3rd August, 2017

Val correctly pointed out that we had not had a rest day in the whole trip, so I condensed the two days planned for Yellowstone into one long one. In many ways it makes sense if you are getting there from Cody as it is a good two hours to get to the Grand Loop Road (try and stay in the park, though it comes at a price, or at West Yellowstone). So we set off after a hearty breakfast at the Best Western Sunset Inn (courtesy of the owner, my cousin Bill) and drove through the valley heading west, past the Buffalo Bill Dam and Buffalo Bill Lake in the Buffalo Bill State Park and on to the entrance and beyond.

Our first stop was Canyon Village and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with its Upper and Lower Falls. A must-see is the view of the latter from Artist Point, which, as you can see below is more than simply picturesque.

 

You can walk down to get better views of the falls themselves, which is what we did starting with the Upper Falls. The object in the water we were told was a dead bison…

 

Now, there has been a bit of family folklore for many years regarding the Lower Falls as, on our visit of 2000, by the time we got to them, Val, Claire and Caroline were simply too exhausted to trek down to see where the water rushes over the edge before falling some 300 feet below and Chris and I, who did make the journey down, whenever exhorted to admire some other scenic or spectacular sight have always agreed that, whilst it was indeed good, you really should have seen the Lower Falls. So today was the day when we could prove it. It was a long walk down and a tough walk up, especially at the altitude we were at, but well worth it (as we told them it would be!).

 

Breathtaking! It really felt as though you would be drawn over the edge. I am not sure I completely captured the double rainbow, but I hope you get the general idea. It was pretty breathtaking walking back up again too!

A quick look at Tower Falls on our way to our next stop and, happily, some bison. They are big animals!

 

The whistle stop tour took us north to the top of the loop and then west to the next major sight, missing a few minor ones en route, but time was of the essence. So we found ourselves parking by the Mammoth Hot Springs, another geothermal spot, but of a different kind to West Thumb of the previous day. If you want to know how it was different, then may I refer you to at least Wikipedia as I have to admit that I am not up to speed with the subtleties of the subject. They are fascinating and rather beautiful, not least in the magnificent colours and textures you see. Here is a selection! The birds peeking out of their hillside nests looked like some sort of swift or swallow.

And finally, we made our way south to the other western corner of the Grand Loop Road to see the world-famous geyser, Old Faithful. It was, by now, about 7.15 in the evening and we still had about two and a half hours of driving to get back to Cody, so we were hopeful that OF was going to live up to its name. So it was something of a disappointment that as we parked the car and Chris sped to his much–anticipated loo stop that he sped back and announced that it was already spouting. We dashed to see what was effectively the end of its performance and thought about how it would have been useful to have been there some 5 minutes earlier as OF settled back to its usual existence.

Still, we had not come all this way to miss out and it is faithful in doing its stuff, so we decided to wait for the next one, which happened about an hour and a half later. We filled the time with a bit of shopping and some supper and took our seats for the main event. Nick, Caro and I did a quick circuit of the viewing area and it was a shame we did not have enough time to view the whole site as there was plenty of other activity. What was good was that the sun was going down and the colours and light were fantastic. And, of course, it gave me the chance to take some sunset shots, without which my blog would not be complete!

And then we settled down for our 8.45 performance. It tried a few tantalising experimental sallies and the crowd got excited, but these were merely teasers until finally it gave it up. In all it’s glory. The sun had set by now, but there was still plenty of light and it is something worth seeing.

And then, finally, it was time to drive home, which was surprisingly quick as I did not have to stop once for some 120 miles following the same car almost the whole way. We got back at 1100, but it was well worth it as it had been a truly memorable day.  I leave you with the moon!

More soon!