Grand Teton National Park: Today we took a drive from the Moran Junction area east over Togwotee Pass to the little town of Dubois, and back. The fall colors were spectacular.
Let me share some local weirdness about how those two names are pronounced. The “w” in Togwotee is silent, so it’s said “TOG -uh-tee” with emphasis on the first syllable. No idea why.
Dubois is, of course, French, likely named by fur trappers who ranged these mountains for beaver pelts. Except WY locals pronounce it “DUE-boys” again with emphasis on the first syllable. You find examples of eccentric pronunciation all over the West.
Togwotee Pass is high for these parts, it goes up to nearly 10,000 feet. It is part of the continental divide that wanders across the region.
The pass doesn’t go above timberline however. There are conifers all the way to the top, but aspens stop perhaps a thousand feet below the summit.
When one crosses the pass going east the terrain changes dramatically. Suddenly there are red cliffs and hoodoos - oddly eroded rock chimneys. You could almost be in Arizona or Utah, I’m guessing the area is in rain shadow.
We looked at the Dubois region today and said, “This looks like Longmire’s Wyoming.” We were making reference to the TV series of that name which did most of its run on Netflix.
The DrsC are fans of Longmire, a modern western/police procedural featuring a small town WY sheriff, his 3 deputies, their reservation neighbors, and assorted ranchers and relatives. Consider this a review and go check it out, there were maybe 5 seasons best watched in sequence.
