Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

This is one of our all time favorite hikes in Yellowstone. Last year we parked on the south side and walked to the north side and back. Being the wild and crazy guys that we are, we parked this year on the north side and walked to the south and back!







Bob took so many pictures that I could make this 3 blogs easily, but will refrain and share the best of the best with descriptions.

We started on the north side of the canyon and its pretty easy to see why this whole region was named Yellowstone by the Indians who first settled here.

These two pictures are of the upper falls.



Look closely at this picture. Note the bridge off in the distance. That is our cross over destination.

Here is that same bridge. Between last year and this year we must have over 100 pictures of this bridge and area. Named Canyon Bridge, it was built by the Army Corp of Engineers in the 1920's.










It was closed to vehicle traffic in 1950 and serves as the foot bridge to make it from the north to the south side. 







It is just so scenic. We love the huge rocks in the water and the trees that are growing out of them. I read recently that the dirt in the wedges of the rocks is so nutrient rich that vegetation thrives better there than in the open meadows.











This is looking down at the top of the upper falls. There are several great vantage points to see different areas of the upper and lower falls but they involve hundreds of steps and that requires fresher legs than an 8 mile hike allows for!







Just some more ho-hum scenery as we walk along the Yellowstone River's edges.

Another great example of the yellow in Yellowstone.









It's September and we've had the pleasure of seeing a few Osprey nests but all have been empty. On the top of this rock outcropping, there is a nest with one baby left. I've included this picture so you can get an idea of how far 'out there' these birds build their nests.








Here is it close up. Someone had a scope on it and we could see it was picking the insides out of a fish head. Yum!













This is a shot of the lower falls. The lower is actually taller than the upper. 

Another smaller halls along the path. It was another stellar day for hiking. We started out bundled up and wound up carrying it all in our packs.

Total miles hiked to date: 95
(Snakes seen or almost walked on: 6-at least)
Just sayin' :-)