The grand canyon of the yellowstone

Our first day hiking in the park was great! We headed to the Canyon area for the day. On the road to canyon, we were greeted with a traffic jam caused by........buffalo! They were crossing the road and we had to stop. Rachael got another "extreme" closeup of these large beasts. Supposedly they can run 30 miles an hour, so we treat them with a great deal of respect.

Buffalo Crossing

Buffalo fording the river

We made it to the canyon area (after a detour due to poorly marked signs) and did the south rim area. One of the most famous spots is called Artists point. However, it was closed. Well, we wanted to see it anyway. So, after we saw the very cool lower falls (308 foot drop), we tried to go on the closed path. We decided against it after seeing the warning signs and that they had it closed off very well. We decided we didn't want to break federal law in two parks this year!

Lower falls

We finished with the south rim and went to the north rim for more hiking around the "grand canyon of the yellowstone". The name got to be a joke because they had it plastered everywhere and wondered if the real grand canyon was upset about the name being stolen!

Unfortunately for us, we hiked up and down three really steep trails that about killed us. We walked at least 7.75 miles, but it sure felt like more! It was cool, but we saw enough of it for the day! The walls of the canyon are yellow by the way, hence "yellowstone".

"Yellow" stone

After that, we had some time and decided to drive up to see tower falls. Along the way, a huge number of cars were stopped. We asked what was going on, so we pulled the tiny car off the road to see the wolf in the field. It was really tiny, but Rach took a picture as proof. You will have to trust us.

Here is the picture as proof of the wolf. It is tiny, but is near the tree in the middle of the pic.

After dragging the bottom of the car to get back on the road (its a rental), we made our way through the burnt forest to tower falls. Unfortunately, it was closed as well! We got some pics, but from far away.

Tower Falls

On the way back, we saw a coyote in a field and got some great pics from the side of the road.

Coyote in Heyden Valley

We then ended with a couple of thermal areas. The first was the sulfur cauldon, basically two giant pools of nasty, boiling, sulfuric acid! Very stinky ( and cool). We then went across the road to a whole set of pools, mud pots and other thermals. Also smelly and very cool. I have some great video that I will post when we get back.

Video of the nasty, stinky hot boiling pool (very cool...)

A very long day, but very enjoyable. We will see how sore we are in the morning!


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