The steep, rugged mountains of the Teton Range give way to the morainic landscape of the valley, which is dotted with glacial lakes of varying sizes.
Teton Reflections on Water
Category Archives: Travel
Teton Reflections
Bodies of water at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming provide ample places to capture reflections of the Teton Range – whether clear or hazy
Teton Landscape
The Tetons are one of the youngest mountain ranges in North America. They have been uplifting for less than 10 million years, making them “adolescent” mountains, as compared to the “middle-aged” Rockies (50-80 million years old) or the “elderly” Appalachians (more than 300 million years old).
Most of the lakes in the park were formed by glaciers and the largest of these lakes are located at the base of the Teton Range
Snake River Bend at Teton Range
The Snake River floats around a bend in Grand Teton National Park with tranquil panoramas of the jagged adolescent peaks of the Teton Range in the background.
Snake River at Grand Teton
The Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming is a special stretch of gorgeous river. Most rivers that cut through scenery like Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming move so fast, it leaves you wanting more.
Glimpse of Snake River at Teton Range
The headwaters for the Snake River are in the Teton Wilderness just outside of Yellowstone National Park. After flowing into Yellowstone briefly, the river cuts through Grand Teton National Park, across Idaho and flows into the Columbia River in Washington.
Clouds Over Tetons
Instead of snow, clouds hover over the Teton Range making the mountains seems softer at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Grand Teton’s Mormon Row
Grand Teton’s Mormon Row Historic District is one of the most visited sites in Jackson Hole due to its historic relevance and undeniable beauty. Part of the National Register of Historic Places, the historic district is one of the country’s best representations of an early 1900s western farming community.
Iconic Barn at Grand Teton
The T.A. Moulton barn is an iconic structure in Jackson Hole. The view with the barn in the foreground and the Teton Range as the backdrop is one of the most photographed locales in the valley. Thomas Alma (T.A.) Moulton was among the people who moved to the area in the early 1900s. He spent more than 30 years constructing a barn that still stands today. It’s all that remains of the homestead he and his sons built.
Grand Teton National Park
Rising above a scene rich with extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain, the Teton Range stands as a monument to the people who fought to protect it. These are mountains of the imagination. Mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming where you can explore over two hundred miles of trails, float the Snake River, and enjoy the serenity of this remarkable place.
While snow laden mountains look spectacular, the beauty of the ranges in September is remarkable. Will be posting images from there.
Yellowstone – Rainbows at Old Faithful
The vapor of Old Faithful’s eruption at Yellowstone and a bright sun form a rainbow further beautifying the world famous geyser. There is an illusion of two rainbows in the first image – one in the geyser and another one against the blue sky.
Old Faithful at Yellowstone
Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent and somewhat predictable eruptions, which number more than a million since Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872. Old Faithful can vary in height from 100-180 feet with an average near 130-140 feet. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes.
Here is a sequence of images depicting a dormant Old Faithful to eruption and then cool down ……
Yellowstone – Blend of Colors
The colorful landscape of Yellowstone National Park is unique and draws visitors from all over the world.
Yellowstone – Colorful Prismatic
The iconic image of Yellowstone is an expansive spring with rainbow-like colors radiating from its center, dominated by a fiery orange hue at its edges. Though these dazzlingly painted hot springs seem fit only for picture books, their colors come from very real, and very earthly, microscopic creatures.
Hiding out in the park’s hot springs — where temperatures are high enough to blister your skin and as acidic as liquid in a car battery — are heat-loving microbes. And they’re thriving. Where you see rings of color, there are, most of the time, rings of different bacteria, each group adapted to the conditions, such as temperature and pH (how acidic a solution is) of their environments.
Yellowstone – Prismatic Creation
Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal basins come from thermophiles—microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions! —that they appear as masses of color.
Yellowstone – Grand Prismatic
Old Faithful may be more famous, but the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring is the most photographed thermal feature in Yellowstone. That’s because of its crazy-bright colors and enormous size. The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
While we were there, steam covered the Grand Prismatic and did not reveal its brilliant colors, but adjoining springs were equally colorful and will be posted next.
Yellowstone – Colorful Mud Formations
Best known for its stunning display of vivid color, Yellowstone National Park is an undoubted national treasure. The reds, yellows and browns of the mud in the images below are derived from oxidation states of the iron in the mud.
Abstract Art of Nature at Yellowstone
Amazingly vibrant color, more than any other single thing, is what puts Yellowstone in a league all by itself. Here is an example of abstract art created by natural living organisms.
Yellowstone – Excelsior Geyser Crater
Excelsior Geyser Crater is a 200 x 300 foot crater that constantly discharges more than 4,000 gallons of water per minute into the Firehole River.
In Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, Excelsior Geyser and Sapphire Pool in Biscuit Basin have exceeded Steamboat in size.
Yellowstone – Boardwalks
Every year, thousands of pairs of feet anxiously scurry across more than 14 miles of Yellowstone National Park’s iconic, wooden boardwalk system, eager to ferry their owners to an up close and personal glimpse of hundreds of natural hydrothermal springs and geysers.
Photos by Ravi 