Middle Teton

Middle Teton (12,809 feet (3,904 m)) is the third-highest peak in the Teton Range, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Located within Grand Teton National Park, the peak is immediately southwest of Grand Teton, from which it is separated by a broad high ridge at 11,600 feet (3,540 m), known to local climbers as the Lower Saddle. The Middle Teton Glacier is located on the eastern slopes of the peak.

Middle Teton is a classic pyramidal alpine peak and is sometimes included as part of the Cathedral Group of high Teton peaks. The 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range is the youngest mountain chain in the Rocky Mountains, beginning its uplift 9 million years ago, during the Miocene. Several periods of glaciation have carved Middle Teton and the other peaks of the range into their current shapes. From the Lower Saddle, a distinctive feature known as the black dike appears as a straight line running from near the top of the mountain down 800 feet (240 m). The black dike is a basaltic intrusion that occurred long after the surrounding rock was formed.