JACKSON, Wyo. — Jackson’s cross-country ski trails got a shout-out from The New York Times (NYT) in January this year, with travel reporter Cindy Hirschfeld exploring Turpin Meadows, Trail Creek and Emily’s Pond, among other areas.
“In the forest, pine trees stood like sentinels,” Hirschfeld writes, describing a landscape familiar to us. “Low clouds shrouded the peaks around the pass.” She also noted the abnormally warm temperatures for January, which were hovering in the mid 30s.
Hirschfeld spotted wildlife, visited local coffee shops and noted the serenity of skiing on trails, even on the weekends.
The article mentions the trail that starts at the Bradley-Taggart parking lot and many mountains familiar to Jacksonites, like Teewinot, Mount Owen and the Grand. Geraldine Lucas and Paul Petzoldt — specifically Lucas a second recorded woman to summit the Grand in 1924 — also get a shout-out in the piece.
Locals have long known the beauty and quiet of winter in Jackson in contrast to the chaos of the summer months. Hirschfeld had the pleasure of experiencing that same magical solitude near Jenny Lake in January: “On this day, the parking lot, visitor center and ranger station were muffled in a thick blanket of snow, and I had the landscape to myself.”
