Climbing a mountain...

I have a bucket list of things I want to do before leaving Wyoming. My big splurges are going to be white water rafting and fly fishing excursions. As I work my way down the list, today I decided to hike to the top of Snow King Mountain while I was in town to run some errands on my day off. It was the original ski slope in Jackson, since 1939, and its base elevation is 6,237 feet. It's a 1,570 foot vertical climb to the top to an elevation of 7,808 feet above sea level.

By comparison, Lookout Mountain, TN where I grew up has an elevation of 1,850 at Point Park on the TN side and a base elevation of 682 feet, so... it would be easier to climb that than Snow King. A 1,168 vs. 1,570 foot vertical climb! Throw in the altitude (thin air!) and I had myself quite a challenge.
 

It got steep quickly as I climbed from the parking lot at the base. There were a fair amount of soccer moms and lone hikers with dogs... a trail definitely used by locals. I read that the two mile hike is somewhat of a social scene and after work thing to do. It's also called the Town Hill. There are 400 acres of skiable terrain with 3 chairlifts for winter fun.

The trail up is a gravel and dirt road/winter ski run, and there are 5-6 switchbacks on the way up. Ten minutes into my hike, I crossed over from the "straight up" trail to the switchbacks. It was STEEP!The trail is just under 2 miles each way, normally a distance I walk in 30-35 minutes. It took me 70 minutes to climb (trudge up) Snow King!!

The views got better by the minute as I climbed, and wildflowers were everywhere. A chair lift passed overhead carrying the lazy (smart?) people. I continued to climb...

 

 

Below, the town of Jackson got smaller and smaller. The Elk refuge, Tetons and Gros Ventre range all came into view. Mountains and valley as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking... talk about wide open spaces.

I eventually reached the final switchback and could see the aerial tram tower in the distance with the moon in the sky over it. (center of the photo below) End in sight... 10 more minutes!

At the peak, I was treated to a view off the back side of the mountain into Wilson Canyon toward Dubois and the wildfires.

The chair lift dropped people off, and I got my picture taken by some hikers I met.

There was a map of all the surrounding peaks which was interesting...

I was reminded that some of the trails I climbed up were double black diamond (difficult/advanced) ski runs in the winter time...

Looking back down to town at the terrain I had covered... not a small feat, and now crossed off my list. On to the next challenge/adventure! ;)