Teton Mountain Range Wyoming

We could actually see the Teton Mountain Range in Wyoming, from the Yellowstone Golf and RV Resort where we stayed in Ashton Idaho. Even from a great distance, it was spectacular.

What we didn’t realize was just how challenging it would be to drive over Teton Pass with our RV while towing our Jeep! Every single time I think about that trip my mind is screaming YIKES!!! We had no idea that Teton Pass had a 15% grade. Had we been forewarned, we probably would have unhooked the Jeep and I would have driven that, following behind Ladybug. As they say “hindsight is 20/20”.

Ladybug is a gas coach. The big pro is that our regular gasoline fuel costs considerably less per gallon than diesel. But we also only get between 6.5 and 7.5 mpg depending on weather, highway conditions and whether we are on mountain or flat roads. The big con is that we don’t have the torque that a diesel pusher has, which makes it much more difficult to ascend those mountain passes. But Teton Pass was far beyond anything we had previously experienced.

I remember the first time we were in the mountains on our way to Boone NC. It was a stormy day and Steve kept repeating that we weren’t going to make it up the mountain. He has said that each and every time we are on mountain highways, and there have been a lot of them! My normal response is that as long as we are moving forward and not backward, we will make it to the summit. And we always do, even if we are doing it slowly.

But this time as we climbed Teton Pass to its 10 thousand foot peak I was beginning to think we were not going to make it. I could feel the coach going slower and slower and could feel the engine struggle to get oxygen. The needle on the speedometer kept going further and further toward 0 mph and I began praying to G-d to please let us get to our destination safely. With his foot all the way to the floor and the Overdrive off, Steve could only get Ladybug to about 5-8 mph. Even I, the eternal optimist, was beginning to believe we wouldn’t make it. Yet somehow we did. And after climbing to 10 thousand feet, the downhill drive was soooooo much easier!!!

I do believe we will avoid Teton Pass and any other mountain passes of that steep altitude from now on. Sadly I was much too tense to take any photos of our ascent. The view was probably amazing. I couldn’t really tell you because I was keeping my eyes on the dashboard.

Once we had left the mountain passes I kept taking photos to my heart’s content. We drove passed farms, great scenery, amazing views of the Teton Mountain Range Wyoming and fabulous arches made of elk antlers in Jackson Hole. It was certainly a journey that Steve and I will never forget. And when we reached our campground, Fort Casper, in Casper Wyoming, we got to put another state on our map. See how nicely that section of white states is getting smaller and smaller. Only 6 more to go!!!