Lorraine Bonney was always up for an adventure. She was born and educated in Canada and met her America born husband, Orrin, while taking a technical mountain climbing course. Lorraine and Orrin eventually moved to a cabin in Kelly, Wyoming in Teton County.
They authored several books together, including the Guide to Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas in 1960 and the Guide to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park in 1963.
When Orrin died in 1979, Lorraine’s passion for outdoor activities was undeterred. She took a 3-month bicycle trip through Kenya and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She travelled to China to climb remote mountain peaks. She hiked in New Zealand and went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
When back in Kelly, she wrote feisty letters to the editor in the Jackson Hole News. Lorraine Bonney was a champion and protector of Jackson Hole’s wilderness areas.
Learn more in the Orrin and Lorraine Bonney papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.