The Tetons: Big, bold beauty

By LINDA LANGE
Scripps Howard News Service
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

People can tell you about the sheer immensity of the Teton Range. You can read about the massive mountains, but you will still be unprepared for the big, bold beauty of the place.

Gazing across a landscape of almost impossible purity, I feel overwhelmed by the jagged pinnacles, forested at their bases, snowy at their summits.

I'm standing where famed photographer Ansel Adams captured his iconic image of the Tetons. Looking west, the Snake River curves across the sagebrush plain, when suddenly the regal granite mountains rise nearly 7,000 feet. No foothills intervene to diminish the drama of the sharp skyline.

Adams captured the panoramic view and, once his photographs became widely circulated, inspired many people to treasure and preserve the wide, open spaces of the nation. Photographs such as the one taken at Snake River Overlook nurtured Americans' love affair with the national parks.

Earthquakes and glaciers sculpted this spectacular landscape. Sapphire-blue lakes hang like a necklace at the base of the mountains. Grand Teton National Park was established in 1929. In 1949, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated large land parcels to enlarge the park.

Its 310,000 acres encompass the Teton Range and a massive portion of Jackson Hole. Much smaller than neighboring Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park is unusual in several ways. Privately owned ranches and businesses remain inside its boundaries. It is America's only national park with a commercial jet airport.

We gain an intimate view of the Snake River by rafting a 10-mile stretch through the national park, putting in at Deadman's Bar and passing below the awe-inspiring overlook. Snowflakes dance through the air on this windy morning.

Our guide, Larry Frackenpohl of Solitude Scenic Float Trips, keeps the raft steady as we glide past high moraines. The wide river is in full spate, really flowing with runoff from melting snow. We spy a bald eagle hunched on a cottonwood and observe mergansers, kingfishers and a red-tailed hawk. Game trails crease sagebrush flats.

The river narrows and we enter a forest of cottonwood, lodgepole pine, aspen and blue spruce. Frackenpohl draws our attention to a mule-deer skull and rib cage. "He didn't make it through winter," Frackenpohl guesses. The river feels like real wilderness, seemingly untouched since the days of fur trappers. Gnawed trees and thick dams of sticks, stones and mud indicate a population of beavers.

The river expands into a braided configuration, creating a wetland habitat suitable for moose, elk, swans and cranes. "The water spreads out and shallows quite a bit," says Frackenpohl as he maneuvers around snagged logs. We end our journey near Menor's Ferry Historic Area. The weatherworn buildings date to early days of settlement.

We learn about Jackson Hole's first settlers at farmsteads on Mormon Row and Antelope Flats Road. Five families from Utah arrived in 1889 to establish ranches. They followed in the footsteps of early-19th-century fur trappers. On Teton Park Road, we visit the Cunningham Cabin. Homesteader Pierce Cunningham built his lodgepole cabin in the Appalachian dogtrot-style. The small, barebones building is one of more than 300 historic structures scattered across the valley. Bison and pronghorn herds graze on rolling plains. We watch moose at Oxbow Bend and the emerald-green marshes of Jackson Lake. Small crowds gather to observe a mother and calf at the willow flats near Jackson Lake Lodge. The popular accommodation overlooks the park's largest, glacier-scooped lake and is adjacent to the Colter Bay Marina.

Signal Mountain stands alone in Jackson Hole. From its summit we have 360-degree views across the mountain-ringed valley -- the Tetons sit to the west, the Absaroka Range to the north, the Gros Ventre Range to the east and Snake River Range to the south.

To feed our addiction for jaw-dropping sightseeing, we drive the one-way Jenny Lake Loop to the Cathedral Group Turnout. It faces Grand Teton, flanked by Mount Owen and Middle Teton, the three highest peaks in the Teton Range.

While much of the park can be enjoyed from roadside lookouts, we seek a change of pace and embark on a hike into the scenic heart of the 40-mile Teton Range. The Jenny Lake Trail follows the south edge of the steely gray lake and leads to Hidden Falls and Cascade Canyon. After about two miles, the roar of Hidden Falls breaks the peacefulness. We dawdle to snap pictures, but realize the afternoon light grows dim. On the return, the wind blows snowflakes. We pick up the pace and exit the evergreen forest at the Moose Ponds. A solitary moose lumbers through amber grasses.

The next day's hike is very different. The sun shines on our picnic along the shores of Colter Bay. We set off across aster and lupine meadows for a walk to Heron Pond and Swan Lake. The pond is absolutely still, except when flights of water birds flounce noisily from the water. Later we arrive at the Jackson Lake Lodge and join guests on the verandah. Quiet conversations go back and forth as everyone stares at the Teton peaks set against an electric-blue sky.

(Contact travel editor Linda Lange of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)