Old Time Photos

Yippy-I-kai-yay! We just love getting our old time photos taken at the Velvet Rope photo shop every year. It seems that when you get our crew dressed in fishnets and leather chaps their true colors come out :) Mountain Man Bret (back center) really took his character to heart in this photo. So scary...
Another favorite is our guide Marc in the sombrero. Busted!
The girls at the shop were so helpful and it was a blast!

Phillip's Canyon Hike

On Sunday evening I went on a beautiful hike with some friends up Phillip's Canyon. It was a scenic hike with beautiful flowers and heavily wooded areas. The sound of flowing water from the creek along the bottom of the canyon created a relaxing mood. The thick forest created an atmosphere of solitude. It was a great hike!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Last night the Teton gang went out to enjoy the play at the Jackson Hole Playhouse. If you haven't taken a night off to check it out you should probably reconsider your priorities. The show they're doing this summer is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and it is hilarious! They do a great job and all the actors/actresses are great. After the show we were able to meet their crew and chat it up with them. They are a really fun group of people with great personalities, so go ahead and check 'em out!

Lunch Counter!

So if any of you have been rafting on the Snake in High Water, you probably remember Lunch Counter. At high flows, Lunch Counter becomes 8 huge waves of whitewatery goodness!! I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how Lunch Counter got it's name, so I thought I would write something up and tell you all about it! Back in the 1960's, rafting was just getting started here in Jackson Hole, and guys like Dave Hansen and Charlie Sands were using their military surplus rafts to enjoy the Snake River Canyon, although mostly at lower flows later in the season. From what I have heard, the first to run the canyon at high flows was Dave Hansen and a couple buddies. He took a boat down the river, and came around the corner at the Big Kahuna, thinking they would go through Kahuna, and pull over to eat lunch. But they were shocked to see some huge waves that he had never seen before. His friends asked him what it was, and he said "Hell if I know, I haven't ever been down here before!" To that, his friend replied "well, if we are ever going to have our lunch, we are going to have it handed to us here!" From then on, those huge waves became known as The Lunch Counter and the rest is history.

While we may not use military surplus rafts anymore, Teton Whitewater thoroughly enjoys showing people Lunch Counter Rapid trip after trip, year after year! Lunch Counter is something that should be enjoyed by all, so here is a picture of Marc and a couple of our other Guides taking a group through Lunch Counter yesterday. The photo is courtesy of Floatographs, check out your rafting pictures there.

Come and get it!

Have you ever been to the Bar T 5 Chuckwagon here in Jackson? Well if you haven't, then you are just missing out my friend. The Teton Whitewater Crew decided it is time for us to dust off our Cowboy (and girl) duds, and head on over for a Chuckwagon style dinner and wagon ride. I thought the best part was the sunset over Cache Creek, and the cool night in the hills above Jackson. I have been to a chuckwagon dinner before, and I usually enjoy the old west atmosphere, and I will remember the Bar T 5 dinner as one of the best I have attended. Levi even told us that the Bar T 5 was the only thing that compared with taking a Whitewater Rafting Trip on the Snake River! I don't know if its better, but hey, why not try both?

Billy's Burgers

What is it about us Americans that makes us love a good old-fashioned hamburger so much? I don't know about you, but I just like being with my friends and, in the immortal words of Jimmy Buffet, a "cheeseburger in paradise!" Jackson this time of the year really is paradise. The grass is green, the river is flowing higher than it has in over 10 years, and the tourists have started to arrive. The Teton Whitewater crew decided to head over to Billy's Burgers at the Cadillac Grille, and have ourselves a good old fashioned cheeseburger, can you blame us? I mean, we are in paradise. Oh yeah, and Billy's is not only the best burger in town, but probably the best you will find on your trip.

Ni Hao Ma?

One of the best parts about living in Jackson for the summer is that we get to meet tourists from around the world! Today we had a group from the Han Zhou province of China. They love when Arne just starts speaking Chinese to them. It seems like for them it ranks right up there with seeing wildlife. Bears, bison, elk, and the rarest of all... a burly mountain man speaking Chinese :)

Man zou!