[Al Skierkiewicz]

Wow,
Lot's of questions.
Yes we spent two days in the Tetons/Jackson Hole. Mountains are always overwhelming to someone from the flatlands. However the Tetons are very impressive for their stark lines and awesome beauty rising from the floor of the Jackson valley.
Best advice is to use the resources that are available when you go to a National Park. Look up ranger led walks, tours and talks. Ask for ideas at each ranger station/visitor center. By doing this, we saw a geiser erupt that the ranger hadn't seen erupt in 25 years in the park, we were told of the best place in the park to watch the sunset (Lake Butte Overlook, 800 ft. above Lake Yellowstone) and were led by a ranger off trail to a mudpot that appeared in 1973 as two little holes in the ground and today is about 30' wide and 120' down the side of the hill.
This picture is one of my favorite and resulted from a ranger suggestion. We went to the canyon early morning, (our arrival was delayed by buffalo on the road) which put the sun in front of the waterfall. We have a great picture already framed of this waterfall with a great rainbow. There was almost no one there and we didn't have to wait to get the picture right. At a later ranger lecture, we were told that this canyon, about 1500' deep, may have formed in less than 100 years due to an ancient Lake Yellowstone suddenly breaking through a dam (likely seismic related event) and washing through the softer rock below the falls. The canyon is about 26 miles long.