HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
NOVEMBER 2013
103
JACKSONHOLE
||
THREE PERFECT DAYS
DAYONE
| In its early years, the recently spruced-up
Wort Hotel
,
a downtown Jacksonmainstay from the 1940s, might have been
the kind of place a gambler would have splurged
on a er a good night at the tables. Amoose head
watches over the rustic lobby, while cowhide
ottomans, wooden detailing and western art
continue the hardy-traveler theme throughout
the hotel.
A erleavingyour“CowboySuite”onthesecond
floor, youdescend the grand central staircase and
are slightly disappointed to find that there aren’t
saloon doors to push through when you exit the
building. You’repleased thatnearlyevery sidewalk
in Jackson is of the wood-plank variety, though.
It’s the kind of brisk, sunny morning that
calls for a steaming mug of coffee, so you mosey
down a block to the decidedly non-Western-
sounding
Lotus Café
, where you find yourself
wondering what the cowboys and hustlers of
old would have made of the gluten-free menu options. You order
blue corn griddlecakes topped with cinnamon-candied walnuts,
blueberry-orange-ginger sauceandorganicmaple syrup, anddig in,
spying amix of skiers, students and dogwalkers strolling outside.
From here it’s a 30-minute drive south along
the Snake River and then east through Hoback
Canyon, past sprawling hobby ranches andherds
of elk and bighorn sheep, to
Jackson Hole Iditarod
Sled Dog Tours
, which will be taking you to a hot
spring in the Gros Ventre Mountains. There are
more than 170 Alaskan sled dogs living here, and
their barking grows to a near-deafening level as
youapproach,eachpuple ingyouknowjusthow
excited it is at the prospect of making tracks.
An hour or so after you set out, your team
pulls up alongside the Granite Hot Springs, the
steamrising over boulders andfir trees blanketed
in snow. Having stripped to your bathing suit in
the morning chill, you do a li le yelping of your
own—once you’re immersed in the natural pool,
though,
eek
s turn to
aah
s. A er a good soak, you
eat a lunch prepared by your guides at a nearby picnic table: pip-
ing hot beef stew paired with hot chocolate and cider.
POPULATION OF JACKSON TOWNSHIP:
9,710
YEAR IT WAS NAMED AFTER FUR
TRAPPER DAVID E. JACKSON:
1829
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF ELK THAT
WINTER AT THE NATIONAL ELK REFUGE:
7,000
ELEVATION OF GRAND TETON,
IN FEET:
13,770
YEAR JACKSON ELECTED THE
COUNTRY’S FIRST ALL-FEMALE CITY
COUNCIL:
1920
ACRES OF IN-BOUNDS TERRAIN AT
JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT:
2,500
ACRES OF GATE-ACCESSIBLE
BACKCOUNTRY TERRAIN:
3,000+
JACKSON HOLE BY THE NUMBERS
SADDLE UP
JeffWarburton,
who offers horse-
drawn sleigh rides
in the National
Elk Refuge
103
DAYONE
Gluten-free griddlecakes; a
dogsled ride to a hot spring;
shopping in Jackson
104
DAYTWO
Four Seasons luxury;
not-so-extreme skiing; an
authentic Thai dinner
108
DAYTHREE
Fly fishing the Snake; an elk
hotspot; banjo pickin’ by a
ski legend
