Rendezvous Mountain

JH Aerial Tram to Rendezvous Mt

We traveled back over Teton Pass yesterday morning with the goal of going to Rendezvous Mountain at Teton Village.  This is located in Jackson Hole at the base of the Teton Range (Grand Teton National Park).  The best part - the road into Teton Village bypassed Jackson - so hard to get around with all the people trying to park in town or gawk at all the stuff.  Picked up our aerial tram tickets to go to the top of the mountain and away we went.  We traveled 2.4 miles up and a vertical rise of 4,139 feet to the top in 9 minutes (the winter time the time up is 6 minutes to accommodate the 600 people an hour going to the top to ski down)  -  we were at 10,240 feet above sea level.

Parasailing off top of mountain

We had visited this mountain 25 years ago on a tram system that has since been torn down and in 2005 rebuilt to this system.  Our WOW factor was not there this time.  Yes, it was beautiful scenery and we saw parasailing activity, didn't get to see any moose until our trip back down.  Saw a lot of people, wildflowers, snow in the far distance, the peaks of the Grand Teton.  Pretty.  Standing watching the parasailing goings on - I fell flat on my butt, wasn't walking, was standing still.  The gravel and rock are so slippery. Had the opportunity to talk with a ranger at the top and when I questioned the area across the way (Four Shadows Mountain) where it looked like someone had just skied it - he said, yes - the day before a local had gone there to ski.  He said that the deal with the locals is - you have to ski somewhere on the mountain every month - and that person chose to slalom down that small area. I hope he was able to stop before hitting the gravel - ouch!

View looking north at Grand Teton rangel from top

Spent about an hour on top, walked a little of the trails - if you are not planning on hiking the 7.4 miles down and wanted to take the tram back down, what you hiked down you had to hike back up to get back to the tram, we probably dropped down about 400 feet before turning around and hiking back up to catch the tram. On our way down, the operator said that this ticket was good to go on the Teewinot chair lift and so we went to that lift and rode the open ski lift up to an area called Half Pipe, did not get off and just continued back down to Teton Village.  I think I liked that ride better - underneath us on cross country biking (no motor  bikes - regular dirt bikes) trail with lots of people doing the slalom bike course.  Looked like fun. We were going to go to a restaurant called the Mangy Moose but we weren't hungry so we opted to go do something else - was only 2pm.

Snake River raft tour

Traveled back towards Jackson and went to the Snake River and parked the truck and walked along the river watching the goings on.  People floating (swimming) by, dogs playing in the water, sunbathers, floats/rafts going by.  The current on the river was very strong and I felt the water and it was COLD!  Obviously, snow melt from the mountains.  We both were so drained by the days end, weren't sure if it was the altitude, the fresh air of the mountain, or what.  Absolutely pooped.  We were in bed by 8:30!