We're only 90 minutes from Yellowstone, but neither Rich or I have been there in over 20 years. We had the chance to stay in our friend's condo in West Yellowstone for the night, so we decided to do it!! We got to witness the first snow of the season and it was beautiful!
A Winter Wonderland and hardly anyone around, but us! Too bad we didn't bring our boots, but we didn't care. The whole day was magnificent. The evergreens were dusted with fresh snow.
Our friends, David and Pam decided not to come with us, but oh - they missed out! The whole experience was fabulous and we will have memories for a lifetime!
 |
| Come on, Rich! It's hardly even cold! |
 |
| Painted Pots are beautiful and gurgling! |
 |
| Blood Geyser |
Neither one of us had ever been to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, so rather than go to Old Faithful, which we had both been to many times, we headed there first.
Charles Cook explored the area in 1869, and is credited with discovering the canyon.
 |
| Waterfalls in the Yellowstone Park area are abundant. There are close to 300 Yellowstone waterfalls |
From several vantage points, you can view Lower Falls plunging steeply into the canyon 308 feet, or the Upper Falls tumbling 109 feet.
The canyon is approximately 24 miles long, between 800 and 1,200 ft deep and from .25 to .75 mi wide.
The canyon was formed by erosion as Yellowstone River flowed over progressively softer, less resistant rock.  |
| The rocks have such cool formations and with the snow - mmm! |
Mineral stains mark the locations of hot springs and steam vents in the canyon walls. For thousands of years, upwardly percolating fluids have altered the chemistry of the rocks, turning them yellow, red, white, and pink.
WILDLIFE......They LOVED the freshly fallen snow, so we saw LOTS of them. Here are just a few photos I got. We even saw a Grizzly Bear mother and cub. Hopefully I can post the video soon.
 |
| What is the plural for buffalo? |
 |
| It's a bear foraging for food! |
 |
| He owns the highway, holding up the cars for miles! |
 |
| It's an elk and LOOK! The snow is all melted here! |
In 2015, there were 4,097,710 “visits” to Yellowstone National Park, up 16.6% from 2014, making it the highest visitation year on record. 2016 with its 100 years' anniversary should break that record. We will definitely not wait another 20 years before coming again. Yellowstone is practically in our backyard!
No comments:
Post a Comment