We started out our day later than planned, our bodies are still on PDT so we slept in. We chose the Tower-Roosevelt route since Luci was in the car, it is mostly driving, we made a lot of stops so she had to stay in the car most of the day. The day was cool and breezy, she could stay in the car without roasting. Along the way we saw a herd of bison, several waterfalls and a petrified tree thousands of years old. There is a petrified forest you can "hike" to, a mile and a half in length that takes 3-4 hours. It is straight up with no switchbacks, we passed on that, we'd have had to leave Luci in the car too long.(right) Our ultimate destination was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We chose the north rim trail, the lower falls plummet over 300 feet into the canyon below. The rocks on the canyon walls were amazingly beautiful. Inspiration Point was truly inspirational, you see pictures of Yellowstone, they just don't do it justice. The canyon itself is 20 miles long with a depth of over 1000 feet, the canyon lava flow is over 400,000 years old. My feelings are it is much prettier than the Grand Canyon. On our way back we stopped at Norris Geyser basin, it was our first real look at the geo thermal areas. The boardwalks thru the area weren't too steep(mostly) We learned that the earthquakes keep the geysers active, if they stopped all the holes would close up, Norris has the most earthquake activity in the park. The water is 200 degrees plus, there are signs all over warning people not to enter the thermal area, about a dozen people have died walking into the geyser area. Hmm, natural selection perhaps. Full disclosure here, I did feel the water in a shallow pond, it felt like bathwater. The many colors yellow, emerald-green, dark brown "rust", red and dark blackish green are caused by the acidity and algae. On our way back to the RV park in Gardiner, Mt. we had to go through Mammoth Hot Springs where elk hang out. A bull elk with a huge rack of horns was herding his "girls" across the street then proceeded to have a tussell with one of them. An amazing site to see.
Scenes from the canyon, this is the place I stuck my finger in the water and Norris Geyser.
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