Spring brings a freshness to the air, the colors, and the young life that is making its way into the world. Here are a few of my favorite landscape photographs from this spring. There is a separate page devoted to the wildlife.
Morning alpenglow above the Teton range while the wildlife that make Willow Flats their home make their retreat.
Sunrise has colored the Teton range in a warm bath of light across the almost-still waters of Jackson Lake.
After a winter of above-normal snows, the spring melt has now restored Jackson Lake. But even by mid June, significant snow remains on the Teton range that glistens in the morning light.
Mount Morran, named after Thomas Moran, stands more than 12,000 feet tall, still deep in snow.
Thoreau was right: "We need the tonic of wildness".
Located below Leigh Lake, the mile and a half long but shallow String Lake sits below the Teton range and is a popular place for a picnic, a canoe ride, or sometimes in the fall to spot a bear feeding on the blueberry bushes that grow along the shore.
Cascade Canyon and Jenny Lake were formed more than 12,000 years ago when glaciers carved the canyon, creating a moraine that now impounds the lake.
The last remnants of a slow-moving storm struggle to clear the high peaks of the Teton range.
The above-average snows of last winter have given way to exceptional runoff, swelling Cascade Creek as it tumbles through the canyon and over Hidden Falls.
Cascade Creek twists, turns and tumbles. through Cascade Canyon, finally making its way to Hidden Falls just above Jenny Lake.
Morning fog provides a soft blanket over this meadow of lupines and wildflowers.
Even in mid June there remains a decidedly wintry feel to the upper realms of the Teton range.
As colorful as autumn aspen, the early spring green leaves create a beautiful, gentle contrast to the aspen's white trunks.
There are so many reasons to hike and explore but one of the easy ones is that it can bring you to views and perspectives that you just cannot get otherwise. I am not sure this trail qualifies as getting off the beaten path, except for the short bushwack to reach the shore,
A line of cottonwoods show off their late spring early green leaves in the fields near Moulton Barn.
In a world turned dark and stormy, around the bend and over the rise was this rainbow, stretching up to the heavens, catching a bare ray of solitary light, silhouetting the pines on yonder ridge and reminding us of the promise.
The early green leaves of late spring seem to glow on the aspen grove that lines the western shore of Oxbow Bend.
Jackson Lake has filled again as winter's snows melt. The overnight winds have grown still and summer clouds float over the Tetons and to the expansive valleys below. Every mountain detail reflects in sparkling perfection. For what seemed like an eternity we laughed and danced the warm days of summer away on the shores of lakes just like these, breathing the spirit of summer love.
Filled again by winter's melt, Jackson Lake has been restored to its glory, especially spectacular this late spring morning as puffy white clouds and the Teton range reflect in its calm water.
These are the scenes that draw us into nature's embrace, when the winds grow calm and the waters still, faint wisps of fog rise above the still cool bow of this river's passage, five ducks paddle in oblivious focus and the morning sun finds its opening and bathes the great Mount Moran in her warming light.
Wisps of fog lift above the slow-moving waters at Oxbow Bend.
Geese, mallards, beaver, fish, other waterfowl and moose make these beaver ponds their home, adding to the sense of spirituality that these calm waters and enchanting views instills.
The beaver ponds at Schwabacher Landing afford numerous opportunities to witness the early morning reflections of the Teton range.
Schwabacher's Landing consists of a series of ever changing beaver ponds and channels with exquisite views of the Teton range often reflecting in the still waters.
A strong thunderstorm has been building for much of the afternoon and it now begins to approach the wildflower-covered meadows near Pilgrim Creek.