2003-07-19 Cascade Canyon 2003-07-20 Jackson 2003-07-21 South Yellowstone 2003-07-22 Bridger Teton NF 2003-07-23 North Yellowstone 2003-07-24 Rendezvous Mountain 2003-07-25 Jackson Lake 2003-07-26 AM Amphitheatre Lake 2003-07-26 PM Alpine Slide

Day 6 (Thursday, 7/24/2003)

After sleeping late and then consulting a couple of guidebooks, I stumbled upon some information on the Teton Village Gondola, which carries passengers to a 10,450 summit on Rendezvous Mountain and connects with several trail systems in the national park. In the winter, this gondola is used to access some of the advanced skiing areas at the top of Rendezvous Mountain, but in the summertime it's a convenient conveyance for hikers, allowing them to hike down the back side of Rendezvous Mountain and easily access Cody Bowl and the upper Granite Creek area without having to hike through Granite Canyon first.

This hike afforded us with arguably the best scenery of the week, because the wildflowers on the back side of Rendezvous Mountain were in full-tilt bloom (which apparently they only do for two weeks out of the year.) We hiked down the mountain and into the Granite Creek area for about 4 miles before a building T-cell made us turn around. Fortunately, the worst of the storm went right down Granite Canyon and bypassed us as we made our way back up the mountain to the treeless, unsheltered summit. Once arriving at the summit, we sought shelter in the cafe' until the 70 MPH winds on the front face died down and they were able to run the tram again. In the meantime, I snagged a couple of spectacular shots of the storm moving down through Jackson Hole.

After finally coming down off the mountain, we stopped for dinner at the Alpenhof Bistro and then headed into town to see the pig wrestling competition at the Teton County Fair and Rodeo. About the pig wrestling, I can only say that it would probably be illegal in any state but Wyoming (well, OK, maybe not Arkansas), but it was well worth the $5 for 2 hours of cheap entertainment. A shot of the winning team is included for reference.