We took one day out of our 9 days in Yellowstone National Park to go visit the Grand Teton and Jackson Hole. We didn’t have much time to explore but we saw the highlights of the Grand Teton and spent a little while walking around Jackson, not enough to know everything there was to do in town, but enough to get a feel of the place.

Grand Teton

Teton Range

It all started 13 to 17 million years ago when earthquakes along the Teton fault at the base of the range caused the mountains to rise and the valley floor to drop. The vertical displacement from the top of the mountains to the valley floor exceded 29, 000 feet. Most of this activity took place during the last two to five million years. Then glacial erosion formed the Teton landscape. Massive glaciers, some 3000 feet thick slowly filled the valley, eroded the mountains, then transported and deposited huge quantities of rock and glacial debris. The valley true floor lies 18, 000 feet below the surface we see today. Beautiful lakes formed at the base of the mountains.

Jackson Lake

Mount Moran supports five of the dozens of glaciers in the Teton range.

Jackson Hole

You can still go on a stage coach ride when in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

Our impression of Jackson Hole was of a very pretty western town, aimed at serving the tourists, with lots of colorful shops and restaurants.

Antlers Arch