Yellowstone NP, Day 1, Canyon

I knew Yellowstone was big but I didn’t realized it was quite this big.  I’m thinking Yellowstone might be bigger than most of the states in the Northeast.  Who knew that from the east entrance of Yellowstone it would then take an additional 2 1/2 hours to get to Old Faithful.  Old Faithful would have to wait for another day.  Roads are starting to close this time of year and there were only 3 of the 9 visitor centers open but I’ll take that over a crowded park.  I know for sure that this is not a place I would want to come to during the summer.  I talked to someone who told me that they waited over an hour just to enter the park in July.

We spent most of our day in the Canyon area.  We did an awesome hike to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

We saw lots of buffalo, mule deer, and elk.  We are hoping to get a sighting of a bear.

I also didn’t know that there is a large lake in the center of the park.  Appropriately named Yellowstone Lake.

Sunset over the lake.

There are 4 hydrothermal features found in Yellowstone,  mud pots, geysers, fumaroles (steam vents), and hot springs.  The worst part for the kids was the stinky smell of rotten eggs.  These 4 features are can be found in many areas of the park, some popping up out of nowhere.  I never knew that so much of this park is over a hot spot and will eventually explode… millions of years from now.  More pictures of these features tomorrow…