So last year we missed NAUCC since my daughter was accepted at Space Camp. So we drove South and toured Nashville, Carlsbad, and other sites near Huntsville. We brought some unicycles and used them a bit. We had a great time.
This year I was really looking forward to NAUCC in Madison. We used to live there so it would be a great time to see old friends as well as ride with other unicyclists.
Then Kaboom! my daughter gets accepted to a biology science camp in the Grand Tetons! So once again NAUCC is off.
So how is the unicycling out there? We are bringing 2 mountain unicycles - one for my son and one for me. What two would you pack? A 29, 24, or 20 (trials). The 24 and 20 would be easier on a plane and my son(9) can ride the 20 fairly well. He is also good on the 24. But I like the 29 on less technical ground.
So, what trails would you recommend? Are there any places for ride a chair lift up and unicycle down? One trip to the Grand Teton’s and I want to know what you would not miss doing on a unicycle. Well within limits - no rides along cliff edges and not big climbs to wear us down.
Would a 20 inch be too small? The smaller wheels may be easier on the long downhills if we find such a place.
I am sure it would be easy to bring the 29 on a plane. But there 24 and 20 are really easy since they can fit in with cloths in a large peice of luggage.
The family and I were up there last summer. They have great paved bike trails that we rode on bikes. We left the unicycles at home for this trip. These path ways were a great way to get out and see the area. With that said a 36" would be ideal. We did not look for any trails so I am of no help there. On a side note check out String Lake especially if you can rent a stand up paddle board. It is really a cool place. Hopefully others will chime in. I did notice that Jackson Hole Ski Resort was running bikes up and down the chairlift. Might be worth a call.
I just put it into google translate and got a good laugh. Thx!
On another note, one of the ski hills said they have no problem with mountain unicycles and we are more than welcome. However, he did say he had to google “mountain unicycle”.
I did a little riding there this last summer, so I’m no expert on the local trails, but finding trails w/o serious climbs can be a bit difficult. Riding the lifts is, of course, one way around that.
The “flattest” trails I found were just east of town at the Cache creek trailhead. There are several there that parallel the creek on either side. What I tended to do was ride Cache Creek road (A dirt doubletrack closed to cars) uphill, as it had a nice, manageable gradient. Then, I’d connect to one of the singletracks on the way back down. Putt-putt (North side of the road) was really flowy and nice. Cache Creek trail (South side of the road) was fun and had some very steep, challenging sections.
One other option if you have a shuttle vehicle available is to be dropped at the top of Teton Pass and then ride down to the Trail Creek trailhead. You can find a map of the trail options there at:
Good luck and have fun! BTW, the beer and BBQ are stellar out at Roadhouse BBQ in Wilson. One more good reason to ride the trails on the Teton pass side.
