Touring the Wild, Wild West

The Grand Tetons, Snake River in the foreground

Fuji X-T20, Fujinon XC 50-230mm f4.8-6.3 OIS lens

 Louise and David in the Grand Tetons

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII lens

The Grand Tetons

On September 13, 2018 we left many of the sights in Yellowstone unseen, purposing to return when we could spend much more time, and followed the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway (U.S. Highway 191) south into the Grand Teton National Park, passing Jackson Lake and on down to the Jenny Lake area, where we set up camp in a National Park Service campground. There were no amenities except maybe water (don't remember for sure), but on the other hand the fee was only ten bucks a night.

There isn't much that can be said about the Grand Tetons that hasn't already been said countless times. Words like "spectacular" and "awe-inspiring" come to mind, but words are inadequate, as are my photos. You really have to see the mountains for yourself.

The Grand Teton range runs about 40 mile from north to south. Grand Teton, the highest peak in the range, is 13,770 feet high and almost 8,000 feet above surrounding terrain. However, it is actually only the second-highest peak in Wyoming, behind 13,810-foot Gannett Peak in the Wind River range southeast of the Grand Tetons.

After spending a comfortable night at our campsite enjoying the high-altitude cool night (no electricity for air conditioning and none needed), we spent some time driving around the area and looking at the mountains, then drove on down to Jackson.

Another view of the Grand Tetons

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII lens

 

We didn't spend much time in Jackson. It's basically a tourist town, sort of a Gatlinburg West. Taking Wyoming State Route 22 west, we pulled our travel trailer up and over the Teton Pass -- 8,500 feet and a 10% grade -- where our little truck proved itself valiant, although not mighty. Our destination was the Boise, Idaho area, where we planned to spend several days with our oldest granddaughter and her family.

Notes on the photos: I usually shoot both jpegs and RAW files in my digital cameras. The jpegs from my Fuji cameras are mostly excellent, and I use them whenever possible. I dislike the artificial look that over-processing can give. However, some photos do need extra help of the kind that can only be given through RAW processing. Case in point: there was haze in the air throughout much of the West that year because of forest fires in many places. The mountains in the first and second photos in this post were wrapped in a light haze, which I at least partially overcame by opening the RAW files in Capture One and cranking the Clarity slider all the way up. As you can see, it eliminated a great deal of the haze, especially in the first photo, where I applied more of the Clarity filter.

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(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)

Soli Gloria Deo 

To the glory of God alone