In Jackson, Wyoming, B & Bs are special places

Author: By M. R. Montgomery, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, March 1, 1998

Page: M6

Section: Travel

There is no need to sing the praises of Jackson (Hole). The towering Tetons and the Teton/Yellowstone National Parks are enough of a magnet to attract something like 3 million drive-through visitors. The valley has about 25,000 ``pillows'' available, as the local Chamber of Commerce likes to count them. Not rooms, not beds, but pillows.

What may not be ready for the unwary traveler is a single pillow, let alone a mattress, in any of Jackson Hole's 20 intimate bed-and-breakfasts, or in its half-dozen small, European-style lodges. Last September, you could walk into any motel in Jackson and find a room, but you didn't have a prayer of getting into a B & B without a reservation.

The early fall is when experienced travelers return to Jackson Hole. The parks are less crowded (but still busy), and the wildlife viewing comes into its own as huge bull elk begin to bugle (a sound that sounds purely lovesick, a cross among a moan, a groan, and a triumphant shout). Along the back roads and highways from Wilson, at the south end of Jackson Hole, to Moran and the beginning of Grand Teton National Park at the north end of the valley, September visitors can expect to see dominant bull elk collecting harems of cow elk in huge herds. It is, through field glasses, a sight to rival any Serengeti Plains footage from the Nature Channel. Kind of like ``Live Nude Dancing Tonight'' with hairy hides and big racks of antlers.

The affection and loyalty that visitors have for their favorite B & B is simple to explain. From the owners and the regulars, travelers get an introduction to the byways of Jackson, Wilson, Moose, and Moran. At the truly clued-in lodges (they roughly correspond to European ``pensiones''), you may find a cross between a small hotel, with or without a wishing well, and the intimacy of a genuine B & B. The standard of the lodge industry in Jackson Hole is still the Rusty Parrot (800-458-2004), known locally, just to keep things in perspective, as the ``Wusty'' parrot. It's in downtown Jackson, a stroll from all the touristy stuff, but feels almost like country living.

My favorite home-away in the big valley of Jackson Hole is Moose Meadows B & B down in Wilson, and that's in part because I like dogs, and on the last stay got to pet an Australian Blue Heeler, a Chesapeake Retriever (a pettable Chesapeake is almost as rare as a caressable crocodile), and a Vizla/Golden Retriever puppy. You don't like dogs, they leave you be. All the inhabitants of Moose Meadows kick back and relax.

Julie James, the owner of Moose Meadows, knows western Wyoming like the back of her hand, everything from the simplest local advice to whom to call in Pinedale if you want to go fishing on the Green River. Years ago, she put us onto the back road from Wilson to Moose, one of the likeliest places in Wyoming, including the national parks, to see what you would expect: a moose. The road is unpaved for a few miles where it passes through the Rockefeller estate. This is not thrift, it is a clever Eastern capitalist plan to keep too many people from driving through the ranch. At its worst, the Moose-Wilson road is passable in a rent-a-car sedan, if you are driving slowly enough for a passenger to spot a moose while you keep an eye out for the wily, wary, and well-camouflaged pothole.

Wilson has many charms, including the best bakery in the Jackson area, and a restaurant that manages to serve the locals (burgers and black coffee) and the travelers (pastas and chicken and all that healthy stuff). Unfortunately for Nora's Restaurant, President Clinton ate there on his vacation in Teton Village a couple of years ago. The Washington press corps, taking a peek inside Nora's after the First Burger-Eater finished his meal, declared, in print, that Nora's was a greasy spoon. This is a safe thing to do if you don't ever go back to Wilson. In several visits, Nora's has always been spotless, the menu varied, and the prices as reasonable as you can expect in a resort town. If Nora's is a greasy spoon, the Four Seasons hotel chain runs youth hostels.

Wilson lies at the bottom of the Teton Pass, and while the young and the restless go climbing in the Tetons, visitors of a certain age will drive up to the top of the hill, over 8,000 feet, and park at the huge scenic overlook. Across the highway, on the north side of the road, a well-marked national forest trail meanders along the ridgeline. It is never later than early summer at that elevation, and alpine wildflowers line the trail and infiltrate the meadows from July into September. It is pleasant to gain a couple of thousand feet vertical elevation with no more effort than depressing the accelerator pedal and then follow it with a non-breathtaking walk: This is not a hike, it is a stroll in the American Alps.

The owners of The Inn at Buffalo Fork, on the river of that name in the town of Moran, put us in touch with one of the loveliest wildlife-watching (and listening) spots in the valley. Gene Ferrin is a Wyoming game warden (his wife Jeannie keeps the B & B running flawlessly), and when asked where to see a moose without getting into a moose-motivated traffic jam, thought for a minute and asked if we would mind getting up in the dark, well before breakfast, and driving a few miles. For a private moose, we would have done anything, and so, as rosy-fingered aurora touched the tops of the Tetons, we motored down to the Willow Flats area, followed the road to the dead end, and found ourself at Cattleman's Bridge, an ancient wooden span of the Snake River.

As promised by Ferrin, the first light in the valley revealed three bull moose on a downstream island. And as he predicted, they moved out of sight, back into the willows, the moment that direct sunlight shone on their huge antlers. The terrain across the bridge is precipitous, and at least a half-dozen bull elk were bugling, hidden from sight. One bull is a concerto, six or more, with the buglling echoing off the hills, is a complete (if off-key) symphony. By the time we got back to the Moran road, a couple of antlerless cow moose had already generated a 50-car wildlife jam.

One can feel quite content, even before breakfast, with a solitary viewing of moose and hearing of elk. That is the kind of thing one gets from a bed-and-moose-and-breakfast proprietor. Unfortunately, the big snow runoff last summer tore out the middle section of Cattleman's Bridge, and it may never be repaired. Still, with moose downstream and elk across the river and the first ospreys of the morning overhead, it is a special, private, place.

For a personalized introduction to the B & B world, Alan Blackburn's Direct Vacations, Inc., is the B & B association's representative. His telephones are 307-733-1719 for information, 800-542-2632 for reservations only, and fax at 307-739-3053. Blackburn's British accent belies his store of local knowlege.