“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” -John Muir

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Hanging with the Rockefellers

We walked where financial giants once came to get away from their stressful NYSE jobs. Yes, when he wasn't venturing in capital, Laurance Rockefeller (son of John D.) was hiding out at JY Ranch beneath the Tetons, along the beautiful shores of Phelps Lake. He and his descendants had the foresight to make the gorgeous space available to the National Park Service so others could enjoy. Their generosity helped to open the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center in June. Over the last four years the family moved more than half of their 30 buildings/homes to property elsewhere so the Center could be built.
Jason looks out at Phelps Lake from a rock off Huckleberry Point.
We had hiked to Phelps Lake from the other side at the summer's beginning, but the Preserve Center's offerings were the Cadillac of hiking trails and facilities. It also has the "greenest" parking lot and restroom facilities we had ever seen. There was reserved parking for hybrid cars. The bathrooms have composting toilets and solar roofs. 

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