The hiking trail along the south rim was challenging at times, and had us all gasping for air, but the views were worth the walk. When we got to the end of the trail at Artist Point, it was hard to decide whether to go back on the hilly trail, or take the road. Half of us did one, the other half the other - not sure which was easiest!
It was a long way down!
From the trail on the South Rim, we could see a viewing platform over the waterfall on the other side, so we drove over to see if we could get close. The trail was a switchback that dropped over 600 feet.
Made it - now we just had to hike back up!
We were surprised at the number of people who ignore the barriers and signs and climb out on the rocks overlooking the canyon. Many of them are gravelly, and very slippery - if you started sliding, it would be pretty hard to stop. There were even quite a few people who took their little kids out there with them.
You can see where Yellowstone got its name!
Climbed back up the trail and celebrated...
and made a new friend!
On the way back to our campground, we stopped at one more of the hot springs stops to see the Mud Volcano. It was this pool of bubbling, sloshing blue, gray mud that at one time had blown 20 feet into the air.
There was another one called Dragon's Mouth that looked like a cave with steam coming out of it and the water shooting out, making sounds that did sound like a dragon! Some of the little kids were pretty afraid.
As we were finishing our hike around the hot springs area, we looked up on the ridge and saw this beautiful elk.
It was a whirlwind trip, but we saw a lot. It is truly awe inspiring to see Yellowstone National Park and I hope everyone makes it a point to see at some time in their lives.
Later!
No comments:
Post a Comment