Review and report of the ABD Wyoming trip, August 17, 2025

[Eastridge]

Wildfires

A benefit of traveling with ABD is they have you covered if anything happens. I was hardly concerned about safety in Wyoming, but I learned that wildfires can be an issue.

During this afternoon, I got an alert on my phone stating that there were wildfires nearby and to evacuate now. Not exactly what I want to hear on my vacation. But both the Brooks Lodge staff and the ABD guides said the fires were far away and there was no need for concern. Lili also said ABD was watching the situation.

Last year, there were wildfires that forced an evacuation of Brooks Lake Lodge. I'm not sure if they had to evacuate an ABD group or if this occurred before that group went to the lodge. But what the guides described was an incredible diving catch to save that trip. ABD managed to book everybody into Jackson Lake Lodge instead, and then booked various activities like horseback riding to provide some of the same experiences that group was supposed to get at Brooks Lake Lodge. I was impressed on how ABD was able to make those changes under such short notice.

 

[Eastridge]

Day 6: Back at the Ranch

It's finally time for the signature activity at Brooks Lake Lodge, and of the entire ABD Wyoming trip: The hike up Brooks Mountain! It provides amazing views up at the top and the sense of accomplishment for making it there and back.

It is also the single most strenuous activity I've ever done on an ABD trip. (This is my 7th ABD.) This hike kicked my butt. It is not for everybody.

Half of our group did this hike, which the ABD guides said was the largest hiking group this season. Because of our size, four Brooks guides plus Lili escorted us.

The hike is about 2.2 miles each way, with a 1350 foot elevation gain. It's useful to compare this to the hike to Lake Agnes Teahouse on the ABD Canadian Rockies trip. The distance and elevation gain are about the same. I didn't have much trouble with the Lake Agnes Teahouse hike. But the Brooks Mountain hike was tough.

The following morning, I expected to be very stiff and sore, but surprisingly I was not. I didn't feel any worse than after a normal jog. So that told me the elevation gain and distance weren't the problems.

The difference in the two hikes are the altitude and profile. The Lake Agnes hike starts at 5500 feet. The Brooks Mountain hike starts at over 9500 feet and reaches 11000 at the top. Furthermore, the Lake Agnes hike is pretty even in how steep the trail is, while the Brooks Mtn hike varies.

We left the lodge at 9:30am. We rode in vans to the start point, which is just off of a highway. Basically we walk up the mountain from the back. There are no toilets anywhere along the hike.



The hike starts in a wooded area and eventually leads to open fields.



The first 0.2 miles are the steepest part of the trail. The lead Brooks guide started off at a fast pace (or it felt like a fast pace to me). By the end of the 0.2 miles I was winded. I spent the 1.75 hour climb breathing hard, as if I was jogging up the entire way. I had to ask for brief stops many times during the hike up.

I think I can I think I can I think I can​

The group segregated pretty quickly and I brought up the rear. Fortunately, Brooks hiking guide Ryan stayed with us.

In the wooded area, you cross a creek. That is about the half way point in distance, but only about 1/3 of the elevation gain.



Somewhere around here, I asked myself: Who picked this trip, and this activity in particular? Then I remembered: It was me.

All I can say to you young adults ahead of me: One day you will be as old as I am​

The last part of the ascent is steep, so the Brooks guides offered to lead us on some switchbacks to reduce the slope.

Looking back in the direction we came from​

Somehow I dragged myself up to the top.

 

[Eastridge]

Brooks Mountain (summit)

The first rule of the top of Brooks Mountain is: Do not go beyond where the grass ends.

The second rule of the top of Brooks Mountain is: Do not go beyond where the grass ends.

I would change the rule to "Don't get within six feet of where the grass ends."









The previous three photos are animated GIFs. You must be logged in to see the animations.

We ate lunch at the top. The guides brought the packed lunches, but since there were so many of us, a few guests also helped in carrying some.







The sandwich was so large I only ate half.

 

[Eastridge]

Brooks Mountain (views)

You can see the Tetons behind Brooks Mountain. Since we hauled a camera and telephoto lens up here, I had to use that:





You also get a good view of Brooks Lake and can see how large it is

 

[sayhello]

Wildfires

A benefit of traveling with ABD is they have you covered if anything happens. I was hardly concerned about safety in Wyoming, but I learned that wildfires can be an issue.

During this afternoon, I got an alert on my phone stating that there were wildfires nearby and to evacuate now. Not exactly what I want to hear on my vacation. But both the Brooks Lodge staff and the ABD guides said the fires were far away and there was no need for concern. Lili also said ABD was watching the situation.

Last year, there were wildfires that forced an evacuation of Brooks Lake Lodge. I'm not sure if they had to evacuate an ABD group or if this occurred before that group went to the lodge. But what the guides described was an incredible diving catch to save that trip. ABD managed to book everybody into Jackson Lake Lodge instead, and then booked various activities like horseback riding to provide some of the same experiences that group was supposed to get at Brooks Lake Lodge. I was impressed on how ABD was able to make those changes under such short notice.

And this would DEFINITELY be one of the reasons I travel with ABD!!!

No way in heck would I ever even attempt that hike. But the fact that they have alternative hikes, and archery and canoeing is starting to make this maybe look appealing again. We shall see!

Sayhello

 

[aggiedog]

Gorgeous! I love to hike simply to see the views at the end. I do NOT love the effort. LOL I found this quote at a lodge at the base of Mount Rainier and it nicely sums up why I hike.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”​

― Rene Daumal

 

[Eastridge]

Brooks Mountain (geocaching)

There are two geocaching containers at the top. They look like former ammo boxes.



One of the items there was left by Adventure Guide Dusty. He might be the best known Adventure Guide. I'm told he was one of the original guides when ABD started 20 years ago.





Maybe one day I will have Dusty as a guide...

 

[Eastridge]

Brooks Mountain (descent)

You can see from the photos that we did not go all the way to the true summit. Sometimes the guides offer to lead guests there. But there were storm clouds in the area so we had to descend. Nobody wanted to get caught on the top of a mountain out in the open during a storm.

I was probably as slow going down as I was going up, because I'm not good at descending when the footing is loose and I was being very cautious. I had my regular sneakers. I should have worn hiking boots. I didn't have enough ankle support. If you do this hike, wear hiking boots.

The worst part, again, was the 0.2 mile section that began the trail. Sections were so steep that it was difficult to go down without sliding. I did slip and fall on my butt once, getting scraped a bit (nothing serious). After that, Ryan offered his arm so I hung onto it so I wouldn't fall again. I wasn't the only person who slipped. After returning to the Lodge, I got some bandages from Eileen. I know the guides carry first aid supplies.

Despite everything, I'm glad I did this activity. But it reminded me of an expression in Japan, which paraphrased is "If you never climb Mt. Fuji, you are a fool. But if you climb it more than once, you are also a fool."

I feel the same way about Brooks Mountain.

On Day 7 when we headed back to the airport, we passed by the trailhead, and when the guides pointed it out, somebody in the back yelled "PTSD!" so I know others found it tough also.

 

[Eastridge]

Archery

We had signed up for archery as the afternoon activity. Canoeing was filled up, although I'm sure we could have gotten a canoe if we really wanted.

Archery is done right outside of the main lodge. There are three sets of targets, and a guide there steps you through loading an arrow and shooting. You can keep going as long as you want but we were done within 15 minutes.

Not every archery range has a backdrop like this​

I found it difficult to shoot straight. While I could get all my arrows into the closest target, I only got one into the second target, and didn't attempt to hit the farthest. I think a key is how you release the bow. If you don't let go with all your fingers simultaneously, it won't fly straight.





Naturally, this activity is popular with junior adventurers. The Brooks guide said that on an earlier family ABD trip, a squirrel ran across the archery range. This caused the 10 year old boys to open fire. But they never got close, and the squirrel probably just laughed at them.

As for canoeing, I was pretty much done for the day and we didn't feel like walking all the way down to Brooks Lake with equipment and seeing if a canoe was available. There is no dock or guide there to help you. I had previously asked how to enter and exit the canoe and the answer was "very carefully." Since I didn't want to get wet, I was fine with just recuperating in my cabin.

And I didn't want to be late for whiskey.

 

[Eastridge]

Whiskey tasting

Since this was an adults-only trip, a surprise activity was a free whiskey tasting. We had four small pours of different Wyoming Whiskey. We guessed it was about 2 shots worth in total.

At dinner, beer and wine was on the Mouse so we had ample amounts of alcohol before the farewell slide show.

 

[sayhello]

Someday I hope to have Dusty as an Adventure Guide, too!!

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Love Dusty. Had him and James on my least favorite ABD that I've done (ABD Baltics cruise add on ). They were the best part of the trip. I still follow him on FB. Fun that he left some of his famous spritz

 

[Eastridge]

Someday I hope to have Dusty as an Adventure Guide, too!!

I wonder if Dusty posts somewhere about which trips he is guiding

 

[Eastridge]

Love Dusty. Had him and James on my least favorite ABD that I've done (ABD Baltics cruise add on ). They were the best part of the trip. I still follow him on FB. Fun that he left some of his famous spritz

I didn't take a good look at that bottle in the geocaching box. What is that spritz?

 

[Eastridge]

Slide show

After dinner, we were ushered out of the dining room to have dessert at the bar while the guides set up for the slide show. Along with the normal slide show, they selected prize winners for various activities (like submitting Hidden Mickey photos) and also handed out celebration cards and pins for guests who were celebrating something.

The "celebrate" pins have a new design this season​

We also received the Day 6 pin:

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I didn't take a good look at that bottle in the geocaching box. What is that spritz?

It looks like it to me?

 

[Eastridge]

Day 7: Happy Trails

Last night the sky was clear so the stargazing was good.



On this last day of the trip, the only activity (besides breakfast) is getting back to Jackson Hole airport.

Unlike most ABD trips, the entire group departs at the same time, in one bus. It's not the bus we had with Wade, but it wasn't the schoolbus either. It felt like an elongated version of nice shuttles that you take from airports to private parking lots or airport hotels.

Bags had to be out by 8:30am and everyone was on the bus by 9am. The bus arrived at Jackson Hole airport by 10:30am.



Along the way there was a herd of bison, the closest we ever got to them. The bus didn't stop, and they were too close to do so safely anyway. Which didn't stop other tourists from stopping and getting out of their cars. I was worried that one of them wanted to talk to me about my choice of dinner last night.

Our flight didn't leave until mid-afternoon, so we had a long wait at the airport. It is small but comfortable. I saw the guides at the bar enjoying drinks, which they could do once they were off duty! For aviation enthusiasts: I read that pilots need special certification to land here due to the mountains and the short runway. When we landed here, I saw the pilot doing all kinds of maneuvers. It wasn't a simple approach in a straight line.

Day 7 pin:



And that's the end of my report/review! If you made it this far, thanks for sticking around to the end. Hope this provided useful information if you are considering this trip. Or if you just wanted to see details of this trip, I hope it provided a sense of what it was like to take this trip.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Thank you for sharing! I have enjoyed very much

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Thank you for posting the review, appreciated reading it.

 

[sayhello]

I wonder if Dusty posts somewhere about which trips he is guiding

He does, on facebook. But he usually doesn't know that far in advance, and doesn't usually post it until he's on his way. He's doing the Seine River Cruise right now.

I didn't take a good look at that bottle in the geocaching box. What is that spritz?

I'm not sure what it is, or the actual significance, but I believe it has something to do with something Dusty calls "Toner time".

Sayhello