Take me to the River – Drop me in the water
Saturday - 7/5
Hey, we actually got the kids up early! Incentive was a horse back ride.
We hooked up with A-OK Corral for a 2 hour trail ride. This outfit was located 3-4 miles south of town and came highly recommended by the manager at the hotel.
I feel we have one of the best concierge services in Jackson Hole. All of the people working the desk love the area, some have kids and all are more than willing to spend some time with you talking about what to do.
We knew this would be the real deal when we drove up. One of the handlers was “heeling” his younger brother. OK, for those who don’t know what heeling is, remember, we are out west. Think rodeo. He was letting his brother run out in front of him and he was dropping a lasso under his feet and pulling him down.
They found a great horse for each. Charlotte rode Cowboy, the most ornery in the bunch. They put me on Sally, an old mare who needed to be coaxed along. This was alright with me. I was bringing up the rear, and when I would fall behind due to her lagging, I could give her a couple swift kicks and pick up the pace to catch up.
They saddled up the horses for us and we were introduced to Jedediah, our guide and he went over the rules. Jedediah was originally from Texas, rides in the rodeo for fun on the weekends and loves to guide hunting trips in the fall and winter. He also rustles cattle and sheep, but right now, this is his full time job.
He was 24 and has 8 younger brothers and sisters. He was great with the kids and really knew about the history of the area, the wildlife and just being a cowboy. He spent a lot of time talking about the cowboy life and the importance of hunting in the area. We all learned a lot.
We started out down the side of the road and then quickly headed up a canyon through forest. The pace was slow, head to tail. When we called, I told the person that answered that my daughter wanted to canter. She said that after we got out onto the trail, you would see why there was no cantering allowed.
The trail took us up about 1000 feet in elevation. Much of it very rocky, but dusty the whole way. These horses are sure footed and you did not feel at all uneasy.
Once we made it to the top of the canyon, we walked along a ridge. The views from here were spectacular. To the north, you could see Jackson Hole in one direction, the Tetons behind and the town of Jackson off in the distance.
To the south was Horse Creek and rolling hills. He pointed out a ranch at the bottom of the canyon. This was one of the original ranches in the Jackson area and is still owned by the family that settled it. Behind us he pointed out Eagle Rock. We were only a hundred feet or so from this formation. This granite formation was visible by riders who were coming out of Jackson heading west. It showed the way to Horse Creek Canyon, which was the only canyon that you could make it through by horse.
We then rode through some meadows and he pointed out some of the wild flowers and birds that are in the area. Back down the canyon and back to the ranch.
The two hour trip was just enough. Any longer and I would have started getting sore. Any shorter, and we would not have been able to experience the variety of scenery that we did.
Back to the hotel to change and grab a quick lunch, then we headed back south of town for a white water adventure.
We had called the top 2 companies in town (both of which had been recommended to us by people back home and the front desk). Neither was running white water trips for kids under 14. They both told us to call back the next day to see if the water levels were down. We then tried one that was listed in a brochure. They have 14 man rafts, so were willing to take a 9 year old on but were both booked up. They both mentioned Sands as an alternative and told us they knew they were running their 14 man boats.
When I called, they said that they would be willing to put us on an 8 man raft if they were running them, but that it would probably be a 14 man raft as the river was high. They got us on the 2:00 trip. This is an 8 mile trip that will take us through some class 2 and 3 rapids.
When we got there, they suited the kids up with wetsuits, got boots for us and loaded us onto the bus for the 30 minute drive. The driver played some good 60’s and 70’s rock-n-roll and Charlotte and I talked about the bands and the songs. When we got there, they gave us life jackets and asked for the strongest 8 to paddle. They asked me to sit at the front to be one of the lead paddlers. Charlotte was in the middle.
This water was much rougher than the last trip we took. I was getting wet every 5-10 minutes and we really had to paddle to get through some of the rapids. Nothing like the trips I took when I was in college in West Virginia, but still a lot of fun. The kids who wanted to took turns riding up front.
The last big rapids we went through got everyone very wet. When we pulled out, there was a boat that had capsized (small private raft) and they were missing one of their paddlers. We ended up seeing her down around a bend, on the shore, paddle in hand. This water could take you downstream very fast.
The ride back on the bus was about 45 minutes.
We headed back to the hotel, the kids swam and we settled in for dinner. Wendy and I ordered pizza again from the same spot, but told the kids we would be eating out the next evening.
Hey, we actually got the kids up early! Incentive was a horse back ride.
We hooked up with A-OK Corral for a 2 hour trail ride. This outfit was located 3-4 miles south of town and came highly recommended by the manager at the hotel.
I feel we have one of the best concierge services in Jackson Hole. All of the people working the desk love the area, some have kids and all are more than willing to spend some time with you talking about what to do.
We knew this would be the real deal when we drove up. One of the handlers was “heeling” his younger brother. OK, for those who don’t know what heeling is, remember, we are out west. Think rodeo. He was letting his brother run out in front of him and he was dropping a lasso under his feet and pulling him down.
They found a great horse for each. Charlotte rode Cowboy, the most ornery in the bunch. They put me on Sally, an old mare who needed to be coaxed along. This was alright with me. I was bringing up the rear, and when I would fall behind due to her lagging, I could give her a couple swift kicks and pick up the pace to catch up.
They saddled up the horses for us and we were introduced to Jedediah, our guide and he went over the rules. Jedediah was originally from Texas, rides in the rodeo for fun on the weekends and loves to guide hunting trips in the fall and winter. He also rustles cattle and sheep, but right now, this is his full time job.
He was 24 and has 8 younger brothers and sisters. He was great with the kids and really knew about the history of the area, the wildlife and just being a cowboy. He spent a lot of time talking about the cowboy life and the importance of hunting in the area. We all learned a lot.
We started out down the side of the road and then quickly headed up a canyon through forest. The pace was slow, head to tail. When we called, I told the person that answered that my daughter wanted to canter. She said that after we got out onto the trail, you would see why there was no cantering allowed.
The trail took us up about 1000 feet in elevation. Much of it very rocky, but dusty the whole way. These horses are sure footed and you did not feel at all uneasy.
Once we made it to the top of the canyon, we walked along a ridge. The views from here were spectacular. To the north, you could see Jackson Hole in one direction, the Tetons behind and the town of Jackson off in the distance.
To the south was Horse Creek and rolling hills. He pointed out a ranch at the bottom of the canyon. This was one of the original ranches in the Jackson area and is still owned by the family that settled it. Behind us he pointed out Eagle Rock. We were only a hundred feet or so from this formation. This granite formation was visible by riders who were coming out of Jackson heading west. It showed the way to Horse Creek Canyon, which was the only canyon that you could make it through by horse.
We then rode through some meadows and he pointed out some of the wild flowers and birds that are in the area. Back down the canyon and back to the ranch.
The two hour trip was just enough. Any longer and I would have started getting sore. Any shorter, and we would not have been able to experience the variety of scenery that we did.
Back to the hotel to change and grab a quick lunch, then we headed back south of town for a white water adventure.
We had called the top 2 companies in town (both of which had been recommended to us by people back home and the front desk). Neither was running white water trips for kids under 14. They both told us to call back the next day to see if the water levels were down. We then tried one that was listed in a brochure. They have 14 man rafts, so were willing to take a 9 year old on but were both booked up. They both mentioned Sands as an alternative and told us they knew they were running their 14 man boats.
When I called, they said that they would be willing to put us on an 8 man raft if they were running them, but that it would probably be a 14 man raft as the river was high. They got us on the 2:00 trip. This is an 8 mile trip that will take us through some class 2 and 3 rapids.
When we got there, they suited the kids up with wetsuits, got boots for us and loaded us onto the bus for the 30 minute drive. The driver played some good 60’s and 70’s rock-n-roll and Charlotte and I talked about the bands and the songs. When we got there, they gave us life jackets and asked for the strongest 8 to paddle. They asked me to sit at the front to be one of the lead paddlers. Charlotte was in the middle.
This water was much rougher than the last trip we took. I was getting wet every 5-10 minutes and we really had to paddle to get through some of the rapids. Nothing like the trips I took when I was in college in West Virginia, but still a lot of fun. The kids who wanted to took turns riding up front.
The last big rapids we went through got everyone very wet. When we pulled out, there was a boat that had capsized (small private raft) and they were missing one of their paddlers. We ended up seeing her down around a bend, on the shore, paddle in hand. This water could take you downstream very fast.
The ride back on the bus was about 45 minutes.
We headed back to the hotel, the kids swam and we settled in for dinner. Wendy and I ordered pizza again from the same spot, but told the kids we would be eating out the next evening.