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In Search Of Sun And Snow

9 Days, 5 States, 1800 miles

By Adventures Not Vacations

April 26^th, 2016

On The road

With our Mountain Collective passes in hand, Meghan and I decided to plan another trip. We would head to two of America’s classic ski resorts, Sun Valley and Jackson Hole. Neither of us had ever been to either resort, and with 4 free days of skiing, we decided the best way to see them was on an epic nine day road trip.

We would leave Seattle after work on a Friday and then return home at the end of the next weekend. We booked a condo in Ketchum, ID just a few minute walk away from the chairlifts and would spend three nights there. After that, we booked a room in the famous Hostel at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We would stay three more nights there and then leave the last two nights to chance. Maybe we’d go skiing in Oregon on the way back, or even drive up and visit Yellowstone. The possibilities were endless.

The trip started with a snowy drive over Snoqualmie pass. We drove into the night, crossing the Columbia river into Oregon and eventually stopping at a Howard Johnson in Pendleton. We woke up and headed to the attached Chinese restaurant for our free continental breakfast. We made waffles and Meghan poured herself some watered down coffee before hitting the road to our next destination.

Since we weren’t going to be skiing that day, we wanted to break up the drive and find something to do on the way. After our awesome hot spring experience in New Mexico, we decided a hot spring adventure would be the perfect activity for the day. We found a hot spring along the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway and headed out towards Banks, Idaho.

Skinny-dipper Hot Springs is right off the two lane highway along the South Payette river. It’s a short half mile hike up the steep bank of the canyon. With a name like Skinny-dipper, we assumed most bathers would be sans-bathing suit. Unfortunately for us (we didn’t bring our suits) we were very wrong. The pools were filled with all kinds of people. Young children with their parents, sorority girls from nearby Boise State, and other people just looking to relax. Rather than go without clothes, we left our underwear on and enjoyed the very hot water.

We wanted to get to Sun Valley before it got dark, and we still had a few hours ahead of us, so we hiked back down to the car and hit the road. It soon became obvious why this area was called the Wildlife Canyon. We saw lots of elk and deer. Some were up on the hills and others right along the road. The highway eventually climbed up into the mountains going through Stanley before coming down into Sun Valley.

Sun Valley

After arriving in Ketchum, an issue with our GPS guidance led to us driving all over the city looking for the condo. Eventually, some Googling led us to the correct condo complex and we were ready for three days of fun in Sun Valley.

The condo was in a great location, just a few minutes walk to both the ski resort and downtown Ketchum. We took advantage and headed to Warfield Brewery and Distillery, which we saw on the way into town. We ate dinner and headed home after a long day.

Sun Valley is an interesting resort. There are two mountains with skiing (Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain.) Dollar Mountain is the beginners area and is located next to the town of Sun Valley. Bald Mountain is what most people are thinking about when they hear about Sun Valley, except that it’s actually in Ketchum. So we would spend the next few days skiing and hanging out in Ketchum.

In the morning, we took the short walk to the lifts to pick up our lift tickets. This is where we first got to see how nice the lodges of Sun Valley were. It looked a lot more like a 5 star hotel than a ski resort day lodge. Tickets in hand, we hopped in the gondola and took off for a day of skiing.

We couldn’t resist the bowls at the top of the mountain and immediately dropped in. They looked like they’d be fun, but they ended up being moguls of ice and so our first run consisted of 20 minutes of knee pounding torture.

After changing tactics and switching to groomers, we stopped for lunch at the Seattle Ridge Lodge and were surprised to find pretty amazing food. My personal favorite was the bacon and brisket burger.

A funny thing about the lodge is that Meghan and I never expected to make our way to it. On the trail map the lodge sits at the top of Seattle Ridge, surrounded by green runs. As we soon found out, Sun Valley doesn’t really mark there runs like the rest of the country. These greens were some of the fastest steepest groomers I’d ever skied.

One of the chairlifts goes over a creek that had a pretty strong sulphur smell. Usually, that means there is a hot spring nearby. A google search led us to Frenchman’s Bend hot spring, just a few miles out of town. This time we wore our bathing suits, and on arriving saw a sign prohibiting nude bathing. That was probably the only rule on the sign people weren’t breaking though.

There were about 10 people in the spring, and we weren’t the only ones on a Mountain Collective Pass road trip. One couple was on a similar trip as us, starting in Utah and going to Jackson Hole. Another group was in town from Seattle. It was a fun crowd and a beautiful hot spring.

After soaking, we headed into town to clean up and get dinner. At the recommendation of Meghan’s parents, we stopped by the Pioneer Saloon for some prime rib. The place was packed and as we waited the other two groups from the hot springs walked in. Great minds think alike I suppose. We enjoyed some huge steaks before heading back to rest up for our trip to Wyoming.

Craters Of the moon

Between Sun Valley and Jackson Hole, there is a huge old lava field known as Craters of the Moon National Monument. The land around it is covered in giant broken rocks and extinct cinder cones. It truly does look like the landscape on the moon.

In the winter, most of the rock is covered in snow and they groom a cross country ski track around the park’s main road. We didn’t have cross country skis, but we thought we could make due with our backcountry setups. So we skinned up and headed out.

Along the road were several cinder cones that we decided to skin up and get some actual ski turns in. The snow was icy, but the weather was good and the views were gorgeous. Unfortunately for us though, the nice weather came with a cost. In the parking lot, we put sunscreen on our faces, like we do for most sunny ski days. We failed to take into account that with the warm sun, we wouldn’t be dressed like we are on a normal ski day. We didn’t have helmets or hoods and as the weather warmed we shed our gloves too.

So, after the day of skiing, the sunburn started to set in. It wasn’t completely unexpected for our necks and faces to be burned, but when our hands started turning red, we realized our big mistake. We would spend the rest of the trip with hilarious tan lines from where the edges of our coats met up with our hands.

There is a lot of empty space between the Craters of the Moon and Jackson Hole. It was along one of these stretches, near the Idaho National Laboratory that something strange happened. I got pulled over. I wasn’t speeding, and I hadn’t been driving erratically. I was pulled over, in broad daylight, because one of my headlights was out. This was made even more frustrating by the fact that I had replaced both of my headlights just a couple of months before.

After the short stop, we continued to Jackson Hole, not expecting any further issues. As the daylight dwindled and we began to go over Teton Pass into Wyoming, we noticed people flashing their lights at us. I’ve driven with one headlight before, but I’ve never had people flash their lights at me for it. Soon after, I realized that my car wasn’t lighting up the signs on the side of the road. I double checked that my lights were in the on position and came to the realization that now both of my headlights had gone out. I pulled over at the top of Teton Pass and assessed the situation. Sure enough, my lights weren’t working. Lucky for me (but not anyone I was driving towards) my high beams were still as bright as ever.

We continued to drive for about half an hour with bright lights shining in everyone’s faces until we got to our hotel. It was the longest 20 miles of driving in my life. When we finally got to Teton Village, we were tired, sunburned (don’t forget to put sunscreen on your hands if you take your gloves off) and hungry. We stopped by the Mangy Moose for dinner and drinks and went to bed.

Day off in jackson hole

We woke up at “The Hostel” and decided it was time for a day off. We nursed our sunburns and headed into town for breakfast. Our only major goal for the day was to fix my headlights, so after trying out the Bunnery and wandering around the town, we headed to an auto parts store for some new lights.

I’m not sure who designed the headlights on my car, but they definitely didn’t make them easy to change during a Wyoming winter day. After some frustration and numb hands, I had working headlights again. (Thankfully I remembered how the snaps blocking the lights worked since I had just changed them.)

We celebrated the new lights with a trip to Snake River Brewing, where we tasted a flight and planned our next few days. There wasn’t supposed to be much new snow, but the sun was supposed to be shining and we were finally going to ski Jackson Hole.

After this, we headed back to the resort to try out the Mustache Bar and get a snack before dinner. We bought a giant mustache pretzel and some homemade Fireball before heading down the road to another Brewery for dinner. As we passed by The Hostel, we saw a group Gelande Quaffing. We hoped to join them after dinner, but they were gone by the time we got home. Next time we’re in Jackson, we’re going to have to find someone to show us how to Quaff.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

The next two days of skiing at Jackson were beautiful. We had warm weather and bright sun. Our day of rest gave our legs time to recover and our sunburns time to fade, so we hit the slopes hard.

We usually spend the first day at a resort trying all the lifts and getting the lay of the land. With all the recent warm weather, the lower elevation runs had turned into a slushy, icy mess. We stuck to the upper runs and enjoyed great groomed runs and even a little spring skiing.

We found our way below Corbett’s Couloir and waited a few minutes to see someone drop in. One woman waiting with us said that her husband was planning on doing it. Not long after, we took the tram to see couloir from the top and found out it was closed for skiing. We took off our skis and peered over the edge. I’m not saying I wouldn’t ever do the run, but I would need some pretty great conditions to consider it.

Our second day at the resort brought us even more sunshine. We took the tram to the top on the first run and tried the Top of the World Waffles from Corbett’s Cabin. It was a great way to start the day. We lapped our favorite runs for the rest of the day and then headed back down to the resort for dinner and drinks.

When we planned the trip, we purposefully left ourselves a couple days at the end where we didn’t have any plans. We were hoping for some snow somewhere nearby and considered driving north to Big Sky or back west to Oregon. Lucky for us, snow was in the forecast for Jackson and we decided on a backcountry day in the Grand Teton National Park.

We needed a place to stay, so we found a deal on Expedia for the Spring Creek Lodge. It sits high on a hill overlooking the Tetons. It was a perfect place for our last couple of days.

Skiing the tetons

The night before, we had scoured the Internet looking for a backcountry route to take. We found a route called 25’ Short, so named because the peak elevation is 9,975 feet. It was billed as most people’s first route in the Tetons and it sounded perfect for us.

Our view in the morning was a beautiful sunrise on the Tetons which was quickly covered by clouds. The storm was arriving and we were hoping for some snow. We made a trip to the store for some breakfast and a trail lunch before heading out to the national park. Instead of just paying the entry fee, we opted for a year long pass, good at all the national parks in the US. Hopefully we make good use of it.

On the way to the trailhead, the weather was getting better. Instead of the cloudy mist falling on us in town, large snowflakes began falling. As we geared up, the flakes come down harder and harder. There was noticeable accumulation in the few minutes it took to ready our skis and check our beacons. After a week of sunshine, we had finally found some snow!

We looked at our map and headed out. The snow was getting deep and as we climbed higher it got deeper and lighter. After a few hours, a few wrong turns, we began to hear voices. Another group of out of towners had caught up to us in our skin track. We weren’t super sure if we were going the right way, and neither were they. They asked us where we were headed and confirmed that they too thought they were headed up 25’ Short. We were in the right place.

After letting them pass, we decided it was time for lunch before skiing back down. We got to follow a nice creek drainage with widely spaced trees. The snow was great and the run was fun.

On the way down, we stumbled on the summer trail that climbs up the mountain. It took us out of the way, but it looked like it would make for an easier ski down. Anyone that has toured on their skis knows that you’ll always try to avoid putting on your skins if you can.

When we finally got to the bottom and the trail flattened out, the snow started to get sticky. Normally, this is a bad thing, but it actually ended up great for us. We switched our skis into tour mode and just cross country skied out of there. No skins needed.

Heading Home

After the long week of skiing and sightseeing, it was time to head home. Because we had stayed the extra nights in Jackson, we had a 14 hour drive ahead of us. We woke up early and hit the road. The drive was pretty smooth sailing with 75 mph speed limits and good weather for most of the way We ran into some pretty crazy fog in Idaho, but hardly anything worth writing about.

As we got nearer to Washington, we heard a storm was passing through and Snoqualmie Pass would, again, be snowy as we drove over. The weather continued to be fine until just after Spokane, when I drove through the craziest wind I’d ever experienced in a car. Four foot wide tumbleweeds blew across the highway and exploded as cars and trucks ran them over. My car was telling me that I was getting about 60% of the gas mileage I would normally. We worried this was a sign of things to come on the pass.

As we climbed up to the pass, it started to rain, and finally snow. The snow was very wet and very slippery. Just before the pass, traffic slowed to a halt. Finally, we saw a pickup truck pulling a trailer had jackknifed and it’s trailer had rolled over. Thankfully that wasn’t us. Then we got stuck behind snowplows blocking the whole highway, which actually made for an easy drive down.

Thirty minutes from Seattle, when we thought we were home free, a downpour started. It rained so hard we nearly had to stop on the highway. When we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it started hailing. We white knuckled our way down the last few miles before finally getting to Seattle and reaching home.