Day 40: Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
We did it! Despite the boys staying up until 9:30 p.m. and us up until 11, we decided to rally for a 5 a.m. wake-up to get into the park early. This day did not disappoint.
We left early so we could get to Hayden Valley for wildlife viewing close to dawn with the hopes to see more animals. The elk were already out to greet us just past the park entrance. We have continued to listen to Denice’s audio tour of Yellowstone stories and history and really enjoy it.
In Hayden Valley we were greeted by an elk with a huge set of horns in a field and white pelicans in the river. We saw people climb a hill and decided to do it too. Turns out there was a grizzly and her cub many yards away. It looked like just a black spec to our naked eye, but there were some generous people there sharing their telescopes and fancy cameras so we could get a closer view.
We got our fill of bison today, too. It was so cool to see them spread out in the valley along the river. There was even a pair that crossed the road right in front of our car. This was the first time the boys got to use our fancy camera and they were thrilled! We have TONS of buffalo pictures thanks to our passionate budding photographers. This is now our third nursing animal: first a moose, then an elk, and now a bison. What an experience!
After watching the animals, we were off to Sulphur Caldron Overlook where wouldn’t you know it, there were a couple of bison between the hot springs. Just across the street was Mud Volcano boardwalk. As we were walking up, we saw a bison heading down the hill in the distance, and when we got to the top another one was hanging out between some hot springs. We had seen lots of hoofprints around the springs, so it was really neat to finally see the animal making them too. Dragon’s Mouth had been mentioned as a highlight by many. so we did that part of the boardwalk too.
At this point we were just 10 minutes away from Fishing Bridge. I had heard nothing noteworthy of it, but since we were so close we wanted to check it out to be able to mark off that part of the park, too. It was underwhelming, so we drove over the bridge and turned around to head back up to Canyon Village.
On our way back through Hayden Valley we were greeted by even more bison, but didn’t stop this time around. Everyone’s suggestions about the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone led us to a fantastic day. We did a handful of lookouts and short trails on the South Rim before heading over to the North Rim.
At the North Rim, our intended 3.5 mile hike turned into an extended 5.5 mile hike–oops. We should have downloaded a better map last night. The hike took us along the Yellowstone River, through meadows full of flowers, past caldrons/hot springs in the middle of the woods, past two lakes, and finally back along the Yellowstone River again for spectacular views. Both boys were in pretty good spirits despite the extra distance, but Nicholas shared he wasn’t a fan of the meadow portion of the hike. His favorite hike would be one where he gets to scramble over rocks and see things, like a forest, all around him. These pictures help show the variety of environments we went through on this hike–so diverse.
Once we hit the 5+ mile mark, we determined it was another ice cream day, so we stopped in Canyon Village to get some and check out the visitor center.
On our way back, Rob drove so I could power nap after little sleep last night. We opted to check out the top loop of Mammoth Falls, which we saw from the car driving by, though we did jump out for a few minutes to watch Orange Spring up close. We are all excited to go back and do the short hike tomorrow.
Our return trip included a photo stop at Roosevelt Arch and a late dinner outside. Calculating how many more days we have, we decided to tackle a load of laundry just before it closed at 10 p.m. Pulling the wagon and doing laundry brings the boys such joy, so I couldn’t resist letting them squeeze in one more activity before bed. We even saw a male deer on our short walk to the laundry room. When finally back with cell service, we gave Nene a birthday call where Cooper was so excited to share he had been up for 16 hours. No wonder we are so tired!
