America's Wonderland - Canyon

We spent our second day in the park exploring the Canyon area, beginning with a morning hike along the South Rim trail led by a park ranger.  He told us many interesting facts, including:
     - Rangers used to fight fires which started in the park, but now they let them burn.
     - Lodge pole pine trees have special cones which are only opened by extreme heat (in the form of fire)
     - Bison rub their winter coats off on the trees

He also pointed out some different types of scat (AKA animal poop), not that we were able to tell the difference among most of it.

First stop was a lookout of the 109-foot Upper Falls.

Along with the scat, we saw other signs animals use the same trail we were on, including bear claw scratches and more buffalo rubbings.

Then we came to a lookout of the Lower Falls which plummet 308 feet into the river - that's twice the height of Niagara Falls.

We continued on and found a surprise - the rest of the tourists had finally woken up and made their way to Artist Point, the most famous of all the Grand Canyon viewpoints.

The canyon is 20 miles long and ranges between 1,500 and 4,000 feet across.  The Yellowstone River tumbles over two waterfalls (Upper and Lower).  The Grand Canyon was carved out by lava flows from an eruption 650,000 years ago, then over the centuries a series of glaciers caused erosion which revealed the yellow and red walls colored by thermal activity.

The hike ended at Artist Point, where we were fortunate enough to receive a recommendation from a father and son to loop back on a backcountry trail.  Best decision we made that day.  We quickly left behind all the other tourists and were able to appreciate the beauty of the canyon in peace.

Here's a great example of one thing different between me and A.  These next two photos were taken in the same place.  Look at where A is standing compared to where I stand.

You can tell who's more of a daredevil!  Except A likes to do lots of jumping.

The trail we took went right along the rim of the canyon.  We could look over and see straight down to the river.  For a better explanation, please see the photo below.

About halfway through the hike the trail took us away from the canyon and into an area full of thermal features.  Most thermal features in the park, such as geysers and mudpots, are clearly marked and blocked off.  As the trail we were hiking isn't very popular, we could literally walk right up to some interesting things.  They did post signs, though.  In some spots.

Some of the areas smelled very strongly of sulfur.

One big mudpot made some interesting gurgling noises.

Once we returned to the start of our journey we ate lunch and then took on Uncle Tom's trail, a steep path which descends 500 feet to a great view of the Lower Falls.  It's partly paved, but it's mostly 328 metal grated steps - which means you get to look past your feet through to the sheer cliff face.  "Uncle" Tom Richardson used wooden ladders and ropes to lead paying tourists to the base of the falls in the early 1900s.

See the tiny people at the brink of the falls?

After the tough hike down Uncle Tom's trail, we took a break and drove out to Hayden Valley where we saw many, many buffalo.  It was so exciting to see so many in one place, and so close to the car.

We drove down to see the Sulphur Cauldron, a highly acidic pool filled with sulfur-tinted waters and the air smells of hydrogen-sulfide gas.  You definitely don't want to hang around there too long!

On the way back we stopped to watch some more buffalo hanging out by the road.  One seemed to be issuing us a challenge, but he eventually wandered off.  We also saw some very cute baby bison!

That night we ate at the Roosevelt Lodge Dining Room.  On our way there, we saw a black bear eating some plants just off the road shoulder.  Both camera batteries had the bad luck to die just then, so once again, we didn't get a picture.  Our meals were pretty tasty - A had an elk burger and I had pasta with bison and elk meat sauce.  I had some emotional issues to work through over eating our new "friends", but they were yummy!

We returned to Canyon to catch the sunset at Artist Point.  We expected more people to be there, but it was just us two.  The view was gorgeous.

Coming up next: The Mud Volcano, West Thumb geyser basin and on to the Grand Tetons!