The Tetons are nothing if not craggy – unusually so, really – for the Rocky Mountains. The disconnect between the peaks' name and cold, stony reality was noted back in 1905:
I think that the man who gave them this name must have seen them from a great distance; for as we approach them, the graceful curvilinear lines which obtained for them this delicate appellation appear angular and ragged. From our present point of view the name seems a misnomer. If there were twelve of them instead of three, they might better be called the "Titans," to illustrate their relation to the surrounding country. He indeed must have been of a most susceptible nature, and, I would fain believe, long a dweller amid these solitudes, who could trace in these cold and barren peaks any resemblance to the gentle bosom of woman.
I first saw the Tetons in my mid-teens, and though I'd lived in the mountain West by then, I was unprepared for their cragginess and in your face! base-to-peak rise of about 7000 feet – it was the first time I can remember being truly awestruck by something. They were so high, and right there – foothills be damned. perhaps I'm just easier to impress than some (or most).
One thing I like about the highest peaks of the Tetons as subjects for photographs is the way they change shape as you travel up the length of Jackson Hole. Near the southern end, you get the more standard view, but as you travel northwards the peaks become more tightly grouped, and more precipitous.
These three peaks (Teewinot, Grand Teton, Mt. Owens) are the same as in the top image, but have quite a different character when seen from the north.
As afternoon wore on, clouds and haze started to reduce the quality of the view. We drove on; we needed to get to Mammoth Hot Springs before stopping, and I didn't want a repeat of the Sequoia experience.
[1] "The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870", 1905.
Posted by David Fleck at 21 February 2007 07:50 AM
Very cool, thanks.
Posted by: Jonathan on February 21, 2007 10:23 AM
Hey, nice Tetons.
I think that the man who gave them this name must have seen them from a great distance...
I think that the man who gave them this name must have been a lonely Frenchman.
[My original comment was dubbed too naughty by your filters. Tsk!]
Posted by: Angie Schultz on February 21, 2007 10:35 AM
Sorry about the spam filters. We undergo quite a barrage of comment spam, and we have to be ever vigilant. Sometimes innocent comments are caught in the crossfire.
Posted by: David Fleck on February 21, 2007 09:35 PM