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PrintSneaking Down the Snake
Grab a bite, jump aboard, and take it easy
A guide steers clients around a bend in the upper Snake River.
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One day early last summer, I tuned into the seven a.m. morning trivia contest on one of the local radio stations: “What famous singer-songwriter was an original, but short-lived, member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band?” came the question.
I began shuffling through the iPod of my mind, searching for the answer.
Steve Martin? The comedian is a terrific banjo player and, I’ve heard, a friend of the Dirt Band’s John McEuen. Glen Campbell maybe? Or John Denver? I’ll bet that’s it. And indeed, “Mr. Rocky Mountain High” was going to be my guess, until the deejay picked up the phone, with me on the other end, just as he said over the air:
“He also wrote one of the Eagles’ biggest hits.”
I said, “John Den … Jackson Browne!”
“That’s right!” said the deejay. “I shouldn’t have given that last hint, huh?”
Well, yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have won a scenic float trip for two on the Snake River courtesy of the Grand Teton Lodge Company. And my brother and I would not have been bobbing along on a beautiful September day, lathered in SPF 30 and keeping our eyes peeled for eagles of a different stripe—and on the Cathedral Group of the Teton Range, scratching the heavens in the near distance.
Earlier in the morning, heading north from Jackson we could see that we had picked the right day to play hooky from our ticket-taking and ballot-tabulating duties at the Western Design Conference. The morning was clear, crisp, and still; cold, but promising of intense sunshine and early autumn warmth.
