Friday, September 2, 2011

Yellowstone to Grand Tetons to Montpelier, ID


When we got up this morning, it was 30 degrees outside and we noticed the water in the hose was frozen when we unhooked it from the trailer.  We left Yellowstone today to drive through Grand Tetons National Park.  The Grand Tetons, with their tall, craggy mountain tops, are a very different look from the Yellowstone Mountains.  We caught one last picture of a waterfall as we left Yellowstone!

It was interesting to learn how the Tetons came to be a national park.  The mountains were declared a National Park very early on, but the valley around them was getting very developed.  John D. Rockefeller visited the area in 1926 and was dismayed by this, so he bought up much of the valley at the base of the mountains with the goal of donating them to the park system.  He offered them to congress, but because of political fighting, the donation was not accepted until about 10 years later, after Rockefeller threatened to sell the area.  The President declared the valley a National Monument (Monuments only need the President’s decree, but National Parks need votes from Congress) because he wanted to protect the area, and Congress tried to stop that as well.  Eventually the donation was accepted and thankfully we have the Grand Tetons National Park with mountains and valleys.

We stopped to look into the Teton Lodge because we heard about the view of the Range from inside it.  Rockefeller had the Teton Lodge designed so that the windows in the main room would have the best  view of the Teton Range.  It is a breathtaking view.  While we were there, people from the Teton Wildlife Refuge brought some birds to talk about them.  They brought a rescued Red Tailed Hawk and a Great Horned Owl.  The Kestrel Falcon they also brought was one of the handler’s hawks (she is a registered falconry hunter).  The Red Tailed Hawk became a little nervous and tried to escape, while weighing only 3 ½ lbs, she managed to drag her very heavy platform about 5 feet.

We stopped by Jenny Lake in the Tetons with a beautiful view of the mountains across the lake and we visited Menor’s Ferry where they have a replica of the ferry used to transport people and their belonging across the Snake River.  People on foot received free passage, because Menor believed if they could not afford a horse, they would be unable to afford the fare and he wanted people to be able to cross and help settle the area.

As we left the park, we stopped at the Chapel of the Transfiguration.  It had a view of the range through its window to equal the view at the Teton Lodge.

We had to take another picture of the Antler arches in Jackson, WY as we drove through.  We got to our campground at a reasonable hour and had a campfire and S’mores for dessert, the first time we were able to stop for the day before 7pm in about 5 days.

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