Grand Canyon of Yellowstone,

Between the advice we have gotten from our neighbors, and a great hiking book I bought at the Grand Tetons Visitor Center, we have some great hiking options in the next month. Craig is having a bit of discomfort in one of his knees, and the altitude still gets to both of us, so we will probably stick to easy or moderate 1 to 5 mile hikes.  There seem to be lots of them in the park.




On Tuesday we went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It is an area where the Yellowstone River has carved through the softer rock,  creating a deep canyon. We stopped at the trailhead for the Lower Falls. 

The walk down to the falls was only 3/4 mile, but it was steep. There were many switchbacks. I appreciated the many benches available for resting on the hike back up. 

Early in the afternoon the sky began to cloud up, but the air temperatures remained near perfect, neither too hot nor too cool.

The Yellowstone River was moving along at a good rate between the upper and lower falls. From the movie we saw at the Visitors Center, we learned that in spring it gets really fast and full with the spring snow melt.

Our hike took us to an overlook of the brink of the Lower Falls. It reminded me of the waters going over Niagara Falls, except it was much narrower.  At 305 feet these falls are taller than Niagara, but from this viewpoint they were less impressive.

From the overlook we could also see the canyon carved by the powerful force of the river.

It was amazing to say the least. Sights like this reinforce my feelings that a single human lifetime is insignificant compared to the eons since the Big Bang. And these changes will continue, long after man has become extinct or evolved into a different creature.

From Craig: to me this looks more like a painting than a photograph

The weather shifted again, and the darker clouds seemed to give way to clearer blue skies. We stopped further along the same road/parking loop and walked to the canyon rim at Inspiration Point.

I guess the wonder of this place made me a bit philosophical. As we gazed at the colorful sights below us I reminded Craig of how perturbed I was when we lived in our mountain home, and our neighbor's trees grow up to block the view of the distant skyline from our deck. Now, such thoughts are a distant memory, because we have some of the best views in the country, and they change constantly.

Just a Crow

I am so glad we took the leap and sold the house. Life is too short to spend it all in one place. I hope our health will allow us to keep traveling for a long time!