Westward adventures – Heading to the Tetons

When leaving Antelope Island, I took the route through Idaho Falls, ID to get to Jackson, WY. The first thing that struck me leaving Utah was how wide open it was – you could see forever! The entire trip took around 5 hours, but I would highly recommend that route because you get to go up through the mountains to get into Jackson. It was a really cool introduction to the scenery that I was going to be hanging out in over the next week. 

My first stop was packet pick-up which was really easy to get to and had enough parking for everyone. The expo was pretty small, but I picked up a few things, including a couple of outdoor / Teton / Yellowstone themed shirts and bumper stickers for both races. The expo was held at the same place that the finish line would be the next day, so I got a sneak-preview of what the finish line would look like too.


As I was leaving the expo, I headed to the Hostel via a dirt road and as I did, I could hear thunder and started to see lightning and after not too long, it was sleeting! At this point, I was a little concerned about the weather because I was not prepared for a wintery mix! Luckily the storm didn’t last long and I was able to make it easily to the Hostel. At the Hostel, I met one of my two roommates, Franci, and she was actually running the half marathon too, so we got to chat a bit about our expectations, how early we were going to get up and how many layers we thought we would need for the morning. She was also able to give me the scoop on the Yellowstone Half Marathon that I was going to be running the following weekend because she had done it last year. She also recommended eating at the Mangy Moose for dinner, so I headed over there and grabbed a quick (but expensive!) chicken and rice pre-race meal.

Yes, that is Santa Claus’ sleigh being pulled by a moose

After dinner, I walked around the Teton Resort for awhile and just enjoyed the scenery while waiting to see if I could get a good sunset picture (not really), but it gave me the chance to walk along the great bike path that goes all around the park and the town of Jackson. 

Next up – the Grand Teton Half Marathon report! 

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