How did the ancient seas in Wyoming wind up at the top of the Tetons? Why do sagebrush thrive on the valley floor, but not steeper slopes?
A new, free mobile audio tour answers some of the deep curiosities found in Grand Teton National Park.
The “Geology Guide to Grand Teton” allows listeners to dig into 2.7 billion years of history while driving the outer park road between Jackson and Moran.
Alpine-based geologist Dominique Brough is the voice at the helm of the audio project.
Through grants from the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board (also a KHOL grantor) and Brunton, a compass company, the former Forest Service planner pulled the project together in a few weeks after a year of ideation.
She loves watching eyes fill with wonder when a listeners’ perspective shifts.
“That’s really exciting to have people start to piece together this really, really old story that’s hidden in plain sight,” she said.
Downloaded stories play via mobile phone based on GPS coordinates. They’re hosted on Wyoming-based audio tour company TravelStorys, where a growing repertoire includes at least 16 other tours in the Jackson Hole area and almost 40 in Wyoming. The online library includes free and low-cost tours triggered as the user moves through space.
“We really focus on delivering local, authentic stories,” said Larisa Bowen, director of marketing for TravelStorys.
Brough said the hope is for people to see geology as just one of earth’s many cycles and meant to compliment the National Park Service’s audio tours available on its free app.
“By having a little bit more appreciation for the environment around them, maybe [listeners will] want to steward these landscapes a little more too,” she said.
