We Take a Fall Trip to Yellowstone N.P. Part 3

 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Day 3....Today we moved from the Kelly Inn and Suites in West Yellowstone to the Canyon Lodge located inside the national park. We had reservations for the Rhyolite Lodge, one of the buildings in the Canyon Lodge complex. Until we could check in mid afternoon, we were back out on the roads heading in a northeast to southeast direction today. On the map, the area we were exploring is called Canyon Village. There are waterfalls there, and the not-to-be-missed Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, an amazing geological feature within walking distance of the lodge IF you were up for about a mile hike. 

the hike to lower falls

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is spectacular in its own way, with a BIG waterfall in the middle, and viewing points at the top of the falls and towards the lower falls. You can hike your way up or down, they are short distances of less than a mile. What Sparky forgot is the elevation factor of 8,000 feet. While hiking down to the lower falls from the parking lot, which was a steep decline and NOT wheelchair friendly, she neglected to think about hiking back UP. Needless to say, for a 3/4 mile hike, it was arduous coming back up but well worth it to see the falls and the canyon. She thought her heart was going to beat right out of her chest! She stopped many times on the climb back up. Whew! The falls were spectacular whether you were looking at them from up above or down below.

Here is another view....

A view of the canyon from higher up at the falls viewing platform...

We hopped back into the car and continued our drive south towards Fishing Bridge. On the way, we passed through Hayden Valley which Sparky remembered reading some blogs about the foxes in that valley and the Lamar valley. Sure enough, we saw a red fox. Look-- a coyote photobombing in the meadow! Coyotes do kill foxes sometimes for food or to eliminate competition for resources. Hope this pretty fox was not going to be dinner!

Lots of bison along the way, crossing the road with their calves...

We arrived at Fishing Bridge, which is a historical area and facility complex inside the park. There is an RV park there, a visitor center, and a store. It's named for its famous old bridge but fishing is prohibited now. Maybe because of this? Haha...This big guy passed right by our car on the bridge. Eldy could have reached out and touched him easily. A "Touron"--a tourist who is a moron, on the other side of the road coming towards us, actually reached out his window and touched another bison following behind. The bison startled and jumped back in defense. Sparky yelled out, "YOU DUMB****!!!" (She's not holding back in her senior years, explains a sheepish Eldo.) Luckily, for the touron, nothing happened. He's lucky the bison didn't head butt the car!

right next to our car!

After exploring the area, we headed further south, past West Thumb, which includes more mudpots, boiling springs, and geysers, heading back to Canyon Lodge. It was a beautiful day, full of wildlife, and wonderful weather. One more day to go....see you tomorrow!

We Take a Fall Trip to Yellowstone Part 2

Day 2...Here is the map that shows where we started the first two days while we stayed outside the park. We entered Yellowstone National Park through the West Yellowstone entrance each day as shown on the left side of the map directly west of Madison. Today we were headed north to Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, a very small town just right outside the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

We left early in the morning, around 8:00 AM.

The temps were in the twenties, the trees and brush were coated with frosty ice crystals. It was beautiful!

Along the way were many wonderful geysers and wildlife....And a lovely river running alongside the roadway, the Gibbon River. The bison were often spotted alone and not with a herd. 

The elk were plentiful....and could be seen in herds in the distance or in small groups close to the roads..

young bull elk

We stopped at Gibbon Falls, which had a beautiful stone cropped viewing point....The photo doesn't do it justice...It was a major, roaring waterfall.

We traveled through the Monument Geyser Basin, and the Norris Geyser Basin....

We passed Sheepeater Cliff (don't you just love that name? Is it because they fall off the cliff to their deaths sometimes?) No photo of that one, but on we went, continuing north....

We traveled the Golden Gate Bridge of Yellowstone, quite the engineering feat for its time. Bridging the canyon was one of the most expensive early road building projects back then. The view is of the canyon and Rustic Falls with pullouts to look for wildlife and mountain goats.

We arrived in Mammoth Hot Springs. There is a small local herd of elk in town that is supported with protective enclosures and here the elk lounge around town wherever they feel like it! Like this big guy. He was in somebody's yard for several hours, just soaking up the sun.

Right outside the town of Mammoth Springs, you can see a geological formations called the travertine terraces. Interactions of water and limestone coat rock cliffs that creat chalk white travertine. They are among the fastest changing features in the park. They emerge quickly and can dry up just as fast. They look like snow covered cliffs. 

In town you can see Fort Yellowstone and take a self-guided tour to see how the Army protected the park in the early days.

From there, we continued north to see the Roosevelt Arch which is the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. There are two little doorways, one on each side for people to walk through and get their photo taken. 

As we drove closer to the north park entrance, we spotted herds of pronghorn.

Pronghorn are neither sheep nor antelope as people commonly believe. They are unique North American mammals. They do resemble both sheep and antelope, because of their deer shaped bodies and their speed. Their horns are different from deer antlers and they are more closely related to giraffes (!) than goats or sheep. Their antlers have a hairlike sheath called keratin, and they are shed and regrown annually. They are the fastest land animals in the western hemisphere! When Sparky kept seeing more and more of them, she just HAD to get out of the car and get just a LITTLE BIT closer to get this photo....At which point, a ranger came out of the Roosevelt Arch entryway and chastized Sparky (very nicely) to get back in her car and move along, much to Eldo's chagrin. Sparky knows better! (But you can't tell her anything when she's trying to get a photo! laughs E.)

Back in the car we went, continuing on to Gardiner, a very small town of about 750 people. There didn't seem to be much there to explore, so we headed back home as it was now getting to be much later in the day. We thought we would top off the day with a visit to Old Faithful, probably the most famous geyser in the world? which was south of Madison on the map. Back we retraced our drive with lots of wildlife along the way to keep the repeat trip from being boring. Eldy is so great about stopping frequently to get multiple shots of elk and bison, and he watches the landscape continually to help Sparky find photo ops. He's a great driver, too.

Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes, but can vary from 50-127 minutes or 60-94 minutes. The visitor's center posts on a board about when they think it will erupt. Longer eruptions lead to longer waits so the time predictions change often. The visitor's center was gorgeous! Old Faithful is visible through the main window if you wanted to stay inside. We went outside and sat on benches and waited. It was a chilly afternoon!

Twenty-three minutes later than the scheduled time, "thar she blows!"

There was another geyser that blew before Old Faithful, and it was a fairly big one farther away, so that was a treat as well! We think it was the Lone Star Geyser. 

It was getting late, time to find something to eat! The town was gradually closing down for the season, and a lot of places had closed. Bullwinkle's was a restaurant right downtown in West Yellowstone that was open and Sparky wanted to go there just because of the name. (She LOVED the show Rocky and Bullwinkle when she was young and she can do a mean imitation of Bullwinkle's voice.) The moose theme was everywhere, and a model train ran around the perimeter of the ceiling inside the restaurant. The food was very good, and we highly recommend it.

Tomorrow, we head into the park itself to stay at the Canyon Lodge for our last two days of exploration. We'll see you there! (Part 3)