Just maybe seeing the backside of the majestic Grand Tetons for the first time sparked the delightful feeling that buzzed inside my head, or possibly the altitude of Fred’s Mountain at 9,862 feet contributed, but most likely the combination of both along with the exhaustion of the long mountain bike ride to the top earned the credit.
Whatever the case, gazing across the Jedidiah Smith Wilderness Area to that unforgettable view and enjoying it alone with only the whistling wind as my companion provided the perfect payback.
When it comes to hitting ski resorts with your mountain bike in the Northwest, well, Grand Targhee Resort snuck its way to the top of my list. Then again, I’m always one to pull for an underdog.
To be honest, if not for a press release and offer of a press trip, I’m not sure I would know about Grand Targhee today. If there’s a resort I’m itching to return to, it tops my list.
Of course, the real lure to ski resorts for most — OK, more than most, probably everyone on two wheels except me — are the wild downhill rides.
Our first day began with three quick trips up the Shoshone Lift to jump start our adrenaline rush with increasingly challenging downhill flow rides on Bring It On Home, Otter Slide and Shake ‘Em Down.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m severely lacking in true bicycle handling skills. But even so, these flow rides kept me in my comfort zone if not advancing me more than a pinch in handling tight switchbacks.
One can literally spend the day riding up the two lifts and hammering down trails for everyone from beginners to experts.
When the rest of my press party opted to take the Dreamcatcher Quad Lift to the peak of Fred’s Mountain, I stunned everyone when I asked our guide if there was a route to, you known, actually ride my bike to the top.
With everyone else’s eyes popping and heads shaking his answer was yes. They headed for the lift line. I rode off to tackle the ride to the top on the Pica Transverse to Tall Cool One cross-country trails, climbing 2,000 feet under brilliant blue skies.
Trail designer Andy Williams nailed this cross-country ascent with his stellar design. For the nearly two hours (it’s impossible not to stop for the endless mind-blowing photo ops) on the 8-mile trek the trail never demanded too much and always found a way to pop in a breather for recovery.
Once at the summit, after savoring the western face of the Grand Tetons, I descended back down Tall Cool One for a long, easy and picturesque ride.
How do you top that? Oh, Grand Targhee gave me its best shot.
Overcast gray skies and wet ground greeted our group on the second day. It’s the kind of weather that leaves you rehashing memories from the day before.
Undaunted and donned in rain gear, we embarked on the Action Jackson cross-country trail. Just 100 yards into our ride on, our spirits soared beyond our dampened expectations.
In a flash we left the resort base behind as poles of bright white aspen rising from knee high greens topped with a stunning display of wildflowers swallowed us into a fantasy land.
The evening rain dampened the trail perfectly, adding amazing grip to our knobbies as we swayed and swerved around each twisting corner gently rising to a tremendous view of the Teton Valley below.
In and out of the aspen and thrust into seemingly endless fields of wildflowers some of us yelped, some hooted, some chuckled and all glided through with smiles plastered across our faces.
For one of the few times in my cycling life, I slipped into the zone where my mind washed clean of any thoughts of my poor handling skills. I flew through the mountainside bliss.
For the next hour the views slowly increased in intensity until we eventually switchbacked our way up to more breathtaking views of the western face of the Grand Tetons.
Make no mistake, getting to Grand Targhee requires a bit of effort, but this out of the way treasure just east of the Idaho-Wyoming border about 90 minutes from Idaho Falls delivers a unique mountain bike dream.
All told, Grand Targhee has more than 70 miles of multi-use trails for downhill and cross-country mountain biking, as well as dedicated hiking trails and horseback riding trails.
More than enough options to get anyone’s head buzzing.
Time to ride.
