Grand Teton National Park Adventures

For the next three days, we explored different areas of Grand Teton National Park. We were here briefly back in early May 2002 and I recall a very different snow-covered region. The Teton Range looked spectacular then, and even now without their white mantle, the craggy mountains still look very imposing at this time of year.  We must have stopped at every possible overlook and took dozens of pictures of the Teton range from every possible angle.  What makes these mountains so intriguing is their dramatic rise above Jackson Hole, the valley created after a series of earthquakes that pushed the range upward as the valley floor slid down along a 40-mile fault line. Here is a link to a condensed version of the park geology, courtesy of the NPS:
https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/photosmultimedia/geo_film.htm

There are two roads that create a loop around the Jackson Hole valley that is dissected by the Snake River, offering several vantage points for viewing the mountain peaks, as well as wild-life that calls this area home. We drove along both sections. 












A ranger-led Lake Shore hike took us on a loop that circles the wooded peninsula that forms Colter Bay in Jackson Lake. Views of the mountains were gorgeous.

Views from Jackson Lodge offered a different perspective across the Willow Flats and an almost complete silhouette of the range.

At Jenny Lake, the range offered close-up views that were spectacular. The Cathedral Group with Grand Teton, Teewinot, and Mt Moran appeared to rise straight up from the valley floor.

the jagged peaks with Jenny Lake 

Even under cloud cover, in the setting sun, with the Snake River flowing along, the majestic range looks spectacular.

Mt Moran and the Teton range in the fading light, with the Snake River

From Signal Mountain (elevation 7,727 ft), the views overlooking Jackson Hole were equally spectacular. We could see the Snake River snaking its way across the valley, and the town of Jackson in the distance. 

We saw wildlife at Oxbow Bend. Every evening at 6 PM a ranger set up a powerful spotting scope to zoom in on whatever creatures appeared. We viewed an elk bull with a magnificent rack herding his harem of 6 cows, and on another evening we watched him rubbing his antlers on a tree trunk. We saw a bald eagle. We saw otters frolicking about and feeding in the river. The most exciting event was a black bear swimming across the Snake River from the opposite bank, then making his way between us onlookers and across the road, disappearing up the hillside into the undergrowth. 

black shape in the water with its ears sticking up is the bear we watched

We saw a moose on our way to visit the recently opened Laurance S. Rockefeller Visitor Center in the Rockefeller Preserve.  We observed the moose for quite a while until she made her way out of the water and joined her calf that was lying in the grass. Occasionally we could see the calf's ears flicker above the grass. 

mama moose enjoying her lunch

The Rockefeller Preserve is on land that the family donated to the park. The family had enjoyed this pristine wilderness for many years as a private retreat. The building is interesting and reminds me of Frank LLoyd Wright architecture. 

Laurance S. Rockefeller believed in the power of nature to restore and sustain the human spirit. The Preserve, on the site of his former JY Ranch, is a place where visitors can experience the beauty of the lake and Teton Range, a legacy created to enrich our lives and inspire us to become better stewards of the land.
Creating the Teton National Park as we know it today did not come without challenges, and intervention by John D. Rockefeller. Congress had made several attempts to expand Yellowstone National Park southward to include the Teton range and portions of the Jackson Hole valley.  But local residents resisted all attempts.  Congress finally prevailed in 1929 by creating Grand Teton National Park including the central peaks and a few lakes at their base.  Since the park did not preserve a complete ecosystem or protect mountain views from private development, work continued to expand the boundaries.  John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world at the time, toured the area and believed it would be spoiled if left to uncontrolled development.  He began to secretly buy up the land in the Jackson Hole valley and eventually donated it to the government. Ranchers who ranched in the area for years protested and it took a lot of meetings and compromise to eventually create the park boundaries of today. One of the compromises was to allow hunting, a tradition that had continued for years in this region, and today this is the only national park that allows hunting on a limited and controlled basis.

I was impressed with the many ranger-led programs and hikes. At the more popular areas, rangers answered questions and offered information about the wildlife. We got to see the pelt of a black bear and a grizzly bear (with its 4-inch claws), and we got to see the skulls of a bison, beaver, bear, wolf, mountains lion, and weasel, and the ranger explained the differences in the teeth and jaws of the predator carnivores and the herbivores. 

On a different ranger-led hike, we learned more about the animals that call this area home, their habits, and how they survive the winters that can bring over 400 inches of snow. Bears, both black and grizzly, live here and from what the ranger described about their habits, I pretty soon gathered that it's more of a challenge to manage people who are visitors than the wildlife whose habitat this is. Grand Teton NP has always had a very strict bear and wildlife policy for a good reason. Human contact will more than likely end a bear's life. Or as the ranger explained, we come and stay for a few days and leave.  But they have to deal with the aftermath of a bear that has discovered food left by humans and in all cases once the bear learns that humans are associated with food which is a reward, then the bear has had to be euthanized.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum of this wilderness area, Sacred Heart Chapel on the shores of Jackson Lake is a surprise. The building is now an historic site and a great example of a log cabin structure, originally built in 1937 with donated funds by the Catholic Extension Society and named "Our Lady of the Tetons". It was rebuilt in the 1960's, renamed "Our Lady of the Mountains", and then refurbished in 2002, and renamed "Sacred Heart Chapel". Regularly scheduled masses are held June through September.  I wondered how many Catholics actually live in the area to warrant this chapel.

It was also surprising to discover how active and busy the park was at this time of year. Being mid-September with schools back in session, most of the visitors are retirees. But there were also many folks from overseas. We heard French, German, Dutch (or was it Danish), saw many families from Asia, and two families with kids in tow we chatted with from Israel.  Our campground at Colter Bay was full every evening, a lot of the RVs being rented ones.  The roads were constantly busy as folks drove from one viewing area to another.

scene made famous by painter Thomas Moran: Teton Range with the Snake River

All told, we enjoyed three very full and active days of beautiful scenery. At Jenny Lake, a reader board had a quote by a surveyor from 1873: The views from the east shore of the lake are wonderfully grand. 
I would add that the views pretty much from any vantage point in the park are most definitely wonderfully grand. 

Tomorrow we move to Yellowstone National Park for the next 5 days.