12 September 2015, (Shana Tova)
We are up at 7:15 am. It feels colder than yesterday morning, but O’s
watch reads -3.8 degrees C. Once again, with many layers on, we cook
up breakfast and once again, by the time we are ready to go explore,
it is warm enough for just a long sleeved shirt over a T-shirt.
Today’s goal is further exploration of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We
plan to drive to the north rim of the canyon to see the lower falls
in the morning sun. Then we will return to the south rim. We stop
first at Canyon Village. There we learn that the plume of smoke we
were seeing the previous day, and the cause of today’s haze, is two
fires in Yellowstone, both presumed started by lightning, one in late
August and one a few days ago. Because the fires are small and
contained and natural, the Park Service is watching closely, but
letting them run their course. They are good for the ecosystem.
We visit all the recommended vistas on the North Rim and take lots of photos. I had been looking forward to Inspiration Point, but the best part of the promontory for this particular view fell into the canyon in an earthquake several years ago. O suggests we are only half-inspired.
After exploring the North Rim and watching an osprey for awhile, we return
to Artist’s Point on the South Rim to see the view in the morning
(actually early afternoon by now) light. We have our lunch of trail
snacks and then move on to Uncle Tom’s trail to descend to another
beautiful view of the lower falls. Uncle Tom led all-day trips down
to this view along a series of rugged trails and rope ladders back in
the late 1800’s. He earned about $1000 a season leading these tours.
Now there is a perforated steel staircase attached to the canyon wall, and a series of switchbacks to get to the viewpoint. It’s over 300
steps down and probably at least 1000 steps back up! The view is
great – with rainbows appearing in the spray from the falls.
We decide to travel northward to the Tower area of the park next. We
drive over a pass, elevation greater than 8800 feet. We stop for a
view of the Yellowstone Caldera then drive past ancient basalt
overhanging cliffs. At yet another beautiful waterfall view we run
into a Scottish couple we met on the caldera rim, our nexdoor tent
neighbor from Indian Creek, and a delightful 82 year old woman we had
met earlier in the day while walking down to one of the canyon views.
She had told us her age then, as we hiked down and O told her she was
an inspiration! She gives us a cheery hello as we pass.
On the way around the loop road we stop at Mammoth Hot Springs to walk
the boardwalks there before returning to camp to prepare our dinner. For
dessert we cook up a batch of brownies in the frittata pan and invite
our neighbor over to share. He is a retired reporter/photographer for
a small town newspaper in Wyoming and also a musician. We trade
advice on camping equipment. He tells us we should not miss the pass
in the Beartooth Mountain area in Montana. It was one of Charles
Kuralt’s favorite roads, described in his On the Road series. We wash
dishes in the dark and retire to the tent. During the night we can hear elk
bugling and coyotes howling. There is no construction going on this
night. I am having trouble sleeping it’s so quiet!
