Grand Teton National Park
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| Grand Teton National Park. Click to go directly to the slideshow. |
Introduction
There's something unusual about the Teton Range, that's not readily apparent. There are really no foothills. The mountains just seem to spring up from the ground.The reason is, the Teton's didn't form like most mountain chains. There was a long crack in the earth, known today as the Teton Fault Line, and it lies at Eastern base of the mountain range.
Millions of years ago, the fault slipped. Big time. The West side of the fault uplifted thousands of feet, while the East side sunk around 13,000 feet. Geologists think at one time, the distance between the valley floor on the East side, and the mountain tops of the West side, could have exceeded 29,000 feet.
The Ice Ages had a profound effect on the Tetons, pushing and carving its way through the uplift on the Western side to create the mountain chain, while simultaneously filling in the East side with the material they carved from the West side.
For the curious, Jackson Hole was named by William Sublette in 1829, after his partner David E. Jackson. Originally named Jackson's Hole, it was shortened in the 1920's. (A "hole", by Sublette's definition, is a mountain encircled valley.)
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| This map was downloaded from the NPS site. |
Unfortunately, the first two times I've also treated Grand Teton as just an extension to the South Entrance Road of Yellowstone.
I fixed that in 2006, when I stayed in the park for three days and two nights. It's really a scenic and pretty unique place. That's the year I pretty much treated Yellowstone as an extension to the John D Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway...
A somewhat backdoor into the Southern part of the park, over Teton Pass.
Backside of the Tetons (In Idaho)
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| Teton Pass |
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| Entry sign |
Cunningham Cabin Historic Site
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| Entry sign |
Related Links
| Yellowstone National Park | |
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Yellowstone National Park tops my list of favorite parks. It doesn't matter if you want waterfalls, lakes, geysers, hot springs, river canyons, glacial valleys, mountain scenery, abundant wildlife, or interesting roads to drive, Yellowstone has all if it. Its world famous icons, such as Old Faithful, the Lower Falls and Mammoth Hot Springs, all point to a very angry Earth below the surface, a super volcano which has the potential to wipe out much of America. So enjoy the park while you can! |
| Northwest Wyoming, Idaho, Montana / 555 Images. Visited Sep 1998, Sep 2001, Jul 2006. | |
| US-89 | |
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US-89 is a remarkable road that follows some of the most scenic areas of the West from Canada to Arizona, and along the way passes through (or comes within a few miles of) over a half dozen major Western Parks. Glacier to Yellowstone to Grand Teton, Bryce, Zion, Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon. I've actually frequented this road quite a bit, but in a disjointed, non-continuous fashion. |
| Visited Various | |
| US-26 / Palisades Reservoir / Snake River / Jackson, Wyoming | |
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US-26 is the main way to get to the Southern Entrance of Grand Teton National Park, by following the Snake River from Idaho Falls to Jackson, Wyoming. There is a shorter, more direct route over Teton Pass, which also allows you to bypass Jackson should you wish. (Jackson is pretty much your best option for groceries, alcohol and food before entering Grand Teton, but it can be a madhouse during tourist season.) |
| Idaho / 21 Images. Visited Sep 1998, Sep 2001. | |
Grand Teton Trip Reports: Sep 1998, Sep 2001, Jul 2006.
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