July 3, Grand Teton Nat'l Park

Hi everyone, We had a nice drive out of Rocky Mtn. and got into Teton around 12:00. It is a different feeling here even though it is still the Rockies. We drove into the park and visited Jackson Lake. It is a natural lake that was enlarged by a dam built before the park was established. When you see the lake, the background is the snow-capped Rockies and in front of those are the green mountains. It is a majestic sight! The prettiest scene we saw today. Then we drove to the Visitors Center and watched a movie describing the history of the park. A brief history, and I hope I don't bore you with all of this. The Teton range stands 7,000 ft. tall, above the valley floor making it one of the boldest geologic statements in the Rockies. The park itself is 465 square miles. It encompasses most of the Teton range and Jackson Hole. The Tetons rise through steep coniferous forest into alphine meadows. We saw so many wildflowers and wildlife. Moose, elk, deer were some of the wildlife. I was looking for bears but didn't find one. The Grand, Middle and South Tetons form the heart of the range. We drove to the King Ranch from the Southern entrance to Yellowstone, but didn't go through the entrance to Yellowstone. We will do that on Sunday. Of course we had to off-road a bit and found 3 roads to explore. It is wild in the forest and I mean wilderness. It was lovely and so fresh and piney. Tomorrow we will explore Jackson Hole. See you tomorrow