Depaul Travel

Archive for August, 2011

The Grand Tetons – Norman A. Rubin

(As one enters Grand Teton National Park the landscape can be overwhelming. The magnificent mountain range, as well as its historical background, captures the hearts of many, young and old.)

Standing on the edge of a rocky ridge, the mountain man squinted as he searched and studied the wide horizon. There in his sight were the peaks of the Grand Tetons cleared of their winter covering. The trapper threw off his furry cap in the air, and hallooed as loud as his voice can echo through the valley below.

Then the mountain pulled back from the edge of the ridge, lifted his trusty musket and pointed the barrel into the air and fired a shot. Soon returning halloos and shots were echoing over the valleys. Summer has come to the Rockies, and the mountain men gathered for another rendezvous.

One hundred and fifty years ago, when the fur trade was at its height, every mountain man would gather at the beginning of summer at a prearranged place under the Teton peaks.(1) There they would gather, barter the furs from the winter trapping, trade with local Indian tribe, swap yarns and gossip, and have one heck of a roaring time before heading back to the beaver streams for another lonely and long winter season.

Those spots for a mountain rendezvous were customarily held in a wide sheltered valley under the Teton peaks that was rich in water and game and with easy access through mountain trails. Such valleys were termed ‘holes’ by the mountain men; the one well known and popular with those grizzled trappers and trader was ‘Jackson’s Hole’, named after the famous mountain man Davy Jackson. (2)

But the valleys within the range have serious drawbacks. The mountain passes connecting the valleys are snowed in most of the year, and the wild and roaring Snake River coursing through the area is dangerously unpredictable, full of hidden rocks and sinkholes. As for farmers to plow the land or graze cattle, the soil is too rocky and there is little pasture during the winter months.

“Teton mountain range real wealth does not lie in furs, crops or cattle, but in the awe-inspiring scenery, especially the three peaks known as South, Middle, and Grand Teton.

‘Jackson Hole’ as it’s know today, is located at the Wyoming Teton Mountain Range just south of the Yellowstone National Park and has been one the crossroads of the west since prehistoric times. Blackfoot, Crow, Gros Ventre, and Nez Perce were among the Indian tribes that spent their summers there and frequently fought each other for the control of the valley’s vast herds of game roaming the pastures.

The Indians called the three peaks guarding the valleys “The Three Brothers’ or the ‘The Three White-haired Fathers’, or simply ‘the Pinnacles’. But the early French-Canadian voyageurs thought they looked like breasts, and they called these mountains them ‘Les Trois Tetons’, which means that in French and the name stuck and remained ‘The Tetons’ to this very day.

The Tetons rise so abruptly from the valley below that it is hard to believe they are actually mountains and not some skillfully artistic backdrop. Formations like these are the result of a geological movement called ‘slippage’. When pressure builds up along a fault line through the years, two rock faces slip past each other. One formation moves upward and the other move downward, creating mountains range. This is how the Teton mountain range was formed over five million years ago, which makes them comparatively young in geological terms.

Today the sharp crags and the sheer faces of the Teton Peaks provide and exciting challenge for mountain climbing enthusiasts. Visitors to Grand Teton National Park can take exciting rafting or kayak trips down the swift Snake River, or climb into a saddle for a pack trip into back country, with its spectacular scenery and the presence of great herds of elk and mule deer.

There’s a rendezvous in Jackson Hole every summer, and you’re invited. See you there!

NOTES:

1) With the decline of the fur trade and the passing of the great Indian tribes, Jackson Hole was largely abandoned except for a few homesteaders and other citizens who found the valley’s isolation to their liking.

2) The Snake River connected with the Columbia, Missouri River systems provided a convenient highway across the Rockies as far west as Oregon for the beaver hunters.

SIDEBAR:

“Located in northwestern Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park protects spectacular mountain scenery and a diverse collection of wildlife. The central feature of the park – the Teton Range — is a 40-mile-long mountain front rising from the valley floor some 6,000 feet. The towering Tetons were formed from earthquakes that occurred over the past 13 million years along a fault line. The jagged range includes its signature peak – Grand Teton, 13,770 feet (4,198 m) – and at least twelve pinnacles over 12,000 feet (3,658 m). Seven morainal lakes adorn the base of the range, and more than 100 alpine lakes dot the backcountry.

Elk, moose, mule deer, bison and pronghorn, are commonly found in the park. Black bears roam the forests and canyons, while grizzlies range throughout more remote portions of the park. More than 300 species of birds can be observed, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons and trumpeter swans."

National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior

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Your summer can hardly be considered complete with out a summer road trip. Here’s a list of ten things you cannot leave home without, and one bonus item you just might find revolutionizes your time in the car!

1. Music. happy, adventurous music that will keep you moving down the road. Bring CDs, your ipod, satellite radio, whatever it takes to keep you grooving all the way there.

2. A DVD player with kids’ choice movies. If you have kids in the back, this is really a must! I tend to limit my kids’ movie watching to half the trip or two movies, whichever is less. Really, after two movies, they are bored of watching TV anyway, so they end up fighting. When we’re not watching a movie, we play the license plate game, the alphabet game, read books, color, and tell jokes.

3. Good maps of your destination and roads along the way. Remember road trip season is also road construction season, so be prepared to navigate any detours with current maps of the area. Plus, you may find a scenic byway or other alternate route, but may not have time to risk ending up way out of the way.

4. Books on tape. For kids, or adults, books on tape allow you to be entertained together while still keeping an eye on the scenery.

5. A well stocked emergency kit and first aid kit. Don’t let a flat tire or cut finger ruin your trip. You might be able to help someone else out too. Remember to carry some food and water (for the people and the engine) plus an emergency blanket or two in case you are stranded for any reason.

6. A car ready for the road–be sure to have all your fluids (oil, power steering, windshield wiper, and antifreeze), your tire pressure, and your battery checked before you leave for any extended driving tour. Check your wiper blades, and replace them if needed. Have your tires rotated or replaced, if necessary. Check that your spare tire is inflated, and that all the pieces to your jack are in place.

7. Your cell phone and charger…duh.

8. Munchies. Whether the person sitting shotgun is passing out sandwiches from the cooler between the front seats or you stop and get out to eat at a restaurant, there is nothing like red vines and M and Ms to calm the road tripper’s restless soul.

9. A Camera. Of course you’ll take pictures once you get there, wherever there is, but don’t forget to take pictures along the way– at Tree in the Rock, Wyoming, standing on the Four Corners, in front of the giant thermometer at Death Valley, or wherever else you find yourself stopping to use the bathroom, buy more munchies, or just to stretch your legs.

10. Antibacterial hand wipes. If you’re traveling with kids, wipes are an obvious must, but even without kids, you are going to want to clean your hands after using that nasty gas station bathroom, or worse, an outhouse somewhere with no running water. Studies have shown that washing your hands is the number one way to keep yourself from getting sick, and let’s face it, no one wants to be sick on the road.

Finally, I add a bonus, the number 11 must have for a successful road trip; it’s something you may not have even thought about, but I think it could revolutionize your highway travel: the hitch mounted cargo carrier. I have to say that I have taken many a trip with my foot well and arm space crowded with things that wouldn’t fit in the trunk or the back of the van, and that’s not in the plan for the perfect road trip. Consider for a moment the ease and utility of a rack mounted to the rear hitch of your vehicle where you could put 3 or 4 suitcases, a cooler, most of your camping supplies, skis, bikes, even a motorcycle. You’re smiling right now, just thinking how convenient that would be. So, gather these essentials, and have a great trip! Wherever you’re going, may your road be smooth, your scenery amazing, and your companions worthy.