Yellowstone NP --- Grand Canyon

For the next few nights we are staying in the Canyon campground, which is on the east side of the park.  The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is an impressive sight.  Unlike the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the walls of this canyon are made of volcanic rock, not sedimentary layers.  Over time, geyser activity and the Yellowstone River have carved out a beautiful canyon with some spectacular waterfalls.  The photo above was taken at Artist’s Point, on the south rim of the canyon – the Lower Falls are visible in the photo (they cascade 308 feet down into the canyon – nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls).  The Upper Falls is 109 feet, and if you look closely at the photo below there is an overlook right at the brink of the falls.  Look how tiny the people are!

There was a ranger discussion at one of the overlooks that gave an overview of how the canyon was created.  Because the volcanic rock was weakened by geyser activity, it was carved much more quickly than the Grand Canyon in Arizona – the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone took less than 640,000 years to create.  The Yellowstone River runs through it and then on to the Missouri River, which then feeds into the mighty Mississippi.  Here’s a view downriver of the rest of the canyon, taken from Inspiration Point on the canyon’s north rim:

Today was also an incredible day for seeing wildlife.  Of course we saw the ubiquitous bison – they are truly everywhere in the park.  But we also saw an osprey nesting in the Grand Canyon, and what we have confirmed as a wolf running across the road on the south rim.  (We asked a ranger, who wasn’t sure.  But another lady at the laundromat happened to be a volunteer with the wolf awareness program – she took a look at our photo and said it was probably a wolf).

We’ve seen lots of elk without antlers (they look like deer to me) but today was the first time we saw an elk with antlers.  And while having a picnic lunch beside the river we saw not one – but two otters swimming in the Yellowstone River, just north of the LeHardys rapids.

Further upstream we saw a Harlequin Duck swimming in the rapids.  And as we drove through the Hayden Valley we saw this coyote who seemed to be just standing stock-still at the roadside.  Then, in one quick movement – she pounced!  I guess she was patiently waiting for her dinner…too bad she missed.

Once she realized she had spectators, she ran away empty-handed.  But comparing her to the other wolf/coyote we saw earlier, she definitely looked smaller and had a different facial profile. 

We are hoping to head to Lamar Valley tomorrow to see some bona-fide guaranteed wolves.  I say hoping because the weather has taken a turn and is supposed to snow tonight and be an extra chilly 56 degrees tomorrow.  Brrrr!