Jackson Hole & Grand Tetons - Grand Teton National Park

In Wyoming at least, "Hole" is another word for valley first applied in this case in the 1820's by trappers or mountain men coming from the north and east who felt they were descending into a hole. Thus, Jackson (named after one of those early trappers, David Edward "Davy" Jackson who may have been the first white man to winter in the valley) Hole is the Snake River valley in the middle distance at the left of the frame with Tetons rising on the horizon to the right. Wildflowers, mostly varieties of thistle and daisies decorate the foreground. Notice the slight downward angle of the valley floor from left to right which illustrates the geological process still at work along the Teton Fault at the base of the mountain range where the plate of the valley actually is sloping down and under that of the Tetons pushing up and over. Photo was taken from the Emma Matilda overlook on Signal Mountain (7,593 feet or 2314m) and the view is to the southwest.


Submitted to the August, 2017 Contest Without Prize, theme "Summer Landscapes" as entry #33.