About a week and a half ago, the team rode past the Teton Mountains (gorgeous!) on the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were met by some Colorado-Boulder Pi Kapp alum who took us to a ranch about 15 miles outside Jackson in the foothills of the Tetons. I'd like to thank the Cushman family for generously allowing 27 college guys to stay at their summer home for the night. This place was an outdoor paradise. Skeet shooting, horseback riding, fly fishing, swimming, hiking, bonfires, it was all there. After a fabulous lunch that was a welcome change compared to our regular roadside lunches, the team split up to try some of the activities. I started with skeet shooting. Having never fired a shotgun before, I was pretty excited about the opportunity. I watched some other guys go first and took some advice from one of the Colorado Pi Kapps before I took my turn. I either had some great beginners luck or I'm a natural because I set the best marks for the day going 4/5. What a rush. I'm thinkin about becoming a card carrying member of the NRA. Mom, I'm only kidding.
After that, we went to a stocked pond to learn how to fly fish. Not as easy as the skeet shoot. I could keep that line flying above my head in its long, whipping pattern all day long but whenever I tried to cast the hook would lazily fall about 15 feet in front of me. I'm used to casting with heavy bait like a worm so the light fly was difficult to get used to. I left after about an hour having not gotten a bite in a stocked pond. I guess I'm not a born fisherman or I just don't have the necessary patience.
Returning to the house with no fish to speak of, I got the chance to go horseback riding for the first time. I was paired up with a big brown horse named Traveler. We were meant to be. Traveler's need for speed paired with my reckless abandon made for a fun afternoon racing through the hilly Idaho countryside. At night we had another fabulous meal and told funny college stories around the campfire.
The next morning we were hooked up with some free rafting passes on the Snake River. To say this water was cold is an understatement. It was fresh mountain runoff that was about 42 degrees. We all squeezed into wetsuits and hopped into the raging river. We hit some pretty intense rapids and all took turns flipping off the raft into the water during slow spots in the trip. Seriously, when you hit the water and fully submerged, it took your breath away. I thought Lake Superior was cold but the Snake was much more frigid. That afternoon the team went down an alpine slide which is a concrete luge where we raced down the mountain in sleds with wheels. Some guys got going a little too fast, lost control of their sleds, and earned some pretty spectacular scrapes when they fell off their sleds and slid down the luge on their butt. By no means any serious injuries, just something we all laughed about.
That day and a half off was something we really needed. The next five days included four century rides through the desolate Wyoming countryside. Once again I'd like to thank the Cushman family and the Colorado Pi Kapps for showing us such a good time. Thanks for reading.
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