ROAD TRIP YELLOWSTONE by DINA MISHEV

Author:DINA MISHEV
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press

DRY STONE CONSERVANCY

Most of the trails around Jenny Lake, the single busiest spot in Grand Teton National Park and at the mouth of Cascade Canyon, were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 1930s. The CCC crews used mostly dry stone masonry to build trails. An ancient method of building (Egypt’s pyramids and Central America’s Maya temples used it), dry stone structures can actually become sturdier with wear and time. Still, when the CCC built the Jenny Lake infrastructure in the 1930s, there were only thousands of people who visited the lake. At the turn of the millennium, Jenny Lake was getting millions of visitors every year. The original dry stone masonry needed repair. Unfortunately, it was a dying art.

Dry Stone Conservancy, a Kentucky-based group that trains stonemasons to relearn the craft, came to the rescue. The work Jenny Lake needed was so substantial that the group didn’t just train GTNP’s trail crew, but sent out a crew of its own to help, and to provide more extensive training than available in a weekend workshop (if you’re interested, these are offered in Lexington, Kentucky). Dry Stone Conservancy masons had been trained by a Scottish master stonemason. After years of working alongside the Dry Stone Conservancy pros, GTNP now has its own in-house crew of dry stonemasons.

Walking around Jenny Lake, it’s difficult to tear your eyes from the mountains, but, if you do, notice the craftsmanship of the new stone steps on the trail and the new retaining walls . . . not that you’ll be able to tell they’re new. “One of the cool things about dry stone work is that you can’t tell when it was built. It could have been 1900,” says Matt Hazard. gtnpf.org/initiatives/the-campaign-for-jenny-lake

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