MOUNTAINMOUNTAIN COUNTRY COUNTRY Summer Guide to the Tetons & Yellowstone 2007 Vacation Adventures Boating • Hiking • Climbing Biking • Rodeo • Fishing Mountain Towns Area Map Wildlife FREE Contemporary outfitting women • men Trina Turk Paul & Joe Lacoste Mint Calypso Habitual True Religion Joe's Jeans Tory Burch Robert Graham Nanette Lepore Tocca 105 E. BROADWAY • 307-734-0067 4 MOUNTAIN COUNTRY 2007 64573 MRL Mtn Country Guide SirePage 1 4/11/07 1:30:15 PM Women’s Siren Ventilator Women’s-specific technology and styling for outdoor performance. Hoback Sports Jackson Bootlegger Teton Village Sports Siren selection varies by store. 520 W. Broadway Ave. 36 E. Broadway on the Square Teton Village 307.733.5335 307.733.6207 307.733.2181 Look for Merrell Apparel Fall 2007 EExplorexplore On the Cover: Bob Woodall photos: Mike Calabrese fishing Snake River; JH Rodeo; Snake River Canyon MOUNTAIN COUNTRY white water. Wade McKoy pho- tos: native cutthroat trout; Jason Tattersall bicycling Contents Photos: Clockwise from top left: white-water rafting the Snake; captive grizzly bear; calf roping at the rodeo; Western swing on the dance floor; mountain biking single- track; catching and releasing a cutthroat trout Publishers: Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy, Focus Productions, Inc. (FPI) Editors: Mike Calabrese, Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall Art Direction & Ad Design: Janet Melvin Advertising Sales: JACKSON HOLE & PINEDALE Kyli Fox, 307-733-6995 Photos: Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall, Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center Grizzly and Wolf Bob Woodall, McKoy, Photos: Wade WEST YELLOWSTONE NATURE RECREATION Janet Melvin, 406-556-8655 CODY & DUBOIS 8 America’s National Parks 16 Hiking Bob Woodall, 307-733-6995 11 Issues of the Greater Yellowstone 18 Mountain Biking 14 Comfort & Safety in the Outdoors 21 Community Pathways Copyright 2007 by FPI (Focus Productions, Inc)., P.O. Box 54 Yellowstone IMAX Theater 22 Climbing 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 54 Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center 24 Rafting the Snake River 83001. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be 26 Kayaking Area Waters reproduced in any form with- out written permission from TOWNS 29 Regional Boating Info. the publishers. 40 Jackson 30 Fishing Mountain Country is a free vis- 44 Teton Village 36 Rodeos itors guide published annually in May and distributed all sum- 48 Cody 39 Horseback Riding mer at hundreds of locations 52 West Yellowstone 43 Snow King Resort throughout Jackson Hole, Cody, and other regional com- 55 Pinedale 44 Jackson Hole Resort munities, and at information 58 Dubois centers throughout the region. To receive a copy in the mail, 59 Victor & Driggs send $5 to Mountain Country, MAPS & P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. MUSEUMS DIRECTORIES Our Web site 50 Buffalo Bill Historical Center 60 Business Directory focusproductions.com 57 Museum of the Mountain Man 62 Greater Yellowstone Map displays this magazine as well as the Jackson Hole Dining Guide and our winter travelers’ guide, the Jackson Hole Skier. ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ LOCATED ON ◆ ◆ THE NORTH SIDE OF THE TOWN SQUARE JACKSON, WYOMING jhclothiers.com ◆ ◆ 307-733-7211 ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ www.focusproductions. com 2007 MOUNTAIN COUNTRY 7 America’s National Parks Conserved unimpaired for the enjoyment of this and future generations by Bert Raynes Photos by Henry Holdsworth— Wild by Nature Gallery The first action by a nation to set aside some publicly held land to satisfy man’s Unforeseen obstacles must be overcome. inner needs and emotions—those needs and feelings you can satisfy if you will let Perhaps the first challenge in Yellowstone National Park was poaching. For in Yellowstone’s quiet off-road treasures do so—came during America’s savage Civil addition to the geysers, the hot springs, the falls, the forests and lakes, and the Yellow War. In 1864 Congress granted the Yosemite Valley to the State of California,with this Stone itself, were ample numbers of large animals, both prey and predator. It very explicit proviso: “…that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recre- soon became apparent that market-hunting slaughter had to be prohibited, and was Tation; shall be held inalienable for all times.” in 1883. By 1894, protection for large game animals within Yellowstone was legislat- Land destined never to be exploited for the benefit of the few, but held in public ed, even as the then-new idea of range management was emerging. And in 1903 ownership to benefit all! Thus began an entirely new public-land policy, coming President Theodore Roosevelt recognized that the killing off of predators—in this when this nation was at risk and largely still unexplored and unknown. Coming at a instance mountain lions—has a deleterious effect upon their prey (elk and deer) and time of war, these far-seeing and far-reaching actions to preserve were, indeed, ordered it stopped. (Wolves, however, were exterminated in the park and were only remarkable. just, in 1995, reintroduced, restoring that essential component of wild creatures Just eight years later, in 1872, Congress authorized Yellowstone National Park, the belonging there.) first national park in the country, and the first in the world. It’s sometimes said that Eventually, in 1916, Congress established the National Park Service, whose pur- the national park idea is the “best idea the United States of America ever had.”But pose and management philosophy are worth being reminded of: even great original concepts often must be refined, improved, and administered. “The Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of Federal areas 8 MOUNTAIN COUNTRY 2007 Bob Woodall Photos, clockwise from top left: Morning light illuminates the Teton range and a field of butter and eggs wild- flowers; a bison herd fords the Yellowstone River; a bull moose rests; a great grey owl communicates with its young; a cow elk walks with several of the herd’s calves; a 45-minute time expo- sure creates star trails at Old Faithful geyser; an osprey prepares to launch. The park is always changing, albeit within those directives. It responds to fires, droughts, climate change, and to varying views on how best to manage facilities and its animals and fish. Need I mention political pressures? Them too. www.focusproductions. com Your Headquarters! Incredible pictures... even easier! D04X Camera • 10.2 megapixels for beautiful prints • Rechargeable lithium-ion battery for up to 520 images on a single charge A bison bull (above) nuzzles a younger counterpart; a river otter cruises the bank (below). • Instant 0.18-second start-up and contin- known as parks, monuments, and restorations here- squirrel, bald eagle to trout—some 60 animal species uous shooting at 3 frames per second inafter specified by such means and measures as con- and a possible bird list of over 300 species.Not to men- • Maximum 1/4,000-second shutter speed form to the fundamental purpose of said parks, monu- tion insects and allied species, from butterflies to spi- freezes action ments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve ders, moths to mosquitoes. And ticks. Wildlife going • In-camera image retouching, including In-Camera Red-Eye Fix,™ Image the scenery and the natural and historic objects and about their lives pretty much as they have done for Crop, D-Lighting, Small Picture the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of thousands of years. for easy e-mailing of the same in such manner and by such means as will Do take time to absorb the scenery,the endless vis- pictures, and more leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future tas and the small scenes. Fill your eyes and mind with generations.” the shining mountains, the snow-capped peaks, the As you visit Yellowstone National Park,Grand Teton play of light and distance in the forests, the clarity of National Park, the six national forests, wildlife refuges, the waters, the expanse of sky. Or the drops of rain and the private lands surrounding it, comprising what gathering on the leaves and dripping off. Fair days or 82ED has become known as the Greater Yellowstone storms. Scope Ecosystem (GYE), you will experience today’s snap- And give thanks for that “best idea.” shot. Nature is dynamic. The park is always changing, Bert Raynes writes a weekly column in the Jackson • 100% Waterproof/Fogproof albeit within those directives. It responds to fires, Hole News & Guide. He has written four publications • High grade optics and multicoating droughts, climate change, and to varying views on how covering the birds and animals of Grand Teton and technology best to manage facilities and its animals and fish. Need Yellowstone national parks. His two most recent • Super high-resolution lenses I mention political pressures? Them too. books, Valley So Sweet and Curmudgeon Chronicles, • Extra-low dispersion glass for the Today, thanks largely to the wisdom and foresight are receiving well-deserved, wide acclaim. ultimate in resolution of all those who established the parks and the National • Includes Vue-Thru case Park System and those who have administered through • Sliding sunshade a learning process since 1872,there remains a place set • All metal construction apart for man and for the beasts. Opportunity for you, and habitat for them.Your chance to see herds of bison in scenes reminiscent of what early denizens and then explorers witnessed in the 1800s. What Lewis and TOWN SQUARE Clarke documented, although they never came closer ­ North 307-733-3831 than about 100 miles of what is now Yellowstone BROADWAY 60 S. Cache Street National Park.Perhaps you will spot a pack of wolves in % Jackson, WY 83001 pursuit of some prey,or a grizzly bear digging for some delicacy. Bald eagles, trumpeter swans, a pair of sand CACHE Open Daily PEARL hill cranes. Otters with a trout. What you are seeing and experiencing in your visit Authorized Dealer will look deceptively unchanged and unchanging.