Wyo WOFO — YOFO Adventures

[YOFO Editor’s note: Beka, Kady, and Travis came to play for a WOFO. Beka (our niece) got tagged to write the guest blog post as the “WOFO rookie.” Here’s to more tetons, good food, good views, and fun! Take it away, Beka!]

After surviving my first WOFO with the YOFOers, I learned that as part of the WOFO experience, I must write a post for the YOFO blog. So here we go. (Editors’ Note: apparently there are two things WOFO-ers don’t discuss…this is one. Keep reading for the second and possibly more important one. Also, we will change your pictures at random.)

I did not heed caution at the beginning of my trip west and ate some cold crab dip and fries at BWI, so in true Las Vegas fashion… what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, let’s keep it at that. The flight to Salt Lake City went well and on time, something to be grateful about these days.

I met up with Kady and Travis in Salt Lake City who then shared the 5 hour drive up to Jackson, WY. It was a beautiful drive and reminded me that I really enjoy the west’s landscape. Closing in on our destination, I started seeing whitewater rafters, not something I would enjoy, I thought to myself, seeing its open water (I’m just not a fan?).

When you’re not quite sure what you’ve signed up for

When we arrived at the National Elk Refuge, we absorbed the views of the majestic Teton mountains. And as suspected but humorously confirmed, “teton” in French is “nipple.” The benefit of the doubt that teton could have also been a Native American word went quickly to the wayside. The majestic mountains were aptly named by some French trappers who perhaps saw them as a mirage, who knows. Day 0 and the word games had already begun.

Waking up early, as Kady put it well a couple days in, is “part of the WOFO that no one talks about.” (Editors: bwah ha ha!) So, we will talk about it here. Listen, if you’re going to see wildlife and spend a day jam-packed with Dean & Dawn’s sense of adventure, you have to wake up early.

Day 1 we got up early to go whitewater rafting! I swallowed my thoughts and put on a fake it ‘til you make it face. After we got snuggled into our life vests, Parker, our charming rafting guide, asked our group who was strong and my damn pride said out loud “me!” and I couldn’t take it back before I realized I was put in front of the raft with Dawn. The ride down the river did not offend me, it was surprisingly fun, albeit teeth chattering cold after diving into some waves that soaked the front of the raft. Parker asked the group their names and a little about them, Me: French teacher, Sue: retired science teacher, John: retired science teacher, Travis: IT professor, Dean: retired army vet and professor, Dawn: engineer, Kady: newly graduated with masters in special ed and early childhood ed and newly hired teacher. Poor Parker didn’t have a chance to pull a clever trick of questions over this group. However, he did mightily well with pointing out the names of the bends and cliffs of the Snake River. The entertainment was just as fun as the ride. Kady, bravely the first to “ride the bull” which is the very front of the raft where one’s legs hang out the front while holding a rope in a similar fashion to riding a bull. Of course, Parker, knowing the photo-op guys were around the corner, steered us into such fantastic waves, knocking Kady right off the bull into the raft with some well-timed photos to capture the moment. Dawn was next to ride the bull; it was not her first rodeo. She held on like a champ and got quite soaked. 14/10 would highly recommend it and would do it again. Ask for Parker.

The crew paddling hard thru rapids on the Snake River with big smiles — Big waves and big smiles

Once home at the WOFO camper that Sue and John graciously lent as a spare bedroom, we changed and went out to the fish hatchery a mile or so down the road. Founded in 1950, the hatchery raises native cutthroat trout. A volunteer showed us around the hatchery and each stage of raising the fish. The hatchery uses mountain water runoff that is redirected throughout the hatchery and back into local water sources. It’s pretty ingenious. Afterwards, we headed for a quick walk with Swinger on Sheep Mountain, where we started learning the local flora from Uncle Dean and Dawn. The paintbrush flower is a personal favorite.

The evening of Day 1 was dinner and a play. The oldest building in Jackson is a restaurant and small playhouse. Family and volunteers gathered around a long table and had barely placed our drink orders when someone started singing and joined by another voice. The actors in the proceeding would play and sing western songs throughout the dinner they were serving.

The musical was “Paint Your Wagon,” an old early 1950s broadway musical comedy that was later made into a move starring a young Clint Eastwood. It. Was. Interesting. A memorable song had excellent are-we-there-yet vibes with lines like “Where are we going? I don’t know!” Very catchy. I had to side-eye Kady a couple times during the musical as the actors agreed that it was cool to keep lines like “I’ll sell my wife to ya!” and “I’ll hold an auction again” referring to the auction where he bought his wife. A couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, sitting behind me, were singing along and reciting lines. While I was impressed, I was concerned? The musical, given the context of its time, was pretty funny. Moral of the story? I don’t know. Wow, that was Day 1.

Day 2 and waking early to go hiking around Jenny Lake is now on my top hiking experiences. We started out early, loaded down with PB&J, full Camelbacks, nut bars, and hiking sticks. It was peaceful and right around Moose Pond, through binoculars, we saw a moose in Moose Pond! We walked around the bend of the pond and got closer looks of a mama moose and her calf prancing around nearby. Spectacular moment. We hiked 6 miles to the halfway point around Jenny Lake and took a ferry back to the starting side.

After the hike and we went to the home of the late Geraldine Lucas, a cabin in the woods in the National Park. Lucas divorced her husband and moved out to Jackson Hole and was the second woman (white woman?) chronicled to hike the Tetons, lest we forget who were there before us. Anyhow, her badassery is inspiring. We sat on her back porch and ate our “PB&Js with a view.”

PBnJ with a view from Geraldine’s cabin.

That in itself was an adventure for a day but we returned home to start packing up to go for an evening kayak trip on the Snake River! Thankfully, Travis had his rented van so we were able to drop off the van at the end point and take the kayaks to the entry point on the river. Dawn asked me which kayak I would like to go in. “Which one is less likely to flip?” I took Uncle Dean’s red kayak; I hope I gave it the athletic justice it deserves without flipping into the river.

The 8 miles that we kayaked was spectacular at every glance. A mile down river, an eagle flies over my head and makes a catch a hundred yards or less away and takes the fish to a branch to chomp away on its fresh dinner. It wasn’t caught on camera; it’s one of those “you just had to be there” things. As we are going around a bend, we come across a squad of beavers. Travis was just an arm’s length away from some of the beavers sitting and munching away on their dinner. They didn’t seem to mind the tourists floating by. Four miles in, there were a couple of small inlets where in one of them was a large eagle chilling on a low branch so with slow deliberation, I kayaked over to get a better look. In a moment of luck, I caught a picture of him doing what even the most civilized animals do, take a good poop. It was pretty neat just floating there watching him in nature.

The clouds were getting dark and Uncle Dean warned us to get hustling as there was a storm coming in. No need to get me moving, getting caught in a storm on open water was not appealing. We made it to our destination and as we were packing up, the rain started to drizzle. It was good timing.

Day 3 was originally planned for Yellowstone but the skies had other plans with hail expected. As Kady and my alarms went off before dawn, we read a text that said “Sleep in. Going to switch to Monday for Yellowstone.” A very audible “Thank God” came from Kady’s loft. I totally agreed. Travis headed back to Salt Lake City that morning. He and Jess would be taking an old-fashioned train ride back home to NY.

In the late morning, we decided to hike up a mountainside next to the refuge but in the national forest where Swinger was allowed to romp around with us. I took an early start by running to the trail’s entry and got directions about the trail and how to handle potential encounters with bears from Uncle Dean. Running an uphill trail watching for rocks and branches while looking out for bears is a different kind of running. So is running in the high altitude, it was one of the harder runs I’ve done. With Kate Bush in my ear, I’d have to disagree with her on running up that hill with no problem. Once I arrived at the end of the trail, I stopped and enjoyed the view and strong-smelling flora. Heading back down the trail was very fun, the incline along with the tree stumps and rocks to jump over felt effortless after climbing over them going up. I passed Swinger, Kady, Dawn, and Dean as they were hiking up and said I’d run a little more downwards before turning back around to join the group. As I’m going down the sun was blocked from the forested area but as soon as the trees thinned out into the open part of the trail, the “whatever I do going down, I must go up” thought hit me and I turned around to catch back up with everyone. Swinger, the smart little fellow he is, would run from the shade of one tree to the next, each time taking a break from the now very warm sun. The flora, as beautiful as it was, exacerbated Kady’s and my allergies, more so for Kady. Thank goodness for allergy medicine! 11/10 would do it again.

Later we went to town for some shopping, something I might add I don’t normally do unless necessary but thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with Kady who loves shopping. We got matching green shirts with the Tetons on the front and licorice and do-dads from the shops. Uncle Dean and Dawn chilled outside each shop; I had a hunch that this was a normal modus operandi with Kady around. I am certainly grateful for being able to be silly with Kady in the shops, comparing shirts and half cut-off sweatshirts. For dinner we ate delicious turkey tacos, with a view of course.

Day 5. A brilliant day. We got up early to drive over to DuBois (as I write this, I mentally pronounce it “doob-wah” when in actuality, it’s a cringe-worthy “dew-boyz”). On the trip over the mountain ranges, we learn of the legendary mama bear Felicia who allegedly does what she wants, even if it holds up traffic. Uncle Dean said the first person to see a large beast on the way got to drive the ATV first. Thank goodness it wasn’t me! Like whitewater rafting, I was a bit nervous at the start. It turned into a wild ride! For four hours, Kady and I took turns driving the ATV going all over The Shoshone National Forest. When I was driving, Kady was giving words of encouragement “nice, nice”, and “you’re good.” After a while Uncle Dean had to interject, “Kady, stop telling her she’s good (and some other choice words)!” Hahahaha, a little bit of nervousness turned into a lot of daring. Dean and Dawn were holding on for dear life as I hit every pothole possible and took the ATV into the air a couple times. See a quick video (Editors: you’re definitely going to want sound on!)

The views were spectacular when we weren’t laughing and screaming on the ride. We saw snow, cows, a herd of antelope, some pronghorns, rain showers in the distance, we stood on the continental divide, and a bizarre 1930s car rusted and shot up, most likely by heavy drinkers with guns and nothing to do (speculating). We returned the ATV in one piece and we, too, were still in one piece, albeit very dusty. Easily, this may have been my favorite part of the WOFO. 16/10 would highly recommend it. Go with Kady, she was laughing the entire time.

We then worked our way to the town of Dubois where we had lunch at the locally famous Cowboy Café. I ate a very delicious “pig & fig” sandwich with ham, cheese, fig jam, and hot honey. We ordered some pie to go for a later stop. There were petroglyphs to see. It seems like only locals know where the petroglyphs are and to see them, you have to ask for directions or have someone take you. John and Sue, from earlier, took Dean and Dawn to see them who then took Kady and I to see them. Some of the petroglyphs are easy to find, a small walk up a rocky hill. Some of the petroglyphs are further up. Dawn wondered out loud if they were just some prehistoric graffiti by bored teenagers. That’s not a bad take I suppose and not wildly off? The speculation is humorous anyways.

The rocky hill turned into a cliff at the top with excellent rock-climbing spots on which my ADHD had taken off. I enjoyed climbing and jumping from rock to rock going upwards until I heard someone calling for me and I had to get back down. There was not a trail in sight so moving sideways I found a trail but not without shimmying down with my feet pushing my back against another rock face. After getting close Kady asked what’s wrong after telling her I got momentarily stuck. I had a quick reply of “my hubris.” Dawn enjoyed that answer. But it was true.

Pie so good that you don’t care what your face is doing as long as pie is entering the piehole

As we headed back into town, we stopped at a “liquidation store” which had your ol’ cowboy paraphernalia full of boots, western themed tops and cowboy hats. Going in I announced that I could not justify getting cowgirl boots as I teach French and boots would not match my fits and style. Let’s just ignore that and yes, I got some cute boots from the kids’ section and yes, I wore them out the store and yes, three weeks later, I’m still wearing them on a regular basis. And yes, I’ll be wearing them into the classroom. We headed home but not without stopping by Pie Lake and eating a slice of scrumptious pie. The lake has an official name but who knows, we were eating pie. It was a great day.

Day 6, Sunday. The night before, Uncle Dean asked me what I wanted to do on Sunday. I was eager to go hiking again and suggested it nervously looking in Kady’s direction. So, the next day on day six of the WOFO, Kady and I dressed in our matching shirts and we hiked around Phelps Lake, starting at the Death Canyon entry. In total, it was 9.6 miles of hiking. We got pictures of each other and together. A passerby warned us of a bear ahead but alas we did not see one. We saw a marmot sunbathing.

The beauty of hiking in the Grand Tetons is that there is always a spectacular view everywhere you look. Being surrounded by nature is healing and wholesome, so having the ability to hike in it is a privilege that one should not take for granted. You know it was a great hike when four hours passed by seamlessly. We identified several flowers and Uncle Dean and Dawn often took the rear to use his flower app to learn more flower names. One of which was the Colombian Monk’s Hood flower, a deep purple-ish blue that resembles remarkably like a monk’s hood.

We had the traditional “Pb&J with a view” for lunch on Mormon’s Row facing the Tetons.

We returned to the refuge and Kady and I walked up to the boneyard on the refuge to check out the carcasses and bones gathered from around the refuge. It was macabre and interesting to say the least. We got some neat pictures and of course some silly ones, too.

We had some downtime in the afternoon, an occasion very unusual for a WOFO, according to Kady, who took a nap. Swinger enjoyed that nap, too. Now eating homemade YOFO ice cream is certainly a tradition at this point. Coffee flavored ice cream with bits of chocolate covered coffee beans and mini Reese’s cups, that was a dish I scrupulously finished. On the WOFO, one eats very well. I was super appreciative of the downtime followed by ice cream and a relatively early bedtime.

Day 7 and day of Yellowstone National Park! We left early (of course!) to beat the traffic and possibly see some wildlife. We first stopped at the view overlooking the Caldera Rim where one could see the Teton Range, Mt. Sheridan and parts of the rim that remained after the volcano explosion some hundreds of thousand years prior.

Soon after we walked a boardwalk exploring some hot springs near Yellowstone Lake. There were signs telling tourists to not walk beyond the boardwalk onto the ground near the hot springs. Why the signs had to be put up everywhere can be left to even the simplest imagination. The sulfur was strong around the hot springs. The Yellowstone hot springs must be the butterflies in the earth’s butt. Beautiful but stinky stinky. An interesting historical spot in the hot springs is a hot spring three feet from Yellowstone Lake where the native would fish in the lake and cook it immediately in the hot spring. A clever use of nature.

Back in the car, we headed around a loop of hot springs, the Grand Prismatic Lake, and Old Faithful Geyser. We found ourselves in a buffalo jam. A herd of buffalo were crossing the road. A large buffalo walked right past the truck, so close you could almost whisper in its ear.

We got great pictures of baby buffalo and, according to Dean and Dawn, “big beautiful chocolate beasts,” a reference to the movie White Chicks. It was pretty spectacular seeing the buffalo so closely.

Dean and Dawn timed it perfectly for seeing Old Faithful. We had an hour to walk around and saw several other geysers burst and more hot springs before seeing the eruption of Old Faithful. Kady and I found a great spot to watch the geyser and Dean and Dawn went further up a hill to catch an overlook view. Kady and I sat on the boardwalk and made a plan for picture posing and selfies since the eruption would only last 90 seconds to 5 minutes and we weren’t sure which we would get.

As we sat there waiting on Old Faithful, we overheard some interesting conversations beside us and felt our legs burn in the sun. It was worth it. Old Faithful erupted 10 minutes late but we got some videos and lots of pictures. Kady even got me in a handstand picture.

Shade was our next destination while waiting to meet up with Dean and Dawn. Of course, we hit up the gift shops and stores and found out that 2022 was the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone Park. We had fun going through the shop looking at the trinkets and memory keepsakes of our adventure out here. Kady and I found matching shirts once again and I even got a kid’s glow-in-the-dark sweatshirt. A definite score. We got some drinks including Grand Teton Brewing’s “Old Faithful Root Beer.” It is so far the best root beer I’ve tried.

At one of the shops, I found an autobiography of Red Cloud, a leader of the Oglala Lakotas, the only Native American to win a war against the United States Army. It’s a great read for anyone, especially those interested in Native American history.

It was time to pack up and get ready to leave the next morning once we returned from Yellowstone. After what felt like a quick night, Kady led the charge in cleaning out the “guest bedroom” camper. We got our things packed up and, as predicted, we needed a larger bag to hold our souvenirs and clothes. Three bags between us, we were packed up and ready for the 5-hour drive to SLC. It was hard to keep my eyes open during the drive after all the adventures that we had.

I remembered how much I enjoy the west’s landscape and weather. Getting pizza from “The Pie” in Salt Lake City, we sat on one of University of Utah’s greens and had root beer and pineapple and pepperoni pizza. Don’t come at me, pineapple belongs on pizza, that is a hill I will die on.

At the airport everything was okay except we got a notification that a flight will be delayed. Worried we get to the gate and find out it is the next flight from LAS to BWI that will be late. It’s red-eye flight so it just delayed us getting home in the morning by an hour or so. So, we got some beverages at Unita’s Brewing (I skipped the food?) until it was time to board the plane back home. Our WOFO had come to an end but definitely will not be the only WOFO end, for there will be more! I am so thankful for my family in these adventures and becoming a WOFO vet. Thank you, Uncle Dean and Dawn, for spoiling me and Kady with all the escapades, ice cream, foodies, and beverages and most of all, for all your love. I love you all and hope to write for the YOFO blog again!