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Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr // By Jim Stanford The sheriff, an avid boater and skier, draws on his variety of work experience to connect with people. Among the many jobs Sheriff Matt Carr has worked in Jackson Hole are several seasons as a rafting guide on the Snake and a decade of piloting boats across Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Keeping an even keel in rough water comes in handy for the newly re-elected 51-year-old lawman, not only when responding to emergencies, but for navigating the politics of the job. He’s discovered that engaging as a public…

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Explore: As the Hole Deepens

Curse of the Amateur Tourist // By Tim Sandlin   // Illustrations by birgitta sif Here’s what happened last summer. All those hundreds of thousands of people stuck at home for a year and a half decided to go outdoors. While Jackson Hole had Covid numbers as bad or worse than wherever they came from, four million folks trapped in rooms the size of a middle school coat closet said, “Let’s go to Wyoming. We’ll be safe there. No one gets sick in Wyoming.” Tourists rained down on us like locusts on Utah. The town, the Park, even the National Forest…

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Explore: Yellowstone Guide

Do Yellowstone Differently A wonderfully random collection of some of our favorite things in and about Yellowstone National Park. //By Dina mishev Yellowstone’s 2.2 million acres are impossible to fully explore in a lifetime, much less on a summer vacation. That written, you can get a feel for what makes Yellowstone so special in several days. Two loop drives, the Upper Loop and the Lower Loop, hit most of the park’s major sights and allow for varied wildlife-watching opportunities. The 96-mile Lower Loop explores the southern part of the park, which has a higher density of geysers and thermal features,…

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Explore: Teton Village

Wild & Mild at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Whether your idea of an adventure is a cocktail or rock climbing, JMHR has you covered. //by lila edythe Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is one of the best ski resorts in North America. Over the last 15 years, it’s added activities and amenities that make it just as much fun in summer as when its mountains are covered in snow. Here are some of our favorite mild and wild JHMR summer adventures. Buy tickets, make reservations, and find additional information on all activities at jacksonhole.com. WILD Inspired by via ferrate in the…

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Explore: Cidery Tour

Highpoint A Taproom in Teton Valley  // By Sue Muncaster // Photography by bradly j. boner Over Teton Pass from Jackson Hole, in Teton Valley, Idaho, visitors can find top-notch bike trails, endless hiking, some of the best trout waters in the nation, and small towns deeply rooted in Western heritage. For decades, a stop at the Victor Emporium for a huckleberry milkshake was the best way to celebrate a long day’s exploits here. Nothing against the Emporium, but we’re excited to now have a more grownup alternative, the Highpoint Cider Taproom (and yes, kids are welcome). Here, sit inside…

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Explore: Walking Tour

Walk and Learn Daily walking tours of downtown delve into the valley’s history. // By Kelsey Dayton Standing under the towering cottonwoods inside the Town Square in downtown Jackson, it is easy to become distracted by the throngs of visitors posing under the elk-antler arches and filling the boardwalks. But take a tour with Morgan Jaouen, and you’ll learn there is more to downtown than the gift shops, art galleries, and phenomenal people watching.  For example, on a tour Jaouen will point to a building, like one on Center Street on the Town Square’s eastern side. Exterior signs indicate it…

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Explore: Dog Friendly Adventures

Dog Heaven Jackson Hole is as much of a playground for dogs as for people. // By Samantha Simma After years of forgoing foster fails while hosting sleepovers for dogs that were available for adoption at Jackson’s Animal Adoption Center, my partner and I gifted ourselves a puppy with dark mascaraed eyes, a boxy head, and soft, grey-flecked fur at the height of the Covid pandemic. Since then, Timber—a mutt off the Wind River Reservation whose DNA reveals traces of Australian cattle dog, rottweiler, American pit bull terrier, great Pyrenees, and St. Bernard—has shifted my summertime pursuits from summiting peaks…

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Feature: Yellowstone

Yellowstone at 150: A Time for Celebration & Reflection Yellowstone’s resources are as healthy now as they’ve been since the park was founded, but that wasn’t always the case, and we have work to do to ensure they stay that way for future generations. // By Mike Koshmrl It is part of Cam Sholly’s weekly routine to confront concerning headlines: park wolves getting shot when they wander outside the park, grizzly bear conflicts, bison gorings, derelict infrastructure, yet another record visitation year, yet another tourist making a bad decision by a hot spring. The list goes on. Amid that noise, Sholly,…

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Feature: Photo Essay

Ansel Adams // by bradly J. Boner In the late 1930s, the U.S. Department of the Interior was considering a body of murals to adorn the walls of its newly constructed headquarters, the first building in the nation’s capital to be designed and built by the Roosevelt Administration. The focus of the murals would be historic sites and landscapes preserved in America’s national parks, which are administered by the National Park Service under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior.Department officials commissioned landscape photographer Ansel Adams, who had already gained renown for his striking black-and-white photographs of the landscapes…

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Feature: Camping

When Did Camping  Get So Hard? More people discovering the joys of car camping means campsites are getting harder and harder to come by. // By Molly Absolon You can’t get much better than sitting in front of your camper van staring off at the Teton Range as the sun sinks and the mountains turn pink. “We were stoked to finally see the Teton Range in person,” wrote Brie Goumaz on her blog about vanlife, Chasing the Wild Goose. “They are just as majestic as described and more breathtaking than I could have ever imagined. They sit towering over you with snowcapped…

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Feature: Athletes

Jackson’s Unsung Mountain Athletes Some of the valley’s best athletes don’t advertise their adventures. // By Molly Absolon The Teton Range attracts mountain athletes from around the world to test their skills. (We’re looking at you, Kilian Jornet.) But the range also breeds its own home-grown superstars. Some of these individuals go on to become famous in the outdoor world (like Jimmy Chin, Kai Jones, Crystal Wright, Hadley Hammer, and Lynsey Dyer), but even more continue to do extraordinary physical challenges with little or no accolades or Instagram fame. They are people with full-time professional careers who, on their days…

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Enjoy: Health

Move On Whether you’re a mountain athlete looking to get better or want to stay active and independent as you age, mobility can help.  // By lila edythe Strength and conditioning coach (and former professional big mountain skier) Crystal Wright doesn’t mince words when it comes to mobility. “Mobility is how you prevent injury and still enjoy the outdoors and the activities you love!” she says. And mobility isn’t just something aging super athletes should think about. “Everyone needs better mobility,” Wright says. “The better your mobility is, the better you are able to protect your body, and protecting your…

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Enjoy: Design

Insider Eye We asked architectural photographers  to share photograpahs of  some of their favorite homes. // By Maggie Theodora According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 13,848 “housing units” in Teton County. This number includes everything from modest apartments to Camp Teton, a compound with a main home, guest home, entertaining treehouse, and spa set on 55 acres on Hansen Peak that was listed for sale in 2021 for $65 million (making it the most expensive listing in Jackson Hole at the time). “Homes in Jackson Hole range from little cabins to in-your-wildest-dreams…

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Enjoy: Culture

Tim Sandlin Even better than this Jackson-based novelist’s books might be the writing community he helped create. // By Whitney Royster In 2016, Peter Aguero, the host of The Moth, a national storytelling platform, came to the Center for the Arts stage, and announced, “Yeah, I’m crying” to a packed, $75-per-ticket crowd. The reason? Earlier that day, he had discovered one of his boyhood heroes, Jackson resident and prolific author Tim Sandlin, worked at the front desk of the town’s famous arts building. “Do you guys know how lucky you are?” he asked The Moth crowd. Had Sandlin heard about…

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Enjoy: Art

Art Evolution How Jackson’s gallery scene grew to be one of the most vibrant in the country. // by jim mahaffie Trotting on your horse down the dirt road to Jenny Lake in the 1920s, you would have passed a tent. You likely would not have guessed that, tucked under the soaring Cathedral Group peaks of the Teton range, with painted canvases hanging from a clothesline out front, that humble tent was the leading edge of an arts community that, a century later, would be rated one of America’s finest.  The tent was the studio and showroom of painter Olaf Moller. Born…

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Enjoy: Taste of Jackson Hole

Bubba’s Worker’s Special // By Samantha Simma It’s not until you pull open the second set of doors in the entryway at Bubba’s BBQ that the aromas of coffee and bacon, along with a cloud of other classic breakfast smells, hit you. At this popular spot among locals and visitors, the ones in the know aren’t being tempted by the pecan pancakes or Felipe’s Special. Instead, they’re ordering something that’s not on the menu: the Worker’s Special. When it comes to a classic breakfast spread, the Worker’s Special is a biscuit above the rest. “Reasonably priced food is hard to…

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Enjoy: JH Pantry

Snake River Roasting // By Samantha Simma This summer, after 15 years of selling its blends of locally roasted coffee and espresso beans to valley cafés including Picnic and at local markets including Smith’s, Albertsons, and Pearl Street Market, Snake River Roasting is opening its own café. General manager Cait Brooks says the café is, “a platform for us to share what we love best…brewing excellent coffee and building relationships with all coffee lovers alike.”  The couple who founded the roastery in 2007, Ruth Ann Petroff and Mark Barron, sold the company to local businessman Mekki Jaidi this past winter,…

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Enjoy: Food

8 of the Valley’s Best Outdoor Dining Spots // By Samantha Simma “In the winter months, cozy fireplace settings are prime seating, but in summer, many crave outdoor air,” says Allison Arthur, the owner and co-founder of Dishing, a magazine dedicated to all things food and eating in Jackson Hole. With an outdoor dining season that’s as brief as the valley’s views are vast, Arthur’s recommendation is to “soak in every last drop of the extra-long daylight on one of many outdoor decks during the short but sweet season.” Here are some favorites to check out. Snake River Brewing “This is a…

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Local Life: Blast From the Past

Night of Havoc Remembering the Secret Service plane that crashed on Sheep Mountain. // By Jim Stanford After a day on the Snake River assisting the Secret Service with a presidential rafting trip, Keith Benefiel plopped down on the couch at his home in Wilson and popped in one of his favorite movies, Apocalypse Now. No sooner had Robert Duvall’s character, Lt. Col. Kilgore, uttered his famous line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” than a real-life fireball exploded over the Gros Ventre Mountains east of Jackson Hole, and Benefiel, a Teton County Search and Rescue volunteer,…

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