The Mountains
The Grand Teton National Park marked the second leg of our trip after a tour of Yellowstone. A day after our grizzly encounter we headed south to the mountains. Located twelve miles north of Jackson, Wyoming, this mountain range serves up all your senses could ask for. Valleys, lakes, streams, scenic sunrises, hiking, wildflowers and abundant wildlife. This is the youngest mountain range in the Rockies so many of the features are unique to this part of the country. The tallest peak, Grand Teton, rises 13,770 ft. and many others in the range are well over 12,000 ft. They loom over Jackson Hole valley and it`s hard to describe the majesty you feel here. It`s almost like a backdrop on a movie set. A drive of only a few miles changes the scenery dramatically. I could easily spend weeks here exploring and hiking.
As we got out of the car near Jenny lake it took about five minutes to encounter this bull elk. He didn`t seem to mind our approach but we kept some distance. Not too long after this photo was taken, he started bugling. Bull elk use this to communicate different information. Sometimes warnings to other bulls (or photographers, come to think of it), or for location purposes to their harem. At any rate it was a powerful and haunting sound that echoed through the valley at the base of the mountain.
In the valley, in the shadow of the mountain, there are spectacular views from nearly everywhere. The mountains always serving as a backdrop.
At the southern end of a large valley, where the Snake river meanders all the way from the highlands of Yellowstone with the Teton mountain range on the western side, lies Jackson Hole. This is where we spent our last night before heading back east. Although a few ranches still remain in operation, as a reminder of the original economic base, much of the area is geared toward tourism now. With three to four million people a year visiting the area. Many of the outlying ranches supplement their income with tourism with guest ranches and as headquarters for skiers and outfitting hunters and fisherman. Such is `progress`.
On our final morning we got up before dawn, again, to watch the sunrise over Mormon Row and to get some shots of the iconic T.A. Moulton property. The following paragraph is taken from the National Park Website. If you want to learn more about this area, I`ve created a link to their site about Mormon Row in the `links` tab to the left.
Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, sent parties from the Salt Lake Valley to establish new communities and support their expanding population. Mormon homesteaders, who settled east of Blacktail Butte near the turn of the 19-century, clustered their farms to share labor and community, a stark contrast with the isolation typical of many western homesteads. These settlers first arrived in the 1890s from Idaho establishing a community (named Grovont by the U.S. Post Office) known today as “Mormon Row.”
These buildings and barns spark your imagination about what it must have been like to live, grow up and work at the turn of the 19th-century. As you walk the property, you can`t help but wonder what took place one hundred years ago in this spot.
The Teton Mountain range is one of the most beautiful places you`ll ever see in this country. It`s spread out, combines a mixture of open meadows, rocky foothills, and lush forests near lakes at the base of the mountains. Give yourself at least three days to explore the area, hike the trails and take in the culture that makes up this land. You won`t regret it. I`d like to experience this place in the springtime when all the wildflowers sprout and the land comes alive or even in winter, so that I could see the snow-covered peaks and trees. Perhaps on the next time around...