Christmas 2011 was a special time in the Tetons. While the snow was nowhere near what it usually is, the frequent clear skies afforded more opportunities to watch that amazing spectacle of the first rays of sunlight turning the Teton peaks into a fiery glow of orange and red. It takes less than 15 minutes for the sun to light the entire mountain range after it strikes the first peak. On Christmas morning, the temperature was 21 degrees below zero with fierce winds. But that magical sunrise was followed by an even rarer treat: wolves running through the snowy fields after a night of hunting in the Gros Ventre river bottom, not far, ironically, from where the Teton park superintendent still strangely permits the hunting of elk.