Grand Teton

I'm told that President Roosevelt once said about the Grand Tetons "this is what mountains should look like". I have to agree. It's not the biggest, or the tallest mountain range in the world by any means, but its's certainly dramatic, steep and jagged - and comes with snow on top.

I had a tour of the Grand Teton National Park yesterday with an extremely enthusiastic and rather over qualified guide (Degree in the history of the Grand Teton and Yellowstone). Apart from seeing the obvious sights and some wildlife I've learnt a lot about the life of the original settlers in this area. And that is - it was difficult. Homesteaders, once they'd been allocated their land and built somewhere to live on it, had to stay for five years and make improvements to and money from their land. This was something of a challenge, given that the growing season around here lasts less than three months. Oats is pretty much the only thing that anyone grew successfully, but there's only so many oats people need. Cattle ranching was another option, and a popular one - this is deepest cowboy country, but life on a ranch was hard and the markets for cattle vast distances away. Infact, despite the natural beauty, it was an unpopular place to settle until someone realised that city folk would pay good money to come and see it. And here I am.

I haven't seen anything that might want to eat me yet, but I have got pretty close to a moose and some buffalo:

Thankfully my bag has turned up and I now have clothes and things. On to Yellowstone tomorrow.