Immediately adjacent to the Grand Teton National Park is a wilderness area that was formally established only 30 years ago.
A paved road from the east edge of Teton park leads into Gros Ventre (“groh-VAHNT”) Wilderness and provides comfortable access to many spectacular views of the area.
Our misfortune was to pick a day to visit when a quick storm blew up…just as we ran out of pavement…and the gravel road that continued into the wilderness area had substantial clay content, which made for treacherous driving along sheer cliffs above Lower Slide Lake!
Still, we got a nice taste for this special area….and managed one photo before the rain hit!
On our way back down into Teton park, we passed this little clearing and its three little structures. It was actually sprinkling, so I was moving fast to get these shots, but I never saw any description about their history.
It seems the walls were fairly sturdy, but the builder’s roofing skills needed more work…
By the time we got back into the park, the storm was gone and the sun was shining brightly again! We crossed Cottonwood Creek as it ran from the south end of Jenny Lake.
The interesting part about the park is how it came to be. The Rockefellers after working behind the scenes to acquire the land for Smokey Mountains Natl. Park sent a team to the area that would be the park, using a number aliases they acquired the park land in total secrecy all the while working to get Congress to adopt the place. A masterpiece of Noblesse Oblige if there ever was one. Cannot even imagine what the paper value of the park is today but it would threaten the National Treasury! If only some of our new “Robber Barons” had even a small amount of the charitable urge these folks had what a great country we would have! Blessings…In His Service…T.L.Crowl