From Driggs to Jackson Wyoming

On the Aspen Creek Trail near Driggs, Idaho

In the Caribou-Targahee Forest on the Gibson- Jack Trail

In the Caribou-Targahee Forest - note the beautiful yellow daisies on both sides of the trail in the background

Good ol' boys having breakfast at the Five Bar Diner in Pocatello, Idaho

Sign at the Gibson Jack Trailhead

On the Gibson Jack Trail

On the Gibson Jack Trail

At the Teton Saddleback Vista barn

Chowing down

Getting ready to ride on the Aspen Creek Trail, outside of Driggs, Idaho

Oberon drinking snow melt off the trail - he loved it

Laertes drinking from Aspen Creek

On the Aspen Creek Trail

Driggs, Idaho

After six stops - Granite Bay, Carson City, Fallon, Elko, Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Driggs, we have finally arrived in Jackson, Wyoming.  It is a harrowing drive over a mountain - at least harrowing when you are driving a truck pulling a horse trailer.  I am definitely experiencing altitude sickness - headache, fatigue, and vomiting.  I am hoping that by the time we leave I will have recovered.  You are supposed to rest when you are experiencing altitude sickness, but we only have three days here in Jackson, so I still plan to saddle up and tough it out.

We are tweaking our plans for the return trip.  Now that we have seen and experienced the route, we have a better idea of where we want to stay and what places we still want to ride.

Getting to the Gibson-Jack trail head was less of an ordeal than the previous day's ride at the Sawtiooth National Forest.   The dirt road section was about 1/2 mile.  There was a nice parking area and as we were tacking up, two nice young men delivered porta-potties for our use.  Someone from the forest service must have gotten word about my complaint from Carol Sherman's place.

To get to the Aspen trail outside of Driggs, you have to take Ski Hill Run to Stateline Road and drive down Stateline Road until it dead ends at the trail head. 

None of the trails we have visited are marked - except at the actual trail heads.  There are no road signs, nothing on the maps, they are virtually invisible.  To find out where we can ride, we have to ask locals - most of whom are completely puzzled by the idea of riding horses for fun.  Horses are used to work cattle and for rodeos.  People here simply do not trail ride just for recreation. 

To find the Gibson Jack trail, we stopped at the local feed store and asked one of the clerks where we could ride.

To locate the Aspen Trail, one of the other boarders at the Teton Saddleback Vistas Ranch provided us with directions.

We stopped at the Visitor Center across from where we are staying in Jackson and got a map for a trail we can ride tomorrow.  Today we plan to ride the Game Creek Trail from the barn where we are staying.