Jackson: A 'Hole' lot of adventure
By Mike Fink
CNN Headline News
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A Buffalo roaming in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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(CNN) -- It was 6 o'clock in the morning. My wife and I were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and we woke up early, skipped custom-made omelets at our hotel and went out of town to watch for elk.
We waited for over an hour in the quiet cold, continually looking through our binoculars, to ultimately spy... a medium-sized crow. Such was the essence of our summer adventure in "outdoor Wyoming."
Even before we left, we weren't sure if we were headed to Jackson or Jackson Hole. The two names appeared to be used interchangeably. We finally got it straight that "Jackson Hole" is actually a long mountain valley south of Yellowstone. "Jackson" is the town.
When we first arrived, we were road-weary from our trip and decided to hit a chuck wagon. For those not in the know, a chuck wagon is the western tradition of an evening of "cowboy" entertainment (grown men wearing cowboy hats telling stories and singing frontier songs) combined with a hearty meal of the four basic chuck wagon food groups: beans, beef, corn and cornbread.
At the particular chuck wagon we went to -- and I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it -- they served 750 people in 25 minutes. After our meal, we were served another helping of corn in the form of cornball jokes and songs.
While in town, we couldn't help but notice elk antlers at every turn. It was as if antler were the primary building material to be found in the area. We saw elk lamps, chandeliers, knives, pipes, boxes and coffee tables. There's even an Antler Hotel. We also discovered the town square itself is made of antlers as each corner has archways made of the stuff.
This is a flyer the National Park Service posts and puts on cars throughout the park and town.
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Later at the square, a mock street "shoot-out" materialized. We found out the gun battle has been running six nights a week since 1955. I don't know about you, but when I get away from it all, there's nothing like a good mock shoot-out.
As a main focal point of out trip, we, as millions of visitors to Yellowstone do each year, made it a point of finding, driving next to and taking pictures of herds of buffalo. Before we headed out, we were made aware of the dangers of getting too close to these beasts. We were especially disturbed on hearing the folk-horror story concerning a tourist who, in an effort to get a great snapshot, tried to put his three-year-old daughter on a bison's back.
We did ultimately find out why the elk never showed up that morning. Later on in the day, we saw several of them sitting amongst a throng of tourists. Cars and buses were stopping, people were laughing and taking pictures. I never knew elk could be so vain.
We anticipated an adventure of outdoor exploration, and for us, Jackson proved to be a peaceful and serene corner of the world. But just how much of a mountain wilderness could it be? Bob Dylan was playing there the next weekend.
