Lower Road

We woke up on the morning of Thursday, June 25, 2015, at the Yellowstone National Park, in the "Grant Village Campground".
GPS-coordinates: 44°23'39.2"N, 110°33'49.4"W
*Grant Village Campground*

Because the evening before, we entered to the park through the Yellowstone south entrance...

The camping is located in the Grant Village, near the southern entrance to the "Yellowstone".
Here are the information center, the post office, shops, restaurants and the gas station.
All these utilities are necessary for the tourists to continue the journey through the park.

We did so...
We quickly folded down a tent and drove to get acquainted with the park.
As I have already written, the tourists move in the park along an asphalt road, similar to a numeral "8", they stop at the viewing areas, walk and watch the sights.
The someone moves the clockwise, the someone - against the clock.
Probably, it depends on which side you have entered the park and where you spend the night.
We moved into the Yellowstone National Park from the south (a bottom of the numeral 8) and drove to the right - a counter-clockwise.

And after 10 minutes, we saw smoke from the steam behind the trees...
It is West Thumb Geyser Basin, on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

This field of geysers got its name from the bay of Yellowstone Lake - "West Thumb", which is similar to the thumb of the hand.

There are no the big geysers here, but the place is very picturesque...

The ground is just breathing a fire...

The hot springs, pools and funnels, mud pots...
What do you prefer?

The many "miracles" of nature have the names.
The hot springs are deep and the water is crystal clear and boils...
The temperature is about 100 degrees Celsius.

A quiet large lake and mountains complement the beauty of this land...

The special wooden tracks are made for tourists, because the land is very hot and you can fall.

The visitors walk along wooden trails between the geysers, on the shore of the lake.

We did not smell a hydrogen sulphide, or rather it was the only place in the park where there was a smell a little bit.

We leave the West Thumb Geyser Basin...

And we were moving near the shore of the lake by the "Grand Loop Road".
There was a lot of viewing areas, where the everyone stops, walks and made the photos of the lake.

The most popular viewing areas - the "Pumice Point" and the "Gull Point".

You can go down to the lake and take a walk along the shore...

Here, there are no geysers anymore...
Only the lake, the forest and the mountains in the distance...

The Yellowstone Lake ended after a tourist village and we were moving along the shore of the Yellowstone River.

There were the green meadows and bisons near the road!

But, the smoke from the steam appeared ahead again...
And we hurried there...

The big parking was behind the trees.

It was the "Mud Volcano" - a mud geyser...

Let's take a walk along the wooden trail around the geyser.

Here were - the mud pots.

The landscapes were fabulous...

The Yellowstone River breaks out of the forest and flows through the valley...

The herd of bisons had came to the watering place...

The river leaves the valley ... and the forest "embraces" the river.

Rocks help the forest...

The river boils between the rocks...

We were approaching to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!
*Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone*

The Yellowstone River forms the two waterfalls on its way and rushes along the canyon farther.
The waterfalls are called: Upper Yellowstone Falls & Lower Yellowstone Falls.

For tourists, there is a whole system of roads, viewing areas and routes.

You can travel by car, walk, watch and enjoy the river, waterfalls, rocks and the canyon.

We turned onto the South Rim Drive, which ran along the southern edge of the canyon.
The shore is very picturesque here but the river is stormy.

So, the waterfall will be soon and a water "boils" in the river.

And here it is - the Upper waterfall on the Yellowstone River.

The height of the waterfall is 33 meters.

Then we went to the Lower waterfall on the Yellowstone River, which was located 400 meters from the Upper waterfall.

We parked on the viewing area "Uncle Tom's Point".

A trail along the edge of the canyon will lead us to the bottom of the Lower Falls.

But first, you have to go down by the steep stairs.
We have counted 328 steps on the stairs.

There are benches and steel grounds for a rest of tourists.

Tourists descend, stop, rest and watch the waterfall.

The height of the Lower Falls is 94 meters.
It is almost twice the height of the famous Niagara Falls!

A fog, water sprays and ... the rainbow were down near the water!

Probably, the waterfall looks very beautiful from afar.
We climbed by the stairs, got into the car and drove to the viewing area "Artist Point".

The viewing point is located on the ledge of the cliff from which you can see the Lower Falls and the Canyon.

After the falls, the Yellowstone River flows through the canyon.

The length of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is 39 km, the average depth is 304 meters.

The rocks surrounding the river in the canyon are no less beautiful.
The rocks were burning and sparkling in the sun.

The such beauty is not just for us...

We saw the viewing points on the other side of the river near waterfalls, where tourists were standing next to the falling water.
So, we left the South Rim Drive and drove there...

The viewing point near the Upper Falls.

The tons of greenish water fall down...

We moved along North Rim Drive to the parking lot, dropped the car and went down by the trail to the viewing point near the Lower Falls.

After 400 meters after the Upper Falls, the river falls down from a height of 94 meters.

You can touch the water with your hand.
It is cold and crystal clear, with a greenish shade...

And what was going on below!

The rainbow sparkled among the sprays and a fog!

Further, the river flows through the Grand Canyon!

You can stroll along the pedestrian trail at the North Rim of the canyon, and to visit the viewing points: "Lookout Point", "Grand View", "Inspiration Point".

Rocks, a river and a waterfall were seen perfectly from here...

You do not feel tired, but a time flies quickly.
And we had to move further...
Goodbye the Yellowstone River, goodbye the Grand Canyon, goodbye the waterfall and the birdie in the nest...

The tourist area "Canyon Village" is located near the Yellowstone River, at the eastern exit from the park.
We had a lunch there...

After lunch, we moved to the other side of the circular road "Grand Loop Road" (a numeral 8).
We booked a site in the camping there...
This road - jumper is called Norris Canyon Road, it connects the eastern part of the park with the western one.
The length of the road is 19 km.

In 20 minutes, we saw steams of geysers, which were rising high above the ground...
This thermal field is called the Norris Geyser Basin.

It is the oldest, hot and the most active thermal zone of the park.

Here, the whole ground hisses, gurgles and spews out pungent smells.

The area is very large.
But tourists walk only on wooden trails and bridges.

But you should not walk on the ground.
It is very dangerous, you can get burned or fall into the pit.
The signs warn about it.

How beautiful it was there!

The highest active geyser in the world is located in the Norris Geyser Basin!
It is "Steamboat" geyser.

Eruptions are not regular, but the geyser release a water very powerfully, to a height of more than 90 meters.
There have been cases when tens of years passed between the eruptions...
The last eruption was three weeks before our visit.

The sunset was soon and we had to hurry...
Because, we booked a site in Madison Junction Campground, 20 kilometers from here, at the western exit from the park.
On the way to the camping, we stopped on the viewing point "Artists Paintpots" and strolled along the path.

Around us, was a boiling pool of gurgling mud puddles.

Mud bubbles flew to many meters...

We tried to get off the wooden trail to the ground and to touch the water...
It was a boiling water!

No wonder, trees do not stand the underground heat, wither and die.

And you can see the monsters here...

Next stop was next to the "Emerald Spring"...
It is an emerald bath of hot water, a depth of 8 meters.

The Gibbon River flows next to the Grand Loop Road.

And here is the parking near the "Gibbon Falls".

It is a cascading waterfall, its height is 26 meters.

We got to the campground, we were tired but were satisfied.
GPS-coordinates: 44°38'43.8"N, 110°51'40.4"W
*Madison Junction Campground*

We were going to have a good rest and to continue the trip across the Yellowstone National Park the next day.

The beautiful landscapes of the park exceeded all our expectations.
And we understood, that the two full days in the park - it's very little time.