What’s not to love about a Spartan obstacle course race with competitors scrambling across monkey bars, slogging through mud pits, slithering under barbed wire and leaping over fire as a finale.

For John Dixon, 47, a financial adviser in Pocatello, the challenges and camaraderie of Spartan races have compelled him to compete since 2016.

“Friends at Gold’s Gym suggested I try one,” said Dixon, who had run marathons. “It was different from anything else I’d ever done. You’re not doing just one thing. You’re running, climbing, jumping, crawling, lifting, or swimming. The courses are usually in the mountains, too, so you’re surrounded by the beauty of nature.”

Since Spartan Racing Inc. began organizing the competitions nationwide in 2010, they have become increasingly popular because of the mental and physical sense of accomplishment racers feel when they finish.

Founder Joe De Sena, an adventure racer, launched the courses to develop people’s physical strength and mental fortitude and to ultimately “rip you from your comfort zone,” according to Spartan.com. “If you think you can’t do it, you’re wrong. Get to the starting line and show yourself what you are capable of.”

The physical strain is eased by the camaraderie among competitors.

“Races have such a positive energy,” Dixon said. “You start with the pledge and saluting the flag. One of the mottos is ‘No Spartan left behind,’ so people help each other at obstacles. They’re all ages and come from all walks of life.”

They strive to follow the Spartan creed, which has little to do with muscle and more with a mindset. True Spartans give generously, push their minds and bodies to their limits, master their emotions and learn continuously, according to Spartan.com. They know their flaws as well as strengths, prove themselves through actions not words and live every day as if it were their last.

Dixon is not alone in his Spartan enthusiasm, estimating dozens of people in the area race regularly.

Racers pick from three main divisions: a Sprint with about 20 to 23 obstacles in 3 to 5 miles, the Super with 24 to 29 obstacles in 8 to 10 miles, and the Beast with more than 30 obstacles in 12 to 14 miles.

People of all fitness levels are welcome, either as an elite racer who is competitive or an open entrant who simply wants to finish. A course is offered for children, too.

Many Spartans set a goal of earning a trifecta, completing a race in each division in a year. After notching a trifecta in 2016, Dixon set a higher goal and earned a double trifecta in 2017.

“The highlight of last year’s season was competing in the Spartan World Championship in September in Lake Tahoe, California, at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort,” he said.

Dixon said Spartan obstacle courses are becoming popular “because there’s more to it than a race. A lot of people are there to overcome something in their lives, whether loss of a loved one, surviving cancer or dealing with divorce.”

At the end of a race, competitors sign a message board to share the reasons they race.

“I compete as an uplifting example to my family to become physically fit and have fun doing it,” said Dixon.

Having completed a double trifecta and the world championships last year, Dixon has set a new goal, competing in the Ultra Beast at the world championship at Lake Tahoe this fall.

“The Ultra Beast is 33 miles and 50-plus obstacles,” he said. “This is the one of the biggest challenges and longest races you can do. So if you’ve done your double trifecta and are looking for more of a challenge, the Ultra Beast is definitely the next level.”

Dixon said races are offered year-round.

“You can get on the website and find a race almost every weekend,” he said.

Like most Spartans, Dixon said he knows he will feel exhausted yet elated after crossing the finish line and will be eager for his next race.

JACKSON, Wyo. — To celebrate spring break, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is producing a free concert series at the resort base and town square. Snowboard slopestyle Olympian Red Gerard will also perform in an exhibition.

The Jackson Hole Rendezvous Spring Festival, a four-day, spring lifestyle and music festival is scheduled March 15 to 18 with musicians and bands performing country, blues, reggae, and pop.

“Rendezvous, now in its fifth year, has quickly become one of the most popular winter spring festivals in the West, so we’re anticipating a great crowd,” said Anna Cole, JHMR communications director.

“After hosting two years of Rendezvous with a paid concert model, we wanted to scale the festival back a bit to make it more accessible to our guests and locals,” Cole said. “This year’s lineup has a wide variety of acts, and there is something for everyone.”

The headliner band is ‘Portugal. The Man.’

Proud of their small-town roots and inspiration for their music coming from their hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, band members recently won a Grammy for best pop duo/group performance for the song “Feel It Still.” The band will perform at 3 p.m. on March 17 at the JHMR stage in Teton Village.

Cole said another special event on March 17 will be a two-hour exhibition from 10 a.m. to noon of Olympian Red Gerard performing his snowboarding tricks at the top of the gondola.

The 17-year-old from Silverthorne, Colo., is the first U.S. gold medalist in snowboard slopestyle. After his exhibition, he will be signing autographs in the village at the mountain base.

Other bands performing during the festival are Michael Franti and the Spearhead, the Mavericks, Frankie Ballard, Devon Allman with Special Guest Duane Betts and the Chanman Roots Band.

Throughout March and April, Music Under the Tram is a free concert series starting at 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

With record snowfall of more than 400 inches at the resort, the winter season is transitioning to spring skiing. The resort has brought back its Golden Ticket Promotion, Cole said. Lift tickets are discounted at 40 percent from April 2 to 8 to anyone with a season pass from anywhere in the world.

Vouchers for discount tickets to ski at the resort any day are also available by joining the Pocatello Ski and Snowboard Association, with forms and coupon book at Barrie’s Ski & Sports at 624 Yellowstone Ave in Pocatello. 

More information about the festival and other spring break events may be found at https://www.jacksonhole.com/rendezvous.html.

With food shortages in Croatia during World War II, Marijana Dolsen’s parents turned to nature’s pantry to keep themselves and their children fed.

“I was born during the war, so my family ate all kinds of plants,” Dolsen said. “You just have to know what to look for. We used them for medicine, too. Since then, plants have become my life.”

Strolling around her yard on South Sixth Street, Dolsen gathers nearly two dozen edible plants, many considered weeds.

“This took only about 20 minutes to pick,” she says, rummaging through a bowl brimming with greens and flowers.

“These are delicious and filled with vitamins and minerals. The leaves of many plants can be used as salad greens. Or they’re perfect stewed with a little olive oil, garlic and salt.”

Underfoot, yet often overlooked, common wild plants, or those considered weeds, are becoming more popular to forage as tasty, nutrient-rich ingredients to supplement a meal. Through books and classes, expert foragers are helping people who want to return to their gathering roots.

Dolsen, a longtime member of the local Sawabi Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society, advises those who want to learn about wild edible plants to come to monthly meetings on Saturday mornings or Monday evenings from May to September.

“You can read guidebooks, but it’s best to ask questions from someone who can point out the slight differences between plants,” she said. “Some plants are similar and grow beside each other, but one is edible and the other is not.”

For example, poisonous white death camas often grows near the edible blue camas. Poisonous hemlock plants have been mistaken for edible watercress.

She also says to not pick plants growing near roads, where exhaust fumes from vehicles contaminate them or herbicides are often sprayed.

Ideally, plants should be gathered when they are beginning to grow and are tender. From her bowl, she pulls a few of her favorites that are easy to identify.

“Here is lambsquarters,” she said. “Use it as a substitute for spinach. It’s filled with vitamin A.”

Another plant, ground mallow, is prolific.

“The whole plant is edible. Chop it up and put it in stews and soups as a thickener. It soothes a sore throat, too.”

To make Greek dolmathes, broad plantain leaves can be used instead of grape leaves.

“The plant veins can be tough, so you can cook the leaves and scrape away part of the veins.”

Chickweed, with its small tender leaves and delicate tiny white flowers, tastes like sweetcorn.

Two weeds that are maligned in the United States, the dandelion and salsify, are appreciated in European cuisine.

“The dandelion is a wonderful plant,” she said. “The flowers can be made into wine or sautéed in butter. The leaves can be used in salad or stewed. During the war, people roasted the roots for a coffee substitute. Chicory was another coffee substitute.”

The salsify, a tall slender plant with a yellow flower, is prized for its roots.

“I couldn’t believe it. A few years ago, I bought some pickled salsify root at T.J. Maxx. It was made in France and was delicious.”

Other common plants include nettles, wild lettuce and goldenrod leaves. The petals of columbine, wild hollyhock and wild roses are also edible.

The oxeye daisy brightens local hillsides.

“For this one, the leaves are the best to eat. Wild plants should be harvested conservatively. Always leave the healthiest plants, so they can reproduce.”

In the desert, the moisture-laden fruit of prickly pear cactus can be eaten. “Roast it first and scrape off the needles.”

Dolsen says even in winter, food can be found outdoors.

“When you scrape away the bark of an aspen tree, you find the spongy white pith underneath and can survive on that.”

She looks forward to the fall, when berries will ripen.

“Wait to pick them until after the first frost when the starches in the berries have turned to sugar. We have so many berries: elder, thimble, Saskatoon, hawthorn and chokecherries and currants.

“In nature or your yard, there are so many wild plants and fruits to eat almost every season.”

You can drop a small fortune entertaining yourself in Jackson — or not, advises Rick Schreiber, 73, who raised his kids in western Wyoming’s renowned resort town.

On a recent weekend, his granddaughter Eloise was learning to paddle a kayak for the first time at Rendezvous Park, a free public park nicknamed R Park off Wilson Road. After driving down Teton Pass, turn left at the light and the park is about 1/4 mile later on the right.

As Eloise guided herself near shore, the smooth water in the park’s pond built her 5-year-old confidence. Nearby, families fished, hiked and explored meadows, knolls and trails.

“Most of the land here in Teton County is public,” said Schreiber. “There’s an incredible network of public paved bike paths.”

As Schreiber’s son Matt coached Eloise, he reminisced about his childhood.

“I grew up fishing, climbing, skiing, mountain biking, camping, boating,” said Matt. “There are hikes galore. I can’t think of a better place to raise kids.”

Along with exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, here are a few free or expensive activities to do throughout the summer in Jackson.

• Free downtown walking tours at town square: At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, guides lead an hour-long tour and tell of Jackson’s wild past and architecture.
• The Jackson Hole Shootout: At 6 p.m., villains and heroes confront each other in a shootout at the town square. A tradition since 1957, it is the longest continuously running gunfight in in the nation.
• Free star parties at R Park: From 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. on clear Friday nights from May through September near the north entrance to R Park, astronomers from Wyoming Stargazing set up a Dobsonian telescope to look at planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies. The non-profit organization also has an outdoor inflatable planetarium and augmented reality goggles from Universe2go for virtual stargazing.
• Grand Teton Music Festival: From July 3 to Aug. 20, free family concerts are offered Wednesday afternoons and weekends at Teton Village. At 10 a.m. on Fridays, rehearsals are open and free with tickets required. Times vary and are listed at www.gtmf.org.
• Free bouldering park: At the base of Snow King Mountain, a free bouldering park offers three large boulders/walls for all ages and skill levels. Adjacent to the wall is a small picnic shelter with eight tables, horseshoe pits and a grassy area.
• Free mountain bike trails: Trails from Snow King connect with Cache Creek and Game Creek network.
• Alive @ 5: From June 27 to Aug. 15 at Teton Village Commons Tuesday through Friday, a free summer program includes music, education and storytelling starting at 5 p.m.
• Browse N Buy, 139 N. Cache St.: The St. John’s Episcopal Church runs an upscale thrift retail store with everything from clothes to sporting goods and household items. It’s not free but close.
• Granite Hot Springs: A short drive south of Jackson, the natural hot springs offer a soaking pool and campground, fishing along Granite Creek and hiking into the Gros Ventre Mountain Range.
• Other events in town charging a nominal fee are a nightly ghost tour, Children’s Museum, Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center and Wildlife Art Museum.

At www.jacksonholetraveler.com, a calendar is listed, and under a tab labeled “specials,” coupons are offered.

JACKSON, Wyo. — Piled high on pallets or taped in bundles, nearly 6 tons of elk antlers await bidders Saturday morning during the 50th annual Jackson Hole Boy Scout Elk Antler Auction.

Sorted by size, color and condition, about 5,000 antlers will line closed streets around the town square. Boy Scouts and volunteers collected them from the nearby 25,000-acre National Elk Refuge after the antler-hunting season opened May 1.

Starting at 10 a.m., more than 100 bidders from 30 states will compete against each other for the coveted antlers. They are not only cherished by collectors but are vital to business owners who make them into lamps and furniture, jewelry, chew toys for dogs, or grind them up for medicinal purposes.

Although avid antler hunters Melissa Bowman and John Hyde of Downey did not buy any last year, watching the auction was unforgettable.

“We liked looking at the variety and sizes,” Bowman said of the antlers, which range from shades of brown to sun bleached.

Some antlers were taller than the young Scouts carrying them to the auction block.

“The volume of antler sheds and the amount of money raised for the Scouts was impressive,” Hyde said.

Last year, 11,512 pounds of antlers fetched $175,397. The proceeds are divided 75/25 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be used for habitat projects and winter feed at the refuge and the Jackson District Boy Scouts of America.

Matched pairs are prized. Last year, a 25-pound 6×7 matched set sold for $155 per pound, while a larger 8×8 21-pound set cost $116 per pound.

To bid on the antlers, registration is accepted online at elkfest.org or at 9 a.m. at the square. While the auction takes about 2,000 hours for Scouts and their leaders to organize, it is over in about three hours.

After the auction, other venues on the square are worth checking out. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will set up The Great Elk Tour, its premier traveling conservation exhibit featuring mounts of some of the largest bull elk in the world.

A booth will offer children’s activities, while private vendors sell moose and deer antlers, hides and other wildlife items.

The elk, deer and moose antlers that Hyde and Bowman find in Southeast Idaho decorate their home and are not for sale. The satisfaction of finding them is priceless enough.

“It’s exciting after hiking and glassing to be able to take some home,” Bowman said. “Moose usually drop their antlers in December, then deer generally in February. Even if we don’t find any, it’s great to be out in the mountains.”