Yellowstone Day 2: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

On our second day at Yellowstone, we got up early to beat the line of cars at the entrance gate.  We got into the park around 7 am, prepared for a couple of hikes in the morning, a drive through Lamar Valley (the farthest away from our entrance), and animals spottings.  The day did not disappoint – we saw some amazing things!  I have too many pictures, so I’m dividing them up.  These pictures are of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, including the Upper and Lower Falls.

The first thing we encountered as we entered the park was three bucks, in full velvet, crossing the river.  They ignored us completely, but they sure were beautiful!

We also saw a cow elk near the buffalo herd from the day before.  The twins had been sleeping the day before, so they enjoyed getting pretty close to the elk!

My little troopers

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

  
As we viewed the Lower Falls, we looked across the Canyon to see the steps of Uncle Tom’s trail leading down to the bottom of the falls.  This would be our next stop.

Though the Grand Canyon looks fairly desolate, it was lush greenness just above the ridge!

Another View of the Canyon

We hiked down Uncle Tom’s Trail, 538 steps, to view the Lower Falls from the Bottom.  Liberty counted all the steps, from 1-17 on repeat!

   
The Lower Falls from the north rim of the Canyon

We were able to view the Upper Falls, but we did not take the time to explore this smaller waterfall.

The rainbow across the water hiking down to the Lower Falls

Panoramic of the Lower Falls (from the top, on the right), and the Grand Canyon below it.

The Lower Falls, viewed from the top of the fall.