So another way to enjoy Teton Valley in the West Tetons is to get on the Teton River.
And you guys are coming along with me.
So that's what I'm going to do this evening here at Bates Bridge. That's where I'm putting in. There are several sections on the river that you can put in.
I think maybe even up to six here in the upper Teton River area. If you go past Harrods Bridge, I think
it's called, you'll get into Teton Canyon and then it's actually technical white water. I'm not going
that far. I'm just going one section on the Teton River from here down to Rainey, which is where our
campground is. So we wanted to tell you about the boondocking spot that we are at, BLM land just
outside of Driggs, Idaho in the West Tetons, the spot to be if you want to be close to everything
on the front range here of the West Tetons. I think we got the best spot. In fact, it's right there.
People come down around the bend here on their paddle boards and their kayaks.
They do it all day long. It seems like the popular thing to do. Let's check it out.
Thanks for helping pump up the paddleboard Klara. It's a lot of work. Tell me about it.
All right, so we've got the paddle board pumped up, and we are about to head down
to the river. We're right at the boat dock. And what I read online is that I guess depending on
how fast you go it's one and a half to two and a half hours to get down to the next section.
I see a lot of people floating in their tubes and just taking it easy. So I'm hoping if I'm doing
some actual paddling that it'll go faster. Because the kids are going to go back down with Kevin and
wait for me in the campground right by our RV where we showed you that spot by the river. And
I'm going to pick them up and take them around the corner to the boat ramp. So they're going to love
riding on the paddle board with me, but I didn't want to take them the whole way. I'm really excited.
So I'm ready to go. I've got everything. I'm gonna take off down the river, and I'll see
you on the other side.
All right, I'll see you guys later. Love you. Have fun. Bye! Have fun! Thank you.
So when I first got on the paddle board we thought it was too shallow to use the fins underneath.
And I got started and realized I had, I had no control. I was just kind of you
know flowing all over the place. And so I stopped for a moment to put those on.
Oh what is that?!
What is that? A beaver, guys.
Hi guy.
So that was really neat. I just saw what I think was a beaver,
carrying some sort of vegetation in its mouth. I didn't see where it was headed, but that was
very cool. I have seen some fish jumping. I did go by a fly fisherman as well. Didn't see whether he
had caught anything, but I guess it's that time of day. It's such a quiet float. So far so nice.
I mean really, all I hear out here is the birds and the sound of the water itself.
There are a couple sections where it picks up just slightly, but I wouldn't even call
them rapids or anything. It just flows a little more around some of the curves.
It does seem to wind quite a bit. And at least on this stretch, there is a split in the river.
And you want to keep left. I heard that's where there's more consistent water flow. Heading left.
Nobody else at the moment as far as I can see. There were a couple others getting on the river
back there as I was, but I think they're floating a little bit slower than me. Maybe they'll catch
me though with all this filming I'm doing. And these are your views from the river. Hello Tetons.
So I decided to sit down and paddle for a little bit. This is
perfect. I'm gonna tell Kevin he needs to do this also. So I am by no means an avid paddle
boarder yet, though I want to be one. I don't even really know what I'm doing, but luckily there's not
a huge barrier to entry. If you've never tried paddle boarding it's pretty easy. Rent one, find
a friend who has one. I have my best friend who lives in Florida who introduced me to it
years ago and actually gifted me this awesome paddle board. And I am finally getting more use
out of it. I've only used it a few times. Shame on me, but at least I'm using it in some epic places.
I'm hitting rock bottom uh-oh. Walking to the side of the river a little bit with my board
because it got a little shallow. And I wasn't paying attention. I didn't notice. So putting the fins on
was the right move, it's helping me to paddle, but you have to be more aware of the shallow areas.
The river is just beautiful. Ooh I just got a case of adrenaline there because I was moving to the
side to avoid some shallows, and I came upon, on the bank, a mama moose and her baby. They were
just coming out of the trees there to come into the river. And the mama made a startled noise like
like who are you, what is this? And they immediately jumped back into the trees. So
I only caught a quick glimpse of them, and I immediately paddled into the middle of the
river also away from the side. Because you know mama moose might want to defend her baby moose
and you don't want to have a moose charge you right. So that was back along this bank here. Wow.
That was neat. I wish I could have seen them a little bit longer from a distance.
But that was unexpected, and pretty neat. I thought I might see a moose at some point just
not in such a way that startled me and the moose. I expected to see them
from a little bit of a distance. My daughter did see a moose out her window with a baby
the other morning. It was sunrise. She happened to wake up and hear some
some noises and looked out, and they were coming across the field. So we have seen
moose here already, but that one was a lot closer. Another split in the river. Going left.
Yeah that's the Tetons behind me. Great view. There they are. Tetons bathed in
sunlight.
I do hear people in the distance, so I think I'm probably not too far from the campground.
I'm gonna paddle for a while.
I just saw our RV through the trees. So I know I'm about to come around the corner,
and Kevin and my kids will be waiting for me. The plan is to have them hop on here with me,
and I'll take them around the corner to the ramp.
And we'll all get out there. So they get to enjoy a little bit of the ride too. Here we go. Home stretch.
I made it! Yay!
How was it? Awesome! I really, I really think this is something you should do too. It is, it's just
that good. Okay. That was so much fun. How long did I take? An hour and 10 minutes. That was fast. Yeah! Woo hoo!
Nice. And you guys know I even did some filming, so. That was, that was so good. I hope you guys enjoyed
the time on the river with me. We're gonna go take the kids around the corner to the boat ramp.
So stay tuned just a couple more seconds so you can see us get the very end and celebrate with us.
How was it Nathan. How was it? Good.
So as you can see it was not me arriving with the kids at the boat ramp like I said I was
going to. You saw us floating away, and we did. And we came around the corner, and there was a
moose in the river. And he was a big guy, and he was already in the river. The river's not super narrow,
but it's not super wide either. So we didn't want to paddle by the moose last night. So I actually
turned us around, paddled upstream, and some really really nice folks who were doing a walk
along the shore helped us get out, helped us carry the paddleboard. Actually they carried
the paddleboard for me while I got the kids, until I could wave at Kevin over here at the boat dock
to say we're not coming. So nice. So if you guys are watching this by chance, ever, thank you
so much. We just figured better safe than sorry, and we called it for the night. And so today
Kevin got on the river, and had an amazing time. Right? It was awesome, yeah. It's totally worth doing. I think
another paddle board is in our future so we can all do this together. And that's the conclusion
of our adventures on the river. So if you come to the West Tetons, don't just explore Teton Valley
by car. Make sure that you get out on the bike trails, on the rivers, you won't regret it. We'll
see you next time. Bye. Are you gonna fall in? I hope not. If I do I'll just get back on.
In most places the bugs aren't bad, but then
sometimes, blech.