Home»Sierras_DeathValley_Yellowstone_Superbloom»9/21-27/2024 Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Elko: Our Amazing Planet»9/22-25 Grand Teton National Park

While Yellowstone is geologically active today, the Grand Tetons freeze past geology. As evidenced by their rugged summits, the Grand Tetons are among the youngest mountains in the US, uplifting over the past 10 million years. (In comparison, the Rockies are 5-8 times older, and the Appalachians are over 300 million years old.) And the rocks lifted into the Tetons are some of the oldest in North America – the sharp summits contain 2.5 billion year old metamorphic rocks.

The Grand Tetons loom large beyond the lakes and flat plains in the park. Late-season boat excursions let us get closer. Jameson and I take a short walk up a rocky valley into the Tetons, behind Inspiration Point, bright fall foliage highlighting the bubbling creek eroding multicolored rocks. I am out of energy on the way back down: the beginnings of Covid?

We also make a pilgrimage to the Jackson Hole Lodge, where the US Federal Reserve holds annual retreats, here in fly-fishing country. We hang out at Glacier Point Lodge, and eat in Pioneer Grill, unchanged since the 1950’s modernist era -- Ben Bernake and Janet Yellin dined here too. The next morning, in search of Moose, we hike Moose Lake. No luck.