Wheels up at 7:30 AM from Idaho Falls to Grand Teton National Park. For some of our traveling companions it is their first visit to any National Park. In the case of Grand Teton patrons can thank Laurence Rockefeller. He bought up parcels of the land, a little at a time, under different names until he had enough to create the park. At the time there was plenty of local opposition to creating the park. There may still be some today in this region, but most local property owners are dependent upon park visitors for their incomes.
When the sun sets tonight I will probably get to see our purple mountain majesties. Right now the light is flat and not good for pictures. Former students should remember that.
When you visit the parks you can create a record of it. Each of the park gift stores carries something called the National Parks Passport. You collect the stamps of every park when you visit by stamping your book. Some tips can help you. There are scrap pieces of paper near the stamp and ink pad. That's so you can make sure the date is set correctly and that is it right side up when you stamp your book. Press down firmly and with some force. Here's Tom collecting his first stamp because you are never too old to visit the parks.
In honor of their benefactor the park created a special area, a sanctuary. It is remote. It does not have a large parking lot, by design. If you are willing to get out of your car and explore you get to see some spectacular beauty.
It turned out to be a more strenuous hike than even the younger members of our party courted, but we all managed with periodic breaks for water and just to look around.
Everyone wants to see bears. There are many of them in the park and we might see a couple before our stay is up, but there are also mule deer, moose and elk. A pair decided to graze in the late afternoon in the valley. The male dashed off into the trees, but the lady stuck around for several minutes.
Tomorrow we are going for a raft ride on the snake river and then a hike up to inspiration point.
Good stuff, keep it coming. That's a great picture of Jan. I would imagine that you're probably about a mile in altitude so if everybody's getting tuckered out, you can blame that, or maybe the three miles you decided to hike in !
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