Flaming gorge/Jackson

7/15-7/16

Day 15: Utah

Another long drive (5hrs) to Utah's Flaming Gorge Reservoir State Park, along the way we contemplated stopping at the Dinosaur Monument, but opted out due to the extra hour it would add to the trip. Besides who wants to see a bunch of dusty old bones?
My first attempt to get us to our destination resulted in driving a bit to far north and wandering over the Wyoming border. Backtracking to the reservoir, we set up camp, chatted with a nice couple from Kentucky on their way south from Alaska, threw on our swim trunks and went down to the boat launch to get some good swimming in. Three days without a shower we started to smell ourselves, and the reservoir was the perfect way to clean up a little.
Another pretty mellow day and it was off to bed, this time without the rainfly on the tent!


Day 16 Wyoming

We're going to Jackson! The little tourist town in north central Wyoming is the gateway to Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. The drive to Jackson was literally nothing, there is absolutely nothing in the middle of Wyoming except for excellent AT&T service. More service in more places they say. Upon arriving in Jackson we had the opportunity to meet up with my Uncle Mark, and cousin Blake, who just happened to be on a fishing trip in the area. It's pretty wild how things work out.
We were treated to a great lunch of sandwiches, chips, and beer. All three of which we have not had due to no refrigeration and lack of storage space. Thanks uncle! I forgot how good beer was. To prove to my Grandmother that we did in fact meet, we took an evidence photo. Check it out grandma!
Unfortunately our meeting was rather short, as they had some more fishing to do elsewhere. We said our goodbyes, even though we are going to see them in less than a month when we get to Fresno. Mark gave us a canister of bear spray, which brought us up to two, and proved to be a good thing as it is required to carry with you in the backcountry of Teton and Yellowstone.
Heading back into Jackson, our timing was perfect and we caught the annual Jackson Hole Shootout. An old west performance put on by the local community theater company.
After the Shootout (everyone died) we headed across the street looking to eat at Billies Burgers, recommended by my uncle, which turned out to be to full. We opted for the restaurant next door, took a seat at the bar and ordered a couple beers. We figured we Might as well keep this beer kick going. It turns out we arrived during two for one draft beer, so we got a couple more beers. It's a good thing we ate as well or we would not have been able to get up the next day. I had the Elk meatloaf, and Zach ordered a Billy burger with bacon. Needless to say, it was a good day.
At this point we are ready to check into the hotel, our first of two we are using during the trip. Zach works for Hilton, so we got an employee rate at the Hilton owned Homewood Suites. Arriving to check in we are greeted by Lynn, front desk manager. She proceeds to tell us they overbooked, and had to set us up at the hotel across the street called the Wrangler Inn. In exchange for the inconvenience they would not charge us anything, and we could still use the pool and eat breakfast at the Homewood Suites. Not a bad deal as long as we finally got to sleep in beds.
Heading across the street we had the pleasure of interacting with a rather rude gentleman checking us in. After trying to charge us $165 dollars for the room he finally understood what was going on, and still gave us a room with only one bed, despite reserving two. Long story short Josh sleeps on the floor... Looks like I won't have a bed till Vancouver.

MILEAGE:

Driving-

This trip: 540
Total: 2498

Walking-

This trip: 0 (only count hiking)
Total:106.5