Kathy Gross was nine-years-old the first time she backpacked in the Wind River Mountains. She was with her parents, three siblings, and the family dog. She doesn’t remember the details of where exactly in the range she was, but, 50-ish years later, she remembers exactly how she felt. “I was awed being out in wilderness and feeling like there was nobody around for miles,” she says. “It was amazing.”
Kathy’s parents ended up buying a business in Jackson—a KOA campground and general stores across from the National Elk Refuge where the National Museum of Wildlife Art is today—and she went to middle school and started high school here before moving back to the East Coast. “We’d still come back on vacation and get out hiking and backpacking,” she says.
When she was grown up and had two kids of her own with husband Mark—Charlotte, now 31, and Kevin, 28—Kathy made sure to introduce them to the BTNF. The family lived in New Hampshire at that time, and came here on vacation. “I remember one trip when Kevin was about 9. We were hiking and he’s looking around at all of the beauty and asked, ‘why didn’t you ever tell me about this?’ New Hampshire has mountains, but not like the mountains here.”
Now retired from a career running R.J. Reilly Jr., Inc., a company founded by her father that manufactured, installed, and maintained platform tennis courts across the U.S., Kathy and Mark now live in Jackson Hole. (So does Kathy’s 88-year-old mom.)
“Having the Bridger-Teton National Forest so close—it’s an amazing resource,” Kathy says. “It is so massive and diverse and serves so many uses.” Kathy and Mark are avid hikers, enjoy kayaking, rafting, and paddleboarding on the Snake River, and are downhill, backcountry, and Nordic skiers. “We all benefit so much from the beauty, wildlife, recreational opportunities, and resources that the BTNF provides.”
Kathy looks forward to helping with and spreading messaging that helps other people safely enjoy the many different uses of the BTNF, and to learning more about the forest, especially the in-progress Forest Plan Revision process. In addition to being on the board of Friends of the Bridger-Teton, Kathy is also on the board of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.
How Kathy recreates responsibly: “I research and understand where I will be going, what the terrain is, and what kind of weather is expected, and also have an idea of back-up plan if things don’t go as expected,” she says. She also makes sure that someone who isn’t with her knows where she is and what time she expects to be back. When heading out to go backcountry skiing, “I make sure I read the avalanche report and understand the terrain where we’re going,” Kathy says.