Outpost Jackson Hole

Vacation Rentals in Jackson Hole

Health/Wellness

It’s nearly biking season in Jackson

Biking season is just around the corner! Jackson is a fantastic place for all kinds of biking! Enjoy road biking, gravel biking, or mountain biking – whatever your riding style, Jackson is the location for you. As the snow melts, we’re all looking forward to biking season being upon us once again.  

Scenic view from a biking trail in Jackson, WY.

Our favorite places for mountain biking 

Cache Creek Trail System

  • Incredible cross-country mountain biking
  • Easily accessible from the trailhead in East Jackson
  • Links up to Snow King Mountain – enjoy beautiful views of the Tetons and the Town of Jackson from your bike

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) Bike Park 

  • The bike park is open from June 11 to September 11 
  • Extensive lift access to downhill bike trails in Teton Village
  • Wonderful restaurants/Teton Village scene to enjoy after a day of biking

Targhee Bike Park 

  • The bike park will be opening in mid-June
  • Lift access to downhill bike trails
  • Beautiful cross country trails on the other side of the Tetons

Teton Pass

  • Exciting downhill and cross-country mountain biking trails
  • For experienced bikers – trust us

Our favorite places for road biking 

Bike Path from the Town of Jackson to Wilson –or- out to Teton Village

  • Stop along the way for a drink or snack in Wilson: 
  • Ride over the Snake River bridge, looking over the edge to try to spot the trout swimming below
  • Swing by R-Park and admire Thomas Dambo’s incredible Mama Mimi Troll

Bike Path from the Town of Jackson to Jenny Lake 

  • Expansive Teton views the entire ride out – keep an eye out for wildlife along the banks of the Hoback River and in the sagebrush
  • The scenic stretch of park road along the edge of Jenny Lake is breathtaking
  • Be mindful of traffic – the scenic detour along Jenny Lake is a shared road rather than a bike-only path

Local bike experts

Need a tune or rental? Check out some of the great stores in town for all your biking needs: 

And after a long day of biking, bask in the serenity of any one of our Outpost properties – your Jackson Hole home base!

Skinning the King

It’s 6pm and the sun is setting as I click into my skis, my breath sharp in the February cold snap. The summit of Snow King glistens almost 2,000 vertical feet above me, and I turn to my friend just to make sure we really don’t want to bail.

“Oh, come on,” he says knowingly, and he starts to make his way up the steep incline, the skins on his skis setting our rhythm. I sigh and gear up for a good sweat. Before we reach the first switchback, the stress of the work day dissolves, and we’re chattering on about last week’s storm and the spots we want to ski over the weekend. Other headlights dot the skinning trail above and below us, a small community created each morning (for the truly brave) before work and each evening after work.

It’s quite possible we’re taking part in one of the oldest traditions in Jackson Hole. All year long, the steep hills stretching to the summit of Snow King linger over its residents, calling us to the outdoors, a centerpiece of the town that doesn’t give us the excuse of a long drive or any other reason to blow off a work out. In the summertime, we scatter the hills walking, running, biking — in the winter, it’s skinning time.

About the time we reach the midway station, the view really starts to glamour up. The lights of our small town glow, cozy cabins dotted below lazy smoke streams from wood stoves. A group passes us on their way down, hollering out hellos and biding good wishes for the summit. The mountain is open for night skiing, and kids are still hopping off the chairlifts and gliding out under the night skiing lights. There’s a reason they say there’s no place like home….

The second half of the switchbacks is where it gets good; the lights end at the midway station, leaving room for the western sky to open, stars laid out horizon to horizon, the milky way bold and outspoken without any cloud cover.

About an hour after we start, we’re at the summit. It’s a night with no wind, so we take our time putting our layers back on and pulling off our skins. Our gift is standing between two views that never grow old — the entire town of Jackson and the entire open sky (filled with shooting stars on the clear nights….no, seriously) — both indescribably beautiful until you see them for yourself.

Then we’re off, a single, perfect ski run waiting for us. With new powder at the top, we grab fresh tracks and giggle our way through pillows of snow. My stomach bubbles with utter joy when I see the grooming machine has already been out: that means the second half of our run is warm, buttery, delightful corduroy. There’s really nothing better — except knowing now we can go out to eat anything we want without feeling guilty.

 

 

Boogie Down and Eat Local

There’s nothing like a Saturday at a farmer’s market in the summer, but what about winter? Here in Jackson, the Winter People’s Market is how we do local food throughout the colder months. It’s a must visit — you’ll get your first sweet smells before you even walk in from the hot food stand where Artisan Melt cooks up grilled cheese and other comfort food, then you’re likely to be greeted with live music from a tiny stage when you get inside. Don’t be shy — jump in to a homegrown dance floor and bust a move if you’re feeling it.

Graze along the tables to get your fix — be it delicious ready-made food after a ski at Snow King, or fill up your shopping bags (bring your own, this is a no-waste event) with everything from Rosemary and Thyme Creamery’s cut-to-order cheese to Cosmic Apple Farm’s happy chicken eggs and seasonal produce to Purely By Chance Farm’s non-GMO sausages and brats (and full chickens). Strike up a conversation and you’ll learn just how local this food is; it’s well worth getting the play-by-play process each of the vendors use in their products.

Like any good farmer’s market, go in hungry so you can sample ev-er-y-thing. One of my favorite activities on earth, free sampling is like Christmas all year round, and do not — I repeat, do not — skip out on the condiments. Browse your taste buds through sweet mustard with a kick to all-things-sauerkraut, and I don’t recommend forgoing the CBD (or non-CBD) cookies for the betterment of your health and self, frozen in a resealable bag so you can attempt to not eat a whole batch in one sitting (good luck). You’ll want to wash everything down with something to drink — check out the locally made kombucha or have a cup of Alpine Air’s organic small batch coffee (and chat up the owners about how they got from New Zealand to Jackson). For those of us who enjoy a little kick, head on over to JH Stillworks and grab some of their vodka or gin for the night ahead — and get the full distillation lowdown from owners Travis and Chas.

 

The market isn’t just about food — you’ll also be able to browse jewelry, handmade clothing, essential oils, and art — all the staples of your classic farmer’s market. And if you’re not too full, you’ve got to try one of Glory Bowl’s soups — or sign up for a “soupscription” that gets you a hot delivery every Wednesday.

We’re barely scratching the surface here, so be sure to check out the slow food website for the next opportunity to hit up the market (it runs every other Saturday). We promise you’ll leave with a cozy belly and the heart of the community in your back pocket.

Pictured above: Patrick Chadwick & Lucas Nash. Hear their tunes by following this link.

 

Outpost Book Club

These frigid days have us all wanting to cozy up with a good read & a hot cup of tea… which is what sparked the idea of an Outpost Book Club. This is the first of this new series which we’ll be continuing throughout the year. Our Media Manager Lindley Rust has compiled her short list of favorites for this winter & through it we hope you find something to add to your list. Feel free to read along with us & comment on your favorites!

 

 

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani

A quick & gripping read, this is the perfect vacation book. It opens with a horrific scene: a French family’s nanny has stabbed both of the children she cares for (not a spoiler alert). You then travel back to the when it all started… to the day she was hired to work. Follow along through time to the events that led up to that dreadful day. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering how and why could someone do something so awful. It’s a sad and disturbing tale of a nanny that slowly loses her mind while caring for two children. “Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness.” It won’t leave you disappointed.

Buy: The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani

 

 

Calypso by David Sedaris

If you’ve read a David Sedaris book before you’ve most likely laughed your way from cover to cover. You’ll definitely still laugh, but this time around it’s just a different laughter. “Many of the essays in Calypso are set at the ‘Sea Section’—Sedaris’s retreat on the Carolina coast. There, his family whiles away the holidays playing cutthroat board games, baking in the sun, and feeding tumors to snapping turtles (yes, you read that right). In others, he describes shopping shenanigans in Japan (you can thank him for the resurgence of the culotte, or not), his unhealthy Fitbit obsession, and a side vocation picking up trash near his Sussex home. All provide the sort of everyday fodder that is ripe for his beloved brand of witty repartee. But Calypso is as dark as it is droll; it also touches on his late mother’s alcoholism, his sister’s suicide, and a sometimes strained relationship with an irascible father. Any one of these things could fracture a family but it’s clear from these pages that their bond is strong. Calypso is David Sedaris’s funniest, most outrageous, most moving offering yet.” —Erin Kodicek

Buy: Calypso by David Sedaris

 

 

Hold Still by Sally Mann

Sally Mann has been my favorite photographer since the day I first saw her photos when I was in college. I’ve watched her documentary at least five times so when this memoir was released I was quick to grab one knowing I would enjoy the further insight to her life. Her searching memoir finds her pulling out family records & yellowed photographs from the attic, raising questions and finding quite a fortuitous outcome: “deceit and scandal, alcohol, domestic abuse, car crashes, bogeymen, clandestine affairs, dearly loved and disputed family land . . . racial complications, vast sums of money made and lost, the return of the prodigal son, and maybe even bloody murder. In lyrical prose and startlingly revealing photographs, she crafts a totally original form of personal history that has the page-turning drama of a great novel but is firmly rooted in the fertile soil of her own life.” This book will leave you breathless.

Buy: Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann

 

To purchase books locally visit the Valley Book Store.