10 Absolute Favorites of the West

1. Tandem Paragliding 

Jumping off a mountain and flying through the air just as a bird would is the best thing I've ever done. Hands down. 

2. Huckleberry EVERYWHERE

I fell in love with huckleberry this trip. This berry tastes like a mix of grape and raspberry and is absolutely delicious.

3. My Mountain Necklace

After jumping off a mountain and seeing how incredible the mountains really were, I wanted something to remember it by. In downtown Jackson Hole, there were cute little shops on every street. One necklace caught my eye. I realized that it was worth the 40 dollars, so after much self contemplation, I went back to the store and bought it. Still have no regrets. 

4. The hike up to Grand Prismatic Springs

Normal people use the hike to look at the view. Me being the weirdo I am enjoyed the hike much more than the actual view. It was straight up the side of a cliff with very little path. The only way to tell if you were going was the right way, was to make sure that you were hiking towards the sky. From there on out, I considered everything with even the slightest clearing to be a trail. If it looked safe, I walked down it to a river, lake, more cliffs, etc. (sorry no picture for this one) 

5. Feet in the Glacier water

In Canada, there were many a glacier. The glaciers pulverized rocks and crushed them into what we found our was "glacial flour." This flour in turn made the water a pretty turquoise water. One stop along the way was a river with rapids. My dad, Katie and I climbed down to the slippery rocks and stuck out feet in the refreshing rapids. I'm proud to call myself a Glacial Mermaid. 

6. View from "the top of the world" 

I paraglided off from the peak called the top of the world. Afterwards I could not stop talking about how stunning it was or how fresh it smelled. I honestly don't know why I chose this as number six, it is so number one worthy. The air was thin, it smelled like mountains. It didn't smell like nature because you can get the nature smell everywhere. This though, this smelt like pine trees, sweet cookies, a little like hot chocolate all wrapped in a blanket. Of course the air was crisp because it was 10,450 feet high and 9:30 in the morning, but it made it all the better. The sun was hot, the air was cold, and I was happy. All I could do was keep taking deep breaths so I could inhale as much of it before I jumped. I convinced my family to take the team back up a few days later, but at 2:00 in the afternoon it wasn't as spectacular as I first saw it. Let's just say that this is tied with paragliding for number one. 

FYI: THE PICTURE DOES IT NO JUSTICE 

7. Schwabucker Landing

This site was gorgeous. Lots of wildlife. A family of ducks was crossing the river and a beaver was making a dam. It was so cool to see the animals doing what they do best. 

8. The mountain radio station 

Unfortunately, the rental car did not come with an aux plug in. We either had to listen to the 15 songs on the cd we brought or find a decent radio station. We were all pleasantly surprised when we came across "The Mountain" Jackson  Hole's only station. 

9. Jenny Lake

The hike around Jenny lake was gorgeous. Mid way through it started sprinkling which made it all the better. It was our first hike of the trip so I was very ready to get out in nature. 

10. Rimrock Resort 

Lastly, the Rimrock was such a great place. Plopped down in the middle of

the woods, the Rimrock was a perfect combination of nature and not-so-nature. It was a great place to relax right before

we made our way home.