Cascade Canyon

Cascade Canyon. Grand Teton National Park. , Jagged peaks tower above Cascade Canyon reminding us that powerful Pleistocene glaciers carved this canyon and sculpted this range. From the shores of Jenny Lake, venture through forest communities, wetlands along Cascade Creek, high meadows filled with wildflowers, and up to the rocky windswept slopes of the alpine community. Both forks of the Cascade Canyon once held glaciers. Schoolroom Glacier clings to a cliff at the head of the south fork, while Lake Solitude fills a glacial cirque at the head of the north fork., Alpine conditions are harsh. During the brief summer, splashes of colorful wildflowers accent bare rock. Winter brings deep snow, sub-zero temperatures and winds gusting to more than 100 miles per hour., < Sidebar : > , American Pika , Many animals migrate or hibernate during winter, but pikas gather grass during summer to store as haystacks under rocks for winter forage. Yellow-bellied marmots, however, hibernate up to nine months of the year., Alpine Forget-me-not , Small, dense mounds of cushion plants grow slowly between rocky outcrops storing nutrients for years before blooming.