My Park, My Story tells the stories of people who are passionate about Grand Teton National Park and are committed to protecting it for the enjoyment of future generations. In our seventh edition, Gordon Myers tells the story of his family’s decades-long love affair with Grand Teton.
In June of 1967, only eight months after meeting each other, Gordon and Diane Myers got married and traveled to Grand Teton National Park for their honeymoon. They checked in to a cabin at Colter Bay and spent the next several days exploring the park. A horseback ride to Hidden Falls—where Gordon told Diane he knew what he was doing but quickly realized his experience was lacking—and a long day-trip to Yellowstone tested the newlywed’s relationship. However, the couple was young, in love, and immediately awestruck by the Tetons—they quickly fell for the area.
Diane on their honeymoon horseback ride to Hidden Falls.
Gordon and Diane visited Grand Teton over fifteen times throughout the following decades, sharing the park with family and friends. Each trip was filled with memorable moments and first-time experiences. During one of their many stays at Jackson Lake Lodge, a couple who joined the Myers was surprised when they heard Diane screaming from her cabin next door. They immediately sprang into action to see what was wrong, only to find Diane laughing hysterically. She had peeked out the window of her cabin and was alarmed when a moose was staring back at her! Needless to say, both couples had a good laugh and now fondly reminisce on Diane and her moose encounter.
Diane and the moose.
When Gordon and Diane brought their two daughters to the Tetons from Texas they saw snow for the first time. During family visits that followed, the Myers picnicked on Elk Island, hiked to Lake Solitude, and even got stuck in a bathroom for over twenty minutes while a moose relaxed outside. Diane and Gordon loved spending time on Signal Mountain where they once watched a meteor shower from the summit and observed a mother moose and her calves for three days at a pond off the main road to the summit.
Diane and her daughters.
The Myers spent their 40th wedding anniversary in the same cabin at Colter Bay where they spent their honeymoon. Although Gordon noted that not much inside the cabin had changed, their love for each other and Grand Teton had deepened over the past four decades. The Myers visited some of their favorite spots in the park during their anniversary celebration including the Chapel of Transfiguration and Signal Mountain. At the end of each visit to Grand Teton, the Myers ate their final dinner in the Jackson Lake Lodge dining room—and their 40th anniversary trip was no different. Gordon ensured that they always had a window seat so they could watch Venus set behind the mountains as they finished their meal.
Diane in the cabin at Colter Bay where she and Gordon spent their honeymoon and 40th wedding anniversary.
Throughout their lives together, Gordon and Diane lived in various places across the country but always felt most at home during their time spent in Grand Teton. Their love story is eternal—and their lifetime of memories shared in this special place will be cherished by the Myers family forever.
In September of 2013, they made their final visit to the Tetons. Diane passed away peacefully in her sleep the following June just inches away from Gordon. One of Gordon’s favorite memory photos from that trip shows them in front of Jenny Lake where they’d ridden those horses 46 years earlier.
Gordon and Diane, 2013.