How to spend a pretty great day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

On Wednesday, we headed south from our campsite at Gros Vendre to spend the day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the fancy western spot I hadn’t visited in 28 years. It’s about the same as then: ritzy and country and western.

We grabbed breakfast then headed straight for the Crystal Butte Trail on the edge of town, which ended up being a pretty exhausting 6+-mile out-and-back climb. It started with switchbacks and led to an open, steep hill with beautiful views of the whole town, the Snow King Mountain Ski Resort, and even the Grand Tetons in the distance. It ended up possibly being the second-most difficult of our four significant hikes.

For the afternoon, it was what qualifies as western downtime fun when we headed to Jackson Hole Whitewater for a 7.5-mile raft ride down the Snake River with our guide Roslyn and a nice family from Texas. As we navigated Class 4 rapids, we also enjoyed some calmer waters, nice conversations, four eagles, and some egrets too.

We finished off the day by devouring some excellent BBQ and Roadhouse Brewing Co. beers, making some purchases for the kids, and heading back to crash hard at camp.