The Teton Range is one of the most magnificent mountain ranges on the
North American Continent. Others are longer, wider, and higher, but few
can rival the breath-taking alpine grandeur of the eastern front of the
Tetons. Ridge after jagged ridge of naked rock soar upward into the
western sky, culminating in the towering cluster of peaks to which the
early French voyageurs gave the name “_les Trois Tetons_” (the three
breasts). The range hangs like a great stone wave poised to break across
the valley at its base. To the south and east are lesser mountains,
interesting and scenic but lacking the magic appeal of the Tetons.
This is a range of many moods and colors: stark and austere in morning
sun, but gold and purple and black in the softly lengthening shadows of
afternoon; somber and foreboding when the peaks wrap themselves in the
tattered clouds of an approaching storm, but tranquil and ethereal blue
and silver beneath a full moon.
These great peaks and much of the floor of the valley to the east,
_Jackson Hole_ (a _hole_ was the term used by pioneer explorers and
mountain men to describe any open valley encircled by mountains), lie
within Grand Teton National Park, protected and preserved for the
enjoyment of present and future generations. Each year more than 3
million visitors come to the park. Many pause briefly and pass on.
Others stay to explore its trails, fish its streams, study the plants
and wildlife that abound within its borders, or to savor the colorful
human history of this area.
Most visitors, whatever their interests and activities, are probably
first attracted to the park by its unsurpassed mountain scenery. The
jagged panorama of the Tetons is the backdrop to which they may turn
again and again, asking questions, seeking answers. How did the
mountains form? How long have they towered into the clouds, washed by
rain, riven by frost, swept by wind and snow? What enormous forces
brought them forth and raised them skyward? What stories are chronicled
in their rocks, what epics chiseled in the craggy visage of this
mountain landscape? Why are the Tetons different from other mountains?