YELLOWSTONE - CANYON

MAINLAND - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Friday - Saturday Aug 30/31

            Our next accommodations were at Canyon Lodge so we entered Yellowstone through the south entrance along the Lewis River and saw Lewis Falls, 30’ high. 

Lewis falls

We were going right on past the lake area for now, all along the West Thumb – Yellowstone Lake is huge.  We were catching on; this region is laced with rivers and lakes – lots and lots of water.  As we drove the perimeter, we watched the lake go from placid to choppy and then wave action as the wind picked up.  We went to the Grant Village Visitor Center and then took the boardwalk in the West Thumb geyser basin getting our first look at the beautiful hot sulphuric water pools. 

Geyser Basin 

One hot spring with the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake in background

Phenomenal scale here

The boardwalk makes it safe for the people and to preserve the delicate biosphere

The colors were exquisite; due to living organisms that are as yet little understood

We also got our first close looks at bison, two herds in the road and two along side. 

 It used to be bears that stopped traffic in Yellowstone

the wild bison are making a bit of a comeback - about 4000

This became a common site - but never less exciting

These are not being raised for food like in Hanalei,

The park is theirs

We checked into our frontier cabin at Canyon Lodge.  It was very cute, all wood with Yellowstone maps and trout all over the bedspread; tiny shower and bath, sink in the bedroom. Routine for nat'l parks, no tvs, no phones, no internet (except pay as you go and only from one location in each area.)  Luckily, sometimes our droids worked but even that became unimportant in a few days and I left mine off unless we were doing separate things. 

Once settled, we went out to see the canyon and check out the waterfalls on the north rim.  We’ve seen the purple Grand Canyon, the red & green Waimea Canyon at home, Black Canyon in western Colorado, and now the yellow canyon of the Yellowstone River.  The evening light was beautiful.

Many lookouts along the canyon give different views 

The lower falls - a 308' drop

        

Saturday

            We jammed out to see the canyon from the south rim in morning light.  

This is the classic view

A popular spot for photos, lots of exchanging - great times

If the sheer dimensions of Yellowstone aren’t staggering enough, there are the details that give a glimmer of a time bigger than humans reckon with. 

 How does it stay suspended?

Sheer determination

We checked out the Canyon Visitor Center while waiting to meet up with our pal Erica.  A beautiful two story center, this is where our education really began about the gigantic volcano that Yellowstone Park sits on.  When it blew last, 640,000 years ago, the ash covered about half of what is now the US. 

Yellowstone caldera

It sits over magma that is relatively close the surface. The steam vents, hot springs, mudpots, and geysers are all various conditions of water heated by magma.  The volcanic bulge that Yellowstone represents makes the area 2,000 feet higher than surrounding lands!  She’s gonna blow one of these days. 

Yellowstone is on a hot spot much like the one that formed the Hawaiian Islands.  What is wild is that the N. American plate is moving southwest (opposite of the Pacific plate moving northwest).

Hotspots

           

            Erica was back from lunch and on duty; she has been a Yellowstone ranger for 25 years (except when she was at Teton or Sequoia).  When the summer season is over, she runs a winter yurt camp for hardy folks to snowshoe and cross-country ski near Canyon.  I took a photo of a mural showing the canyon in winter.

Erica Hutchings, Ranger

her parents live next door to us in Kauai so we see her now and then

Fun to see her in her element

Mural at Canyon Visitor Center

Yellowstone Canyon in winter, frozen falls at back

            Erica sent us on a hike to Cascade Lake. We crossed the Yellowstone River en route to the trail head.  We would have some time with her on Sunday and Monday.

Looking up river on the Yellowstone 

Down river before it enters the lake

The 5 mile round trip hike was through both forest and meadow where we saw bison, a red tail hawk, and osprey.  I even thought I saw a bear.

A couple bison munching in one of the meadows we walked through

We watched this red-tail hawk catch a field mouse 

The Osprey are finally making a comeback after the debacle of the US use of DDT 

We watched a pair circling each other

Cascade Lake

Sharon's bear

            We were very aware if dead trees due to previous fires in Yellowstone rather than due ti beetle kill.  The new growth was very apparent.           

 New growth

Old charred guys

            We had to move on and return to the lake area for our frontier cabin at Lake Lodge.  It was even cuter than the one at Canyon and we loved the Lodge.  We had some dinner then got a couple beers (I switched to Moose Drool port and Gil stayed with his Snake River lager).  We curled up by the big fireplace with some dice but couldn’t concentrate.  We ended up meeting two geologists – the ones that had mapped Yellowstone Lake!  What a trip.

Gil and Lucille (fits right in doesn't she?) 

Yellowstone Lake across from the Lodge

Goodnight!