Hunting for Animals

This morning we got up early to do the hike out to Mystic Falls, which starts out in Biscuit Basin.

Sapphire Pool

Little Firehole River

Mystic Falls



On our way back, we spotted an osprey up in a tree having fish for its breakfast.

We made one last stop at the Black Sand Basin before heading back to the Old Faithful Inn to load up and check-out.

Our plan was to head up towards the Norris Geyser Basin before going to Canyon Lodge to check-in, since we didn’t get to look around yesterday. We took the Firehole Lake Drive to see if we could spot any wildlife off the main road. Since there was a crowd there, we ended up stopping at the Great Fountain Geyser. This geyser erupts approximately twice a day, but with a four-hour window. We saw water bubbling up to the rim (a sign that it was close, at least in geyser-time) and decided to wait to see if it would go. After 90 minutes (and picnic lunch in the back of the minivan), our impatience won out, so off we went. We should have remembered that...

...a watched pot never boils.

But perhaps it was a good thing we waited, because back on the main road, we saw a bunch of cars pulled over to the side and people standing in a clearing, pointing off towards the forest…

A grizzly bear!

And a little later in the day, we also caught a glimpse of an elk, the first one we’ve seen with antlers.

Because of all the walking we had done over the past few days, the kids (and us parents, too) were pooping out of doing much more, so at Norris we just walked through the Porcelain Basin and then over to the Steamboat Geyser.

Porcelain Basin

A minor eruption of Steamboat Geyser

From there, we stopped by the Museum of the National Park Ranger and then drove over to the Canyon area, where we checked into our frontier cabin. The outside is a bit dated, but the inside was just fine. At least there was a bathroom in the room!

We stayed in the building on the left,
although our unit was behind the one pictured here

After a quick dinner in the '50s style diner, we decided to drive over to see the falls from the South Rim of the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone". And the boys finally saw why the park is called "Yellow Stone."

Lower Falls

Upper Falls and Chittenden Bridge





Because it was close to dusk, we continued south towards Hayden Valley to try to spot some more wildlife. Success! The boys spotted a huge beaver by the side of the road, so we pulled into a nearby picnic area and made our way back up the road. By the time we got back to the spot where we saw it, the beaver had gone down towards the river and was swimming upstream.

We followed it to a calm spot on the side, where it proceeded to do what beavers normally do to tree branches...

It gnawed its way through and then swam back with the branch to another spot.

The boys were thrilled about seeing the beaver in action.  I, however, was even happier with this view of the mountains from Hayden Valley in the waning sunlight...

It's not hard to get good photos with such excellent subjects to shoot!