Post #4: Jackson Hole Wildlife... & Some Avalanche Training

After Bozeman, my next stop on my journey was Jackson, Wyoming. I would spend the next five days there—two of them simply exploring Grand Teton National Park and the town, and three of them participating in an avalanche safety and rescue course. While wandering around, I found many photography galleries and spoke with some of the photographers whose work was displayed. Whereas in Vermont you’d be lucky to see a fox or a deer, Jackson is a magnet for wildlife photographers; seeing a moose, bison, or elk is simply a daily occurrence there for most people! The photographers I met were more than happy to speak with me about what it took for them to be able to support themselves full-time by photography; to say they all inspired me to get out in the field with my camera would be an understatement (see slides below).

My first full day there, I drove out on the road running through the park and was amazed at how many large animals I saw right next to the road. Right off the bat, I could see the gigantic wintering herd of elk on the refuge, as well as some on the hillsides on the other side of the road. Ten minutes later, I passed an area where about twenty cars were pulled over photographing moose—there were about five of them within a mile-long stretch of road all at once, something which would be an extremely rare if not impossible sight back home in the east (slides again!).

The time not spent wandering Jackson Hole in search of photography subjects was spent mostly with my avalanche safety group—five other students and an instructor. The mountains of GTNP were our playground during the course; we spent a good chunk of time backcountry hiking, then planning the safest route to ski down while paying attention to avalanche traps and high-risk areas. A standout moment for the course was standing atop the mountain next to the Grand Teton; we stood gazing across the valley after our last ascent through the aspen forest. From that perspective, everything seemed so tiny and insignificant at the same time that the vast wilderness stretching around us seemed so extraordinary.

Grand Teton National Park was founded in 1929, but it belonged to the wild far before western society ever decided to put a label on it and claim it as our own. Standing on top of that mountain, I thought about how different the park must have been after Europeans started moving out west and hunting all the wildlife to near-extinction. Back then it would have been rare to see any great animals such as the bison, but thanks to years of protection under the parks system, the bison in this park number around 1,000. During my time in the Tetons, I was lucky to see a small herd of bison standing atop a ridgeline near the highway; a line of cars parked along the side of the road had given their position away. They are one of the most popular sights for tourists and locals alike—even with the occasional bison traffic jam.

There are many draws to the park—an abundance of wildlife, impressive terrain for avid backcountry hikers and skiers, picturesque mountains framing the setting sun—but none of them would be there if not for the park’s work to preserve and protect the wild terrain and all the animals who call it home.

On my last night in Jackson Hole, I pulled off into a scenic parking lot alongside the road running through the park. Leaning against my parked car, I observed the sun setting over the impressive mountain range rising before me. Despite the cool wind biting at my face, I was not deterred from my station until the sun had dipped below the horizon. As I at last receded into the warmth of my car to begin the drive back to town, a pair of coyotes darted across the road in front of me. Together they loped across the packed-snow landscape, pausing only briefly to glance in my direction—one last nod from the Wyoming wildlife.