Both Joan and I have a great love for the mountains and rivers and deserts of the American west. I suppose this came from our childhoods. When I was between ten and fourteen or so, my parents would often take my brother and I on a series of wonderful summer vacation trips to the great National Parks of the West. Since we lived in Wyoming, one of the places we often visited was Grand Teton National Park. I can still remember one magic morning when we got up very early to go on a hike. We were walking around Jenny Lake shortly after dawn. I've been back to the Tetons every year of my life since, except for a couple of years that I spent in the army. The Tetons and many other of the Great National Parks of the American West have become a central and enduring part of my life.