2011. Our next destination was Antelope Flats Road so we could see Mormon Row. Some of the most famous and picturesque wooden cabins and farm buildings lay north of Antelope Flats Road, but Mormon Row proper, which lay to the south, also had structures of architectural note. All the best structures lay west of the road on the floor of the flat Snake River Valley. When we looked at them from the road, the Tetons were in the middle distance, thereby providing the perfect backdrop. In the valley itself, the Mormons had dug irrigation ditches about a century ago to carry water from the Snake River tributaries to the crops in their fields. The ditches still carried water.
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Visibility was outstanding. Puffs of white cloud progressed slowly across the blue sky. Wild flowers and butterflies were almost everywhere.
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Because Mormon Row was strung along a dirt and gravel road, it was quite easy to imagine what Snake River Valley looked like when pioneers, Mormon or otherwise, settled in the area in the 19th century. The road beside Mormon Row led to an asphalt road to the south, and the asphalt road led to the small settlement of Kelly. We drove north from Kelly and, after a few miles, rejoined Antelope Flats Road. Our circuit took us across gently undulating prairie where the grass fed elk, pronghorn deer and bison. One herd of bison comprised of about 50 bulls, females and calves. In all, we saw three herds of pronghorn deer. One herd of pronghorns had about 40 adults and fawns. A smaller herd of about 20 jumped a fence and, between passing cars, crossed the road in small groups.
2014. We next drove to Mormon Row. Mormon Row comprised of old buildings, most of which were wooden. They lay just to the west of a dirt and gravel road. When we stood on the road and faced west with the buildings in the foreground, the Tetons looked their very best. Thus positioned, we secured the views that were the most popular ones with people passing through the area.
We had visited Mormon Row three years earlier, but, because of the early morning light and experimenting with angles, a lot of new views opened up, although it was impossible to resist taking photos of the large old wooden barn that must feature in every collection of shots of the Tetons from Mormon Row.
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row was on Antelope Flats. When the Mormons first settled to farm the land, they dug irrigation ditches to carry water from the nearby creeks to their fields. Some of the irrigation ditches survived, one being in the vicinity of the buildings themselves.
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
We could not resist driving east and then south, thereby making our way back to the main highway through the national park via Kelly and the very pretty Gros Ventre River. It was while we were in the vicinity of Kelly that we saw a large herd of bison.
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
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