Jackson Hole Summer Travel & River Trip Blog

 

As a West Coast kid who grew up pearl jam grunge in Seattle with jeans and flannel shirts lining the drawers, I chuckled as I read the New York Times article entitled “Dress for Success, Again,” which profiled these young 20-somethings who are ramping up the office dress code: “Today the well-off 55-year-old is likely to be the worst-dressed man in the room, wearing a saggy T-shirt and jeans. The cash-poor 25-year-old is in a natty sport coat and skinny tie bought at Topman for a song. Young men are embracing the “Mad Men” elements of style in a way that the older men never did, still don’t and just won’t.”

 

The article went on and on describing the younger generation that wants to revitalize fashion and bring back the suit and tie. Poor saps, I thought.  Thank goodness Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where everybody walks around in fleece and gore-tex, doesn’t hold true to the hoity-toity urban style.  Thank goodness we work in a place where the ski-bums can sit right next to the millionaires at the Brew Pub and you would never know who is who.  Anybody in a suit in this town immediately elicits the response, “Well, what’s with him?” 

 

Multiply that by a power of 100 at our Dave Hansen Whitewater office where we’re thrilled when guides show up with clothes that don’t smell like wet dog.  Standard uniform includes chacos, DH hat, board shorts, and a shirt that you bet your lifevest was sniffed that morning before deemed wearable.  About the most GQ we get around here is when our fashionable van driver matches his visor with his t-shirt, which guaranteed, gets an ooooh and ahhhh from the office staff. 

 

This suits my husband and I just fine.  I mean heck, Bud has such an aversion to formality that when he was in furniture sales, he would visit with major buyers wearing his suit and green Tevas on his feet.  No Gucci kicks for this kid. I remember one day when I was a teacher, I was so tired of wearing professional clothes, that when I played volleyball with the staff before school one morning, I pretended I forgot my dress clothes at home.  “Shucks, I’ll have to wear my sweats and tenneys to class today. Hehe”

 

So I read all this New York Times hoopla with smug indifference.  I was haughty, in fact, sighing in superiority as I gazed over at my husband and caught my breath. Not because he’s a 35 year-old hunk who benched 225 yesterday—but because he had on his Target river shorts and white crew socks…. Which suddenly reminded me: Wait, didn’t all those young 20-somethings smirk at his get-ups? Didn’t the office crew chortle when Bud would walk in with yet another mis-matched shirt and short combo? In fact, their regard for Bud’s style of riverguide clothes was so bad that they all pitched in for an end of the season present: new, stylish board shorts. Even a remote outdoor playground has its dress code standards.  The younger generation has spoken.

First trip of the year for me was June 5^th and with the water a refreshing 39 degrees, I had no qualms about wiggling my way into that wetsuit.  Even when I tried to zip it up and gracefully caught the zipper on my belly, I didn’t even curse.  Just sucked it in and gave a thumbs up to my husband Bud.  Seeing as how it was the first trip of the year, I could not stop smiling.   Yep, onto the bus, into my life-jacket, hop in the boat, listen to our head guide Arne’s safety speech, chat with some German folks and a couple of stalwart 10 year-old rafters, and I am still grinning.  Half way through the trip we float into Gauging Straits, a calm section where people like to swim when the water is warmer (note: much warmer).  One adventurous customer (some might say ‘crazy’) decides to jump in the water by doing a back flip off the bow of the boat.  So I clap and whoop and holler just like the other rafters until somebody yells out, “Your turn, Kelly!”  Haha.  But I have a sure-thing ready that will save me from the freshly melted snow that is the Snake River: Everyone knows guides hate to get wet (I know—it’s weird), so I yell out, “If Arne jumps in, I’ll jump in!” Now see this is where I am reminded that Dave Hansen guides are not just any guides.  It took about .5 seconds after I smugly pronounced my dare for Arne to hop up on the tube, give a little bounce and back he flips right into that 40 degree water.  Say what?!   Nothing left to do but slip off the sunglasses, take a deep breath, and flip myself into the river for the first swim of the year.  Even though I might have screamed once or twice to get back in, it was so awesome I am still smiling just thinking about it two weeks later.  Love the river, no matter how cold it is.

 

 

 

 

It’s hard not to feel incredibly lucky living alongside the Snake River.  I love Jackson and will always consider it a second home.  But meeting our guests from all over the world, has got me up and wanting to travel again.  Call it the Burnworth wanderlust, but I’m always jazzed about hearing new places to travel to.  Today was no exception.  An awesome group from Washington state came in to talk about their Jackson Hole Whitewater Trip (Yowzers Lunch Counter is huge right now!   ) and they thought I was a girl they served on the Peace Corps with.

 

Turns out they worked in education and wrote proposals to help build the technology and general maintenance of the schools in South Africa.  Pretty cool.  Coincidentally the girl they knew was named Emmy.  (Mine name is Emily.)  No such luck, I was not Emmy.  And, I have not been in the Peace Corps or lived in South Africa.  Though check in a few years and maybe I will be.

Sitting in the office having some tasty yogurt trying to decide if I like the crunchy granola I put in it.  The verdict is still out.  Mary and I are listening to some rockin’ tunes on Sirius Radio’s “Soul Town”- its definitely a customer and employee favorite (although if Kyle had his way we’d be listening to Grateful Dead Central or something to that effect).  Ooh!  Hall & Oates just came on…got to love a little blue-eyed soul.

 

 

Needless to say, things are cruising at a pretty slow (though steady) pace in the office since the airport closed down (nice timing, Jackson).  However, the calls are still streaming in with people getting their summer trips together. 

 

We’ve been taking quite a few Jackson locals down the river before our crazy summer starts…let me say that they were looking oh so fine in their wetsuits as they took off.  Hope they got some serious wave hits today! 

 

In other news, Emily has just returned to the office for the summer.  Our blonde office worker count is now up to 2.  The brunettes are still defeating us.  I’m thinking of adding peroxide to Mary’s shampoo.  Fun fact of the day: Emily can speak fifteen (yes, fifteen) dialects.  And she does a mean German accent.  Which I think is the most awesome talent ever.  I might just start calling her Helga. 

 

Ok, I think you’ve heard me ramble enough. 

Rock on and Raft on friends. 

 

Over and out-

LP

We could not have asked for a better May in Jackson Hole!  When the weather can traditionally range from 1 foot of snow (jeans and t-shirt weather for locals) to 80 degrees (time work on your Teva tan weather), we have been very lucky this spring to have crisp spring like morning with blue sky and afternoons that warm up in the 70s.   The Dave Hansen Crew has had some unbelievable scenic trips, with the highlights being a herd of 30 elk crossing 25 feet in front of the rafts and seeing a cow moose with her newborn calf who could not have been much more than 2 or 3 days old (she was still trying to figure out how to use those long legs on the river rocks).

The whitewater tripshave been spectacular.  The warm weather during the day and the cool nights have started a gradual snow melt and the river level has been inching up, giving our guides new waves to play with everyday.  We took down a great group of family and friends yesterday.  All styled out in wetsuits and splash gear, Pradeep and his crew crashed through the waves at Station Creek, S-Turns, Cutbanks, and skirted around 3-Oar Deal (Class VI hydraulic…definitely one you want to skirt).  And this was just the first half of the trip!  “You mean they get bigger!” Everyone said with a laugh floating through gauging straights as Kyle was giving everyone ready for the second half of the trip.   They blasted through Lunch Counter and Ropes.  Went down the slide at Champagne and finished off strong in the playground of waves through the 3/4 mile stretch of Cottonwoods.

The water this season is going to be ideal.  The snow melt has been steady and the weather level is going to stay up at some fun levels that we typically do not get a chance to see for a long time.  It will then settle down into its great normal level all the way through September.  We are looking forward to having a great season getting people soaked!

 

I’m pumped for my 5^th season at DHWW!  This season promises to be totally awesome with high water, great guides, even better office staff, and some hacky sack session outside the DHWW office!

 

With the change in the weather comes a change in my routine.  This week I’ve been busy exploring the hikes that are clear- High School Butte is still kicking my tush, but the views are great.  Josie’s Ridge and the ever-popular Snow King trek are also finally clear and beautiful as always. 

 

I’ve also been busy “exploring” (and by exploring I mean chowing down) at the local restaurants that have just re-opened.  My old standbys are still making my tummy smile- fajita plates at the Merry Piglets, massive B-B-Q sandwiches at Bubbas, and tasty burgers at Billy’s.  I’m excited to check out the new summer menus at Trio and The Bistro- my fingers are crossed for a mean elk dish and some creative use of rhubarb.  Top Chef, look out!       

Raft On,  Mary G

OK…is it fair that Dave Hansen Whitewater’s first big group of the year on the whitewater section could also be our best group of the year?  Not only was the average age of this group 68 years old.  Not only did this group of adventurous seniors want to go on a whitewater trip rather than a scenic float trip.  But they wanted to go on a whitewater trip that left town at 8am…when the temperature in the morning was 32 degrees and the high for the day was going to be 42 degrees!   We were half expecting a call at 7:15 from the group leader after they stepped out of their hotel that they had decided to switch to a scenic trip. 

 

But no, this group was ready to go on a whitewater trip down the Snake River.  We picked them up at their hotel at 7:15 and took them to our office to get outfitted with wetsuits and booties.  Our guides had donated all of their extra fleece to this group and they were ready to go to the river. 

Though there were flurries of snow throughout the trip, this group had a great time laughing and paddling through the waves.  One of the adventurous rafters, Patty (age 72) even declared after getting soaked by a big wave at lunch counter and laughing it up with her other mates, “I think this is the most I have ever laughed in my life.”  Our guide Matt Lynn, said it was one of the most memorable trips that he has ever been on.  It definitely make us feel lucky to be apart of a company that allows us to interact with spirited people like this. 

 

That’s right folks, Dave Hansen Whitewater is open for business! We ran our first scenic rafting trip of the season on Saturday, April 18th. Two customers and two guides, Cristina and Matt boarded a boat under the Wilson Bridge on this beautiful sunny day and floated all the way to the South Park bridge. Not only was it a beautiful sunny warm Saturday, but there was plenty of wildlife to be seen.  We saw eagles, osprey, a red tailed hawk, a falcon, and many American white pelicans.  And the wildlife was not sitting around either, the osprey were diving for fish, the pelicans were herding fish to eat, and we even saw an eagle and a red tailed hawk fighting over hunting territory! We even had our first junior guide for the season! Twelve year old sean got to try his luck on the oars, andhe learned a thing or two about the wildlife we saw.  Whether you live in Jackson or are just visiting, a leisurely float down the Snake River is a great way to spend a day!

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is closing down for the season today, Sunday April 5th.  The mountain will be open from 9-noon tomorrow for employee appreciation ski day, but will not be open to the general public.  We have had some of the best skiing and riding of the season here this spring, with over 100 inches of snow falling in the last three weeks of the season. Many members of the Dave Hansen Whitewater and Snake River Park team have been out enjoying some last great powder turns while they still can (without hiking for it anyway).   The total snow depth has reached 502 inches, which is well above the average of 459 inches a year over the past 10 years. After tomorrow the lifts will be done bringing skiers and snowboarders up the mountain until next December, and we will finally be able to give our full attention to the preparations for the upcoming 2009 summer rafting season. while the hardcore skiers and snowboarders amongst us are sad to see the ski season ending, the excitement is growing for the upcoming summer season.  The recent large amounts of snowfall are setting us up for some great rafting this year!