Our next day in Yellowstone introduced us to a whole different part of the National Park. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone led us away from Hydrothermal features and into a world of canyons and waterfalls. There are 2 waterfalls In the Canyon: Upper falls and Lower falls.
We first went to Artist’s point, from which you can see Lower Falls. It was a fascinating sight, I could tell why it was such a famous place. The walls of the canyon were blended colors of reds, tans, yellows, peaches, and creams. The Yellowstone river beneath us ran over rocks as white foam flew all around. And of course the waterfall was magnificent; tall and lean, the water elegantly falling and then whisking of into the churning river below. The next observation point was of the Upper falls.
This waterfall was wider and shorter, and the canyon around wasn’t as pretty. But I still liked the Upper falls. From the observation point you could take either Uncle Tom’s trail, or the South Rim trail. Uncle Tom’s trail was 300 steps down to the lower falls. It was closed, and on one hand i was relieved I wouldn’t have to walk 600 steps round trip, but on the other hand I was sad I wouldn’t get to see that view.
The South Rim trail led to some place, we didn’t know exactly where because we didn’t do the whole one. We only reached the last observation point of lower falls (there were 2 total) and then went back. The 2 points were pretty much the same except that the second one was higher up. I loved these observation stations because when you looked at the waterfall there seemed to be emerald streams beginning at the top and disappearing in the middle of it. It was such a beautiful light illusion.
The emerald color was very clear and vivid. It was definitely a sight to make you stare. Before we left the canyon area we stopped at an observation point on the other side of the lower waterfall. It was basically the same image as before, but with a different perspective of the whole thing. There was a path to go down to another point which was closer to the waterfall. The waterfall looked bigger and even more eye capturing, which I thought was impossible before.
With that we left the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Our next destination were the mountains of Yellowstone. The mountains we were near were Avalanche Peak And Grizzly Peak. The snow capped mountains rising above a lake will never fail to amaze me. We drove around those mountains just to take them in, before stopping for dinner at a picnic area. The last thing we did for the day was go to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. On the way there we saw a family of elk.
I had never seen elk before, but the baby was adorable, and the parents were interesting also. Turns out that day wad our “elk day” because at west thumb Geyser basin we saw an elk right next to the walk way! The pools of West thumb geyser basin were murkier and grayer than the other ones, which might not sound appealing, but it made that basin particularly unique. We were met with a breathtaking view when the sun set. Warm pastel colors streaked across the sky as the sun sank lower and lower beneath the Yellowstone lake.
This was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. Basins on on side of me, and the Yellowstone lake surrounded by mountains on the other side. Add a sunset to the mix, and viola, you have a perfect evening in the palm of your hand. On the lake also lay the fishing cone.
People used to catch fish, and without taking it off the hook tossed it into the fishing cone to boil. Now it is illegal to use the cone for fishing, but looking at it I imagined someone cooking their dinner on the very same spot I was standing on.
