of the tram is 100 people plus their gear, 19,500 lbs total! The base elevation is 6311 ft and there is 4139 ft vertical rise for a total of 10,450 ft. We just had a few folks today.
The tram operator
There are two 1000 hp (?) electric motors at the base that power the two trams that run simultaneously. One is going up as the other is coming down. The base platform shifts left to right to receive the inbound tram.
The view from the tram was absolutely awesome, even though visibility was a bit obscured this morning. We thought maybe we were too aggressive about getting here when they open at 0900 hrs to beat the crowd, but actually the visibility issues were a result of smoke from wildfires in Idaho. Nothing we could do about it.
We are headed up and over this!!
Smoke fills the skys!
The ride to the top took 15 minutes and was amazing, even though the viz was a bit obscured. The trams slows as it approaches the top/bottom and provides a very smooth transition for the passengers.
Of course the radio tower guy inside me inspected the marks on the fasteners that indicate any slippage!
The mechanicals that make the tram work
Once at the top, we exited the tram and made our way to Corbin's cabin to use the restroom and then we walked down a hiking trail that headed off to the south. Now keep in mind we were at 10,450 ft. Several of the other folks that were onboard were on serious excursions. A couple of young ladies from California with very large backpacks we heading out on a three night hike and will end up at Jenny Lake were we visited yesterday. They left their car there.
The whole time we are there I am trying to visualize what it would be like with skis on fixing to head down the mountain. Yeah, probably not!
I took 144 pictures so I will try to whittle this down a bit. It was so awesome though. Just amazing!
Scenery almost takes your breath away. Oh, wait a minute, that is the altitude LOL!
That's good enough! Don't step back!!
A rock slide on the neighboring mountain
We have to walk back UP there!!
3" PVC water pipes used for the snow making equipment
Ha! Decision point! Are you SURE you want to ski down this mountain??!
So we hiked around a bit and then headed back to Corbin's Cabin to sample a waffle and ingest some water to offset the altitude!
Corbin's Cabin
Doreen checking out the garments in the souvenir shop.
The obligatory waffles! We bought one, which was slathered in butter and cinnamon-sugar and then folded over. It was really good - very light.
It was time to head back down, so we boarded the tram and enjoyed the ride. It stopped several times as we descended, but they told us they might be loading supplies, or a passenger that might need assistance.
At the bottom of the tram ride we stopped by an exhibit of one of the original trams.
Since our wrist bands get us all-day access to all of the trams, we decided to take the Sweetwater gondola up to Bridger Summit and the Rendezvous Lodge Restaurant. This gondola was much smaller than the 100-person capacity tram.
Soon we arrived at the Bridger Summit and hiked around a bit. The scenery was beautiful.
Paragliders were launching from here!
The lodge in the background
Amazing rock formations here.
We visited the restaurant and Doreen got a margarita. I got a beer. We sat out front on a bench and enjoyed the view and watched more paragliders launch out.
It was time to head back down, and again, we enjoyed the view although diminished from smoke.
Heading down.
We are temporarily stopped and there is an empty gondola aside of us heading up.
At the bottom, a diner built from an old gondola.
Many shops, etc here at Teton Village.
That's it for today., We took a break this afternoon and evening. Tomorrow we will explore downtown Jackson and have dinner with our Texas Allie friends before we depart on Thursday!
No comments:
Post a Comment