Canyon Village,Yellowstone NPP

Monday, June 6, 2011

Canyon Village, Yellowstone,

80,855 miles on the odometer at the start of the day. We began the trip with an odometer reading of about 73,000.

This days’ trip reads like a four chapter tourist brochure. Chapter one begins at the campsite, turns right, then left, for and heads north stopping first at Gibbon River Falls for a few pictures. We stopped to take pictures of a bison wading across a stream.

Further along we came to a series of thermal pools called “Artist Paint Pots”. We walked the boardwalks there and moved on the Steamboat Geyser.

Chapter 2 consisted of a stop at Grand View for a grand view.

Chapter 3 began as we turned east toward Canyon Village the location of Yellowstone’s own “Grand Canyon”. Amazing!!  What an unusual and amazing place. The canyon is 1000 feet deep with two very large waterfalls. It is comparable to Grand Canyon in many ways but on a smaller scale. Returning from the walk to the bottom to view the lower falls nearly did me in but it was worth it.

Other than the canyon, Canyon Village is short on scenic wonders but long on tourist related services: food, lodging, parking, souvenirs, gifts, etc.

We drove south from the village a bit to search for wildlife in the Hayden River Valley but found little of interest.

The final chapter was written beside the Gibbon River on the way home to our campsite. In Yellowstone, tourists learn to watch for groups of cars parked haphazardly beside the road.  This usually indicates a wildlife sighting. More often than not, it is one or more bison,

In this instance, we saw a ranger and a large number of cars and stopped. The question to ask is: “What are we looking at?”  This time the answer was, “A grizzly bear.”

It was indeed grizzly bear; the highlight of the day’s trip.

A day that had begun in sunshine and 70 degree temperatures end  ed in clouds the threat of rain, which came that night.

(Note: I wrote, and posted, this blog post in a laundromat in West Yellowstone, Montana. I'll add the images later. Tomorrow we have a long day's drive to South Dakota where we camp fcor 2 nights.)

Bison Wading a Stream

 Gibbon River Falls

Yellowstone Canyon with Upper Falls in the Backgroound 

 Yellowstone Canyon

Rainbow at Lower Falls in Yellowstone Canyon

Who is this Person Spoiling My Scenic Shot?

 Our Campsite is at the Base of this Mountain

As Always There is Magnificent Scenery

At Last, A Grizzily Bear