Jackson Hole WY and Mormon Row

Well, I DID say we got a picture of a moose didn't I? Welcome to Jackson Hole WY.

Our take on JH...expensive town full of western goods to buy, buy, buy. Paintings, sculptures, fully stuffed (used to be living-really creepy) animals and/or their heads, restaurants that think a lot of their food with exorbitant prices, even though we didn't agree...low on quality and quantity, high prices.









Enough of that. They did have some cool, life like sculptures on the street to entertain us.

 Bob had a nice laugh with Ben Franklin. I thought they'd never stop talking!








Abraham Lincoln and I talked about his faith in God and how important it is to society.


The next morning we drove around the west roads parallel to the park. This is the side where the RV camping is and it is graced by a continuing plain.




Although this is in black and white, you can see the relatively flat plain for miles north, south and east from these mountain ranges. They call the area Antelope Flats.

Documentation for the area said there are thousands of elk that congregate here during the winter and in the spring when the males loose their antlers and the herds leave, the boyscouts walk around the grassy fields and pick up all the antlers to sell at an auction fund raiser. Pretty cool idea!



On this side of the park is Mormon Row. As the sign says, the Mormons came here in 1896 to establish a new colony. They worked together to build 27 homesteads and lived in the area until 1961. The remains of 9 homesteads still stand today.








This is the Moulton Family barn and is apparently the most photographed barn in the US. Around the 1960's the US government bought the land back from the settlers to incorporate it into the Grand Teton National Park.There is one acre that is still privately owned and worked.

I found a great website with the full history of Mormon Row. If you are interested, click here.





You can see how beautiful it all is. These buildings are still standing due to the efforts of volunteers to keep them in okay condition to view for history's sake. They are all over 100 years old.











Then we drove back toward the mountains to visit the historic Chapel of the Transfiguration. It is so named for the Luke 9:28-36 story in the Bible about Jesus.

There is a small bell tower entrance to the fenced area around the Chapel. Bob had to pull the chain for the bell. It works and is very loud!







The Chapel was built in 1925 and is constructed of lodgepole pine, with pews of quaking aspen, cut in the valley.






Above the altar is a plate glass window framing the Grand Tetons.Who needs a stained glass window when you can have the real thing?!

Then we drove back toward the mountains and Jackson Lake Lodge to see if any real moose were in the area before we needed to start driving north back to Yellowstone.