Captain Ron

July 7, 2002 – Jackson, WY

This was float-trip day. We got up and had to be at the rafting company at 8:00. They hauled us by bus to the put-in point where the highway to Teton Pass crosses the Snake River. These were our first really good views of the Tetons. For the first half of the trip the Tetons were in full view behind us, but enough about them.

As we got off the bus the wildlife show started right away. Two bald eagles flew in and perched right across the river from us as we received our safety instructions. In about three hours on the water we saw more bald eagles, bald eagle nests, ospreys, pelicans, and these small birds that nested in holes in a high bluff over the river. We saw lots of beaver lodges and beaver-cut trees, but no beavers.

The best part of the trip though was our guide, Captain Ron. As we were divided into groups to go to different boats there were four boats and four guides. Three of the guides were stereotypical outdoor guides – early 20’s, love the outdoors, and fearless. We got Captain Ron, however. I’m not a great judge of age, but I would guess he was between late 30’s and mid 40’s. He worked as a whitewater and float trip raft guide in Jackson in the summer. In the winter he worked some in Baja California, Mexico and some as a snowmobile guide in Jackson. He also spent time sea-kayaking in Central and South America. It was fascinating to listen to his stories and think about his simple, carefree lifestyle. I was sitting in the boat thinking “This guy doesn’t give a damn if a purchase order comes in tomorrow or not. He spends his days outdoors doing what he loves and gets paid for it. When he gets tired of one place he goes to another for a while.” But as Chrissy pointed out, he is also all alone. I wouldn’t trade my wife, kids, or career for anything in the world. But I do need to remember to take some “Captain Ron” time more often.

(2020 blog note – I typed the above paragraph nearly verbatim as I wrote it in my journal 18 years ago. It is absolutely amazing how some things just don’t change. And I wonder what Captain Ron is doing now…)

After the float trip we went into Grand Teton National Park for the first time. We went to the Taggart and Bradley Lakes trail – the same trail I walked almost three years before on my one-day visit to Grand Teton and Yellowstone on a side excursion from a business trip. We walked the two-plus miles to Taggart Lake, crossing a couple of streams and through the burned part of the forest. We took some time to sit by the lake and enjoy the view of the Tetons while the kids splashed and played. On the way back Aaron was pretty tired and I ended up carrying him much of the way, but that was fine. Taggart and Bradley Lakes Trail remains one of my absolute favorite hikes.

We had dinner that night at LeJay’s Sportsman’s Café, a “local” kind of place in Jackson. We were going to go out to look for wildlife around dusk (9:00 pm in Wyoming in July), but Chrissy had a migraine so I took the kids for ice cream. We found a place in the back of a hat and boot shop that made their own home-made ice cream. I had a peanut butter cup flavor called Udder Cup. It was udderly delicious!