Our second day in Yellowstone was very different than our first, but every bit as amazing.
Today’s plan was to continue our exploration of the northern side of the park, making our way first south to about the midpoint and then work east to Lake Yellowstone. This route would take us past a number of highly active thermal regions, but also land us in Hayden Valley. We were really hoping to catch our first moose sighting as well.
Our first stop was a thermal feature called the Norris Geyser Basin. This unbelievably huge basin is packed with geysers, steam vents, mud pots, and cauldrons. Some of these features were tiny – only a couple of feet across – filled with slowly bubbling water or dry and emitting steam. Others were much, much larger, emitting steam that sounded and looked as if it came from a train engine. The basin is home to Steamboat Geyser, the largest in the world. While it dwarfs Old Faithful in size, it erupts sporadically and today was not the day!
Most of the walk through the geyser basin is along wooden boardwalks, ensuring people stay safely away from danger but also ensuring danger stays away from the features. The air carries a distinct sulfur smell. Hissing and wheezing and bubbling intermixes with the sound of the breeze. It is one of those places that simply does not feel exactly real.
After leaving, we made our way east to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This steep, V-shaped canyon looks as if if was cut with a knife from the surrounding plain. The canyon walls are brilliantly colored, ranging from creams to browns, oranges to reds. Irregular erosion has left spires of rock protruding from the otherwise sheer walls. At at the bottom, the Yellowstone River takes on almost a cyan shade. The effect is truly stunning.
At the head of the canyon, the river drops over two separate falls, the Upper and Lower. Our first glimpse of this marvel came at Artist Point, a heavily visited but indescribable vantage point high on the southern rim. From Artist, we had an unobstructed view up the canyon and to the roaring Lower Falls, dropping over 300 feet into the canyon’s floor. Karen was so overwhelmed she began to cry. And for good reason – this is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen.
From the Canyon, we headed into the Hayden Valley. Like Lamar Valley yesterday, it is a wide expanse of open land covered in grasses and sagebrush, divided down the center by a winding river. We then headed into Fishing Bridge to check out our next campsite (starting Sunday) and were quite happy with what we found. Oh, and we had to do a little souvenir shopping as well!
We added to our wildlife total today. While not as robust as yesterday, we saw another 5 bears today, including two yearling cubs very, very close to the road. A herd of bison was right next to the road, so we got a closeup of them and a very cute calf. We also saw some large bird that I originally mistook for an elk (from a distance, mind you). Whatever it was , it was big. And it was a bird.
We had a great dinner in Gardiner on the way back to our campsite. It was a very long day, but so totally awesome! It seems like we have seen SO much already, and its only been two days. Looking forward to the next 6 in this amazing area.
Oh, and why is the post named “11 of 10”? Well, we were rating our day out of 10 stars, and my vote was 11.
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