How I Spent My Summer, 2012 Part IV: Travelogue: Yellowstone Canyon

Lower Fall of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

I grew up with Yellowstone National Park literally in my backyard.  When I was young, though we mostly went into Old Faithful and then returned home because of the family business.  When I was about fourteen I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with Dad and my brothers to fish.  I did that two summers in a row.  The joke was that it took fifteen minutes to get down to the bottom of the canyon and two hours to climb out.  It wasn't a joke.  Other than that, I had been to Artist's Point and a few of the other scenic overlooks over the years, but I had never really experienced Canyon.  I found out for the first time last summer that Canyon is Chimene's favorite part of the park so I determined that we would do Canyon right this summer.

My oldest sister, Cynthia and her husband Byron and son Chad were in town last week and wanted to have a picnic in Yellowstone with as many family members as possible.  Since I was out of school, it was possible for us to attend.  We decided to meet at noon on Tuesday at the Wapiti Picnic Area on the south rim of the canyon.  My Mother was there as well as my sister Paula and her husband, Ferron and two of their daughters, Emily and Shelley.  I brought Chimene and two of my sons, Haydn and Garrett.

We met for the picnic and enjoyed one anothers' company for an hour or so and then we went our seperate ways.  Mom and Cynthia had tickets for The Playmill and were headed that direction, Paula and her clan were headed to Cody, Wyoming for a vacation.  That left us to explore Canyon.

Picnic in the park

I bought a book last year called "Day Hikes in Yellowstone National Park--82 Great Hikes" by Robert Stone.  We consulted the book and found that the Crystal Lake hike had it's trailhead at the Wapiti Picnic Area.  It was a loop hike that started and ended at the picnic area.  I like loop hikes better than there and back hikes because I always want to see something new.  The Clear Lake Trail seemed like the right thing to do.  Last season, a man was killed by a grizzly bear on that trail, so naturally we had to take it.  The trailguide called it a moderate hike, nearly level.  It started out in a sub-alpine meadow filled with wildflowers and snaked it's way toward the forest for almost a mile before we ended up in the trees.  Throughout the meadow we saw numerous buffalo wallows, where bison paw and scratch at the dirt and roll around supposedly to keep biting insects away.

Chimene, Haydn and Garrett on the trail

I was there too

Sub-alpine meadow covered in wildflowers



Wildflower covered hillside

Beautiful view

One of many buffalow wallows

The trail entered the forest and we came almost immediately upon a thermal feature called Clear Lake.  There was no inlet and no outlet and we could see a steady stream of gas bubbles out in the middle of the lake.  The water was cool to the touch, though so it wasn't a particularly hot lake. 

We followed the trail past Clear lake and entered into a barren, almost alien looking landscape where thermal activity had once flourished.  There were remains of exploded geysers and the rubble that ejected from them littered about the ground.  There were also a few active mudpots, but nothing so impressive as Fountain Paint Pots or some of the others.

After we passed through the alien landscape we came to another thermal lake covered in lily pads and aptly named "Lilypad Lake".  It was a pretty little lake out in the middle of the forest with a marshy area at one end and a floating bridge spanning it.  After that the trail wound through the forest past interesting rock formations.

Clear Lake

Barren landscape

Lichen covered boulders ejected from an exploding geyser

Lilypad Lake

Floating bridge over the marsh

The boys in front of a rock

After Lilypad Lake, the trail wound through the forest for a quarter mile or so and suddenly burst out onto the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Up until this moment, I had kind of considered the hike to be a bit of a letdown.  The scenery was pretty, but not outstanding.  Chimene and I both commented that we were glad we chose to hike the direction we went instead of going in reverse because it would have been anticlimactic otherwise.

The view of the canyon was breathtaking and astonishing.  Words and pictures don't do it justice, they just whet the appetite for future travels to the canyon.  From the rim to the bottom of the canyon is about 1000 feet.  The Yellowstone River is a mighty stream that has carved this canyon and continues to carve it.  The rocks on the walls of the canyon are colorful but the predominant color is yellow, which is where the park got it's name.  There is a high sulphur content in the rock because of all the thermal activity and vulcanism of the region.  All along the canyon walls were remnants of harder rock eroded into spires and minarets.

We followed the trail along the canyon rim and emerged at Artist Point for a wonderful view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.  That is the iconic view of the falls and one of the signature images of Yellowstone National Park.

The Yellowstone River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellowstone River

Where the park got it's name

A colorful canvas of rock

Rocky outcroppings all along the canyon wall

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point

A random tourist snapped this for us

After we had enjoyed the view from Artist Point, we made our way along the south rim toward the Wapiti Picnic Area.  The trail passed by the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River as well.  The scenery was spectacular all along the trail.  The beginning of the trail was okay, and I'm glad we took it but once we arrived at the canyon it was fantastic.

First view of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River

Lush undergrowth along the trail

Moss on the rocks near the brink of the upper falls

The old road, now a walking path

When we arrived back at the car, Chimene said she wanted to go to Inspiration Point on the North Rim.  I mentioned that it would be sad to come all this way and not see Crystal Falls which was at the Brink of the Upper Falls pullout just across the river from where we were.  We walked down to the brink of the Upper Falls, then did a short hike to Crystal Falls, then we drove to Inspiration Point.  On the way we spotted a large bull elk in a meadow along side the road.

Bull Elk

Wildflowers that found purchase in the rocks at the brink of Upper Falls

Crystal Falls

The south rim from Inspiration Point.  We hiked all along that, right on the edge

On the way home, we decided to take a scenic drive along the Virginia Cascades Loop Road.  It had been years since we had seen the Virginia Cascades and we wanted to photograph them.  It's a two or three mile one way road past the cascades and opens up in a beautiful meadow where moose ought to roam.  We didn't see any of them this trip, but I'm still holding out hope that we will this summer.

The Virginia Cascades

The meadow

The sun setting over the Madison Plateau

In total, we hiked around 7 miles in the canyon area.  It was a pleasant hike that I would not be opposed to doing again.  We had a wonderful time with our family.  It was a good day.

How I Spent my Summer, 2012 Part I--Travelogue: July 4th Cave Falls

Cave Falls, Yellowstone National Park

I have lived more than thirty years of my life near the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park, and this year is the first time I have ever visited Cave Falls.  Yellowstone is home to many great things, animals, geysers, mountains, lakes, rivers and over 300 waterfalls.  For the last several years, we have been on a pilgrimage to see as many of Yellowstone's waterfalls as we can.  We only had a few hours on July 4th so we decided to visit Cave Falls.  We were not disappointed.

The southwest corner of Yellowstone is sometimes referred to as "Cascade Corner", because some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the park are situated there.  This part of the park is visited less than other areas because almost all of it is backcountry and only accessable by hiking.  Most of the hikes are long but the trade off is that they are mostly level with little elevation gain.  Last summer I hiked with my son Haydn to Union Falls in the southwest corner and blogged about it here. 

To get to Cave Falls from where we live, we headed north on Highway 20 and turned east on Highway 47 which is now designated as "Mesa Falls, Scenic Byway".  Just before the road dips down into the canyon for Warm River, there is a turnoff to Cave Falls to the right.  From there it's about 18 miles to the falls.  The road to Cave Falls terminates at the falls.  We discovered that Cave Falls is really a waterfall flanked by cascades.  There is one set of cascades about a hundred yards downstream from Cave Falls and another one about thirty yards upstream.

The cascades before the falls

The brink of the cascades before the falls

Cave Falls only drops about 20 feet, but at 250 feet wide, it is the widest of all of Yellowstone's waterfalls.  It was quite impressive and there was still alot of water flowing over it.  Cave Falls was so named because there was a large rock overhang about a hundred yards long that flanked the river.  Part of the overhang actually went deeper into the hillside and part went under the waterfall.  Unfortunately, the overhang collapsed in 2008, so there is no cave at Cave Falls any longer.  Even without the cave, though it is an impressive sight.

  We walked down the short trail from the parking area to the falls and ran into some friends from home.  It was nice to see familiar faces there.  While we were there, I think there was a bug hatch going on because the water was boiling with trout jumping just below the falls.  It's always fun to witness that.

Friends from home

Cave Falls and the cascades above the falls

We discovered that there was another waterfall upstream from Cave Falls about a mile and a half called Bechler Falls.  Of course we hiked that.  We did discover that we should have brought bug repellent on the trip with us, however because whatever bugs were feeding the trout were feeding on us.  That being said, though the trail was very pleasant and shaded most of the way.  at the trailhead there were a series of wooden steps up a steeper portion of the trail.  After that, the going was mostly level with only an occaisional, gentle elevation gain. 

Mountain ash branch in sunlight at the trailhead

Wooden stairs at the trailhead

The trail flanked the river for all but the last sixty yards or so where it cut through the forest to navigate around a small promontory.  Here and there, cascades and rapids were visible along the trail.  The forest was mainly lodgpole pine with a few fir trees to keep them company.  Wildflowers were also on display.

Cascades along the trail

Aspen shadow on trail

Lodgepole forest

The trail passes by the confluence of the Warm River and the Bechler River, and continues following along the Bechler to the falls.  From Cave Falls to Bechler Falls, the river seems to be one series of cascades after another.  About two hundred yards away from the falls, I began hearing the rumbling of tumbling water.  I pointed it out to my sons.

Confluence of the Warm and Bechler Rivers

Very cool rock along the trail

Bechler Falls

Mossy rock at the base of the Bechler Falls

Haydn and I hiked upstream for another fifty yards or so while Chimene and the two younger boys started hiking back to the car.  Above the falls, the river looked like it was made of glass.  Beautiful and still.  It is here that the famous Bechler Meadows begin.  This is truly a beautiful part of Yellowstone National Park.

The Bechler River above the falls

Pretty yellow wildflower along the trail

More wildflowers

Still more wildflowers

Red wildflowers

This hike is short, about 3 miles roundtrip and very easy.  Very little elevation gain and where the trail does rise it's a gentle slope.  The scenery is beautiful and because of the shade and the proximity to the river, it tends to feel a little cooler than the outside temperature.  Make sure you bring bug repellent.  I would definitely hike this trail again.