Grand Tetons 2

In the Grand Tetons and everywhere you look is a Kodak moment.  Jan went on a hike with Lazy Daze friend Jane.
Seeing some of her favorite Arrowleaf Balsamroot, she took this picture.

The visitor's center at Moose Junction was very informative.  We love watching the videos at the centers.  This one, like some other national parks, was made by Discovery Channel.

At the end of the great video, which gives a very good introduction to the park, the curtains open and the audience gets this view.

Displayed by the great fireplace, these antlers are much larger than they look in the picture.

This is a park for all kinds of outdoor activities. Lots of bike riding opportunities , including a 40 mile or so bike path--fairly level.  Kayaking, horseback riding, easy to extremely difficulty hiking and mountain climbing, river floating ,and white water river rafting.  Also, there is the Jackson Hole skiing in the winter.  They receive an average of 400 inches of snow each year. In 2011 they received over 700 inches of snow. This picture is from our hike around Jenny lake.

This is the Chapel of the Transfiguration, still a functioning Episcopal Church.  It was built in 1925 to save the long buckboard ride into Jackson.  It served the local ranchers and visitors to the dude ranches.  It is also used for weddings--you can see why.

The interior is very warm and welcoming.  We have visited a number of historic churches and chapels and there is a difference between those that are still used and those that are just maintained.

From where Jan is sitting, above, this is the view towards the altar.

Thought you might like this one , Joe.

Nearby was Menor's Ferry.  This creative wooden ferry was used to move people and goods across the Snake River.

Double click the picture for a better look.

Close by the ferry and the river was the old general store.  Inside was still set up like it would have looked in the early 1900's.  Including some nice old antiques from the era.

They were selling some great local jams, so I had to pick up some Wild Huckleberry.  It is absolutely wonderful.

The Snake River is a few yards from the store. This picture is from where the ferry is located during the summer months.

It is attached by lines to the cable you see and then maneuvered across the river in an efficient but unique pattern.

Here is a 1924 picture from an album inside the general store.  The Model T fits easily on the ferry.

Gee, Grandpa Maggs was about 10 years old when this was taken.

Some good examples of wagons used in the days of the early settlers as well as for the dude ranch visitors.

As beautiful as this area is, the ranchers had a hard time making a living. The summers were very short and the soil, though rich, was very porous, making farming very difficult.  Thus they began to work the tourist trade with dude ranches.  Some are still working today.

Early 19th century mountain men used these bullboats to float furs and cargo across the water.

From the Indians they learned to stretch the bison hides over a willow branch frame.

This cabin was built by Miss Maude Noble.

It was here on July 26, 1923, that a group of local citizens including Maude , presented a plan to the Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, to create the Grand Tetons National park.

You can imagine the group sitting around the fireplace that day.  They certainly discussed all the positive things about this area and then the importance of preserving it all for future generations.

We need to appreciate the national parks.  Jan and I are always impressed by the care taken by our ancestors to preserve these areas.  Traveling through the Grand Tetons, we are amazed by the natural scenery.  In New England, the lakes and forests would be mostly surrounded by thousands of private homes with all kinds of motorboats and other possessions to detract from the natural scenery.

Here it is just the lake, the forest, and the shoreline.
All of the shoreline is open to all visitors.

Here and there in the park are rangers who will answer questions.  On our hike around Jenny Lake, there was this display with a park ranger.

The skins were from two gray wolves.  Yes, one is almost black and the other was almost white. But, they are both gray wolves.

Again , double click on the picture to enlarge for a better look.

The ranger indicated that they would both have been about 140 pounds each.

In our campground at Gros Ventre, there were sightings of two different adult moose and their young.  But somehow, we kept missing them.

However, we would often catch this herd of buffalo or bison, as the American Buffalo is called.

Big animals, they were currently shedding their winter coats.  Also evident were the young calves.

You could see the herd on this huge meadow in the morning and then there would be no sign of them come evening.   You best keep your eyes open, because they would cross the road at any time or just stand in the road.

We also would see fewer pronghorn across the meadows.

They were hard to photograph. They were in places we couldn't stop. And once they moved, they were extremely fast.

We loved the Grand Tetons.  This picture is from the highway right where Ansel Adams took a famous black and white picture in 1942.  The Snake River winds its way in the foreground.

We plan to return.