Visiting Grand Tetons

This photo should say it all for why you’d want to visit the Grand Tetons! I’ve been to this beautiful range twice in my life, roughly ten years apart. Hopefully the next time I visit I won’t be so far away and actually will be standing on top of one of these mountains. The Teton range is relatively short in length, only 40 miles (65 kilometers long). This means you can drive past the entire range in just over 30 minutes! Despite the shorter length, the Grand Tetons have some of the most dramatic and beautiful mountain scenery in the United States.

Here are some close up shots of the Grand Teton’s two most famous mountains. The photo above shows the Grand Teton that the entire range is named after. This peak is just short of being Wyoming’s highest mountain at 13,775 feet (4,199 meters). The peak below is called Mt. Moran at 12,610 feet (3,840 meters). The steep and dramatic summits make summiting either mountain a technical challenge. Mt. Moran actually is a full adventure, due to the fact that there are no trails leading to the peak. You seriously have to spend a full day or two navigating through thick forest and brush to reach the base of the mountain. These two guys in the canoe below were just having fun, but believe it or not some find it easier to canoe to the peak’s base, reducing the bushwhacking before reaching the actual climbing part of Mt. Moran!

I made a huge mistake by not taking my tripod out here. One evening we had a beautiful sunset by the range, but my makeshift tripod of rocks and logs wasn’t cutting it! I did at least get a photo of these ducks passing by. I had hoped to include them in the photo with the mountains in the background but no such luck!

If you’re wondering how I visited the most beautiful mountain range in the United States twice and walked away with only ten photos you’re not the only one. I obviously didn’t do any serious hiking or climbing here, but on the trails that I explored I hardly took any photos for some reason. There are a lot of birds of prey here, but all I was able to get were these common birds seen all over the country. Moose, elk, bear and other animals are frequently seen in the park, so I’ve certainly failed with my wildlife photography here!

These two photos taken along the trail show some of the flowers and bright moss I saw. It seems this moss is popular in the northwest at altitudes over 5,000 feet (1,500 meters).

The Grand Tetons are a relatively small park, and I’d say for most people visiting the spectacular scenery is what makes this trip. Most visitors will likely stay here a day or two, and enjoy kayaking, fishing, wildlife watching, or the hiking trails. For those that want a true climbing adventure, the mountains here are some of the best in the continental United States, with an almost unlimited amount of exposure and technical challenges!