Windy Wyoming Adventure

We recently ventured to Alpine (and Jackson Hole) Wyoming and parked our Micro Minnie FLX at the Alpine Valley RV Resort, which is the most beautifully landscaped campground that we have ever been to. It is located behind Broulim’s grocery store and sits along the bank of the Snake River. Each pull-through site has a perfect paved pad alongside lush grass, which is great because then you don’t have to worry about leveling the RV and dragging rocks into the RV from your shoes. The back-in sites are gravel, backed up against the bank of the river.

There is a reason why Wyoming is nicknamed ‘Windy Wyoming,’ and that could not have been truer for our experience during our time there, yet again. Summer is almost always windy in Wyoming, making outdoor activities less enjoyable, particularly kayaking and standup paddleboarding. When we set out to kayak and/or paddleboard, it is always with the intent of paddling as many miles as possible. We are long-distance, flat-water paddlers who do not want to waste time going on the water if the conditions are unfavorable to accomplish at least 3+ miles. It was not a surprise that we had to adjust our activities in accordance with the wind.

Day 1: We set our sights on biking. Jackson and Teton Village have well-maintained paved bike trails; we have biked all of them before. We parked the Tahoe at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center and biked to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Biking our way back to the Tahoe, the wind gusts were so strong that they nearly knocked me off my bike on three times. Instead of biking on the other trails, we chose to call it a day. It just isn’t fun being pummeled by dirt and rocks, nor is it fun fighting to stay on my bike.

Day 2: We really wanted to paddle around Jenny Lake, but alas, it was just too windy. On a prior trip, we had attempted to kayak around the entirety of Jenny Lake when the wind gusts blasted in from nowhere; we had battled fierce 30 mph gusts to make it back to the kayak launch area. It sucked! Instead of dealing with that again, we decided to hike. It was a cooler day, which made hiking comfortable.

We chose Taggart Lake and started the trail counterclockwise toward Bradley Lake. I was glad that we went in that direction because it had more uphills, which was safer for my new legs/ankles. I didn’t even need to use trekking poles, which is a big step forward for me. The looped trail is 4.56 miles and provides a rewarding view of the pristine, untouched lake. However, neither of us had put on bug spray, which ended up being a mistake. Larry got four bites from a huge horsefly (he believes it was the same one). The individual bites resulted in large, painful, itchy welts on his left leg that oozed puss and caused one of his feet to swell. Today, one week later, the areas of the bites still look horrible.

Later that evening, the wind died down enough to do some paddling – we were ecstatic! Instead of venturing out on the Palisades Reservoir, we decided to paddle on the Snake River and into the Greys River. The Snake River, about 1080 miles in length, begins its journey in Yellowstone National Park, winding through Grand Teton National Park, traversing Idaho, and making its way through central Washington before joining the Columbia River. The Greys River is a tributary of the Snake River, its origin originates in the Wyoming Range and joins the Snake River just to the east of Alpine. We only had enough daylight to paddle 4.29 miles, but we had such a great time! Kayaking on Snake/Greys River was a new experience for us, and the tranquility of paddling in that serene area brought a much-needed kiss of peace to our souls.

Day 3: The plan was to kayak as many miles as possible on Jackson Lake. The last time we were at Jackson Lake, the water level was so low that the marina was closed. This year, the water level was the highest we’ve seen in a few years. We were hoping for a clear, calm day so we could paddle at least 15 miles, if not more. Larry checked the forecast on the day prior and it indicated that it would be a non-windy day. That morning, however, painted a different story: windy, windy, windy.

Instead of taking off early in the morning to paddle as planned, we went out for breakfast and visited the National Elk Refuge & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center before heading into the north part of Grand Teton National Park. We drove to the trailhead at Two Ocean Lake where Larry took a few pictures before heading to Kelley to check out Lower Slide Lake, a place we had never been. Lower Slide Lake was formed on June 23, 1925 when the Gros Ventre Slide occurred as the mountain let loose from the north side of Sheep Mountain damming the Gros Ventre River.

Surprisingly, it was not quite as windy there as it was in Jackson, so we decided to set out on the water. We paddled west and etched our way along the shoreline as best we could. Many tree remnants remain post-slide and are sticking out of the water – everywhere – so you must be vigilant. Because of that, we chose not to kayak around the entire perimeter as the wind was picking up, resulting in a paddle of 3.3 miles (out of a possible 4-ish or so). It is a small lake.

Along the southern shore, there are two residential dwellings. One is a massive ranch, with land spanning nearly the entire length of that side of the lake. All I could think about was how awesome it would be to have that much land to snowshoe and ski on, right out the backdoor! The ranch looked like its primary purpose was to grow hay, from what we could discern.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We know Wyoming is windy, as we’ve had numerous windy experiences there; however, we always hope that it will be calm when we visit. Despite not being able to do all that we had planned, we had a great time. Just being away from work is a delight for us, and being in a stunningly beautiful place makes it even better.

WHERE IS PADDLE & TRAILS HEADED NEXT?