Monday, July 5, 2004
Grand Teton National Park and Holiday Fireworks
After breakfast, we board comfortable motorcoaches, with adequate legroom even for tall passengers, for the trip from Idaho Falls to Jackson, Wyoming (formerly Jackson Hole). Connie, a high school teacher from West Yellowstone, is our narrator as we drive over the scenic Teton Pass, elevation 8431 feet. “These are the youngest mountains in the Rockies,” she explains, “which is why they are so steep and jagged.”
After a buffet luncheon at the Museum of Wildlife Art, some of the passengers take a float trip on the Snake River. The rest of us explore the museum. We discover a haunting Charles Russell original painting, “To the Victor Go the Spoils”, involving a conflict over an elk kill between a grizzly bear and a pack of wolves, under a rising full moon. Since 66 Canadian wolves were re-introduced to Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana a few years ago, they have multiplied into a 600-strong species which makes this old painting quite up-to-date! It has also resulted in a controversy between long-time resident ranchers, whose livestock are at risk, and wealthy, environmentally-minded newcomers from out of state.
Connie says, “The billionaires are coming in to buy out the millionaires, and the local working-class residents are forced to move as far away as an hour’s drive from their jobs in Jackson.” (We observed the same phenomenon in Telluride, Colorado, on our Durango & Silverton caboose journey last July).
Grand Teton National Park is a wonderland of lakes, streams, verdant meadows, and a fantastic, 40-mile-long mountain range, the Grand Tetons, with granite peaks thrusting up as high as 13,770 feet. Air, washed crystal-clear by last night’s thunderstorm, and a balmy 67-degree temperature make this pretty close to paradise. We stop at Jenny Lake, in an alpine setting, and observe the small ferry boats taking hikers across to a wilderness trailhead.
On our return drive to Jackson, we stop at the Episcopalian Church of the Transfiguration, which with its backdrop of the Grand Teton Range. This must be one of the most beautiful settings of worship to be found anywhere in the world.
Back in Jackson, our overnight stop is at the Snow King Resort, at the bottom of the Snow King Mountain ski lifts. The lifts are in use this summer for strong-hearted adventurers who take a toboggan-like “grass slide” back down. Some members of our group stroll or take the shuttle to downtown Jackson for the shopping and other amusements, including the Million Dollar Saloon, where drinks are served at the bar where you sit on a saddle! Needless to say, some were saddle sore after an evening of imbibing.
After dinner at the hotel, we are delighted to learn that a fireworks display, which had to be cancelled last night due to a hail and lightning storm, is rescheduled tonight at 10 PM on the mountainside right outside our hotel window! The show begins after dark with many new, high-tech explosions, and vivid color combinations. What better way to wrap up the Fourth of July Holiday Weekend.
Tomorrow, we visit Yellowstone.
