Yellowstone Thursday

Continuing on with our vacation in Yellowstone National Park, here are photos from Thursday, August 9. On that day the rest of our group went hiking above the Grand Prismatic Pool to Fairy Falls. This was more than I would have been able to handle, so I had a quiet day in the cabin, reading and working with the photos I had already taken. After the hikers returned and rested a bit, we had dinner and then went to the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River. Evening is a good time for this, as the crowd of other tourists has greatly diminished.

The Upper Falls doesn't have the dramatic height of the Lower Falls, but is an
awesome experience because the viewing platform is much closer to the river. At
this point the river is squeezed into a narrow passageway between cliffs and falls
down to the lower level with a great roar, the water whipped into foam. This view
is from directly above the point where the water falls over the cliff.

Up river from the falls, a section of old highway runs over a bridge. The bridge and
the road section are condemned for vehicle traffic, but make a lovely walk along the river.

On the way back to the cabin area, we saw this bull elk. I got a quick snap out the
window of the moving truck. His antlers are there, but partially hidden in the trees.

This photo falls in the category of memory picture--the distance was too great for my camera. This was a cow buffalo who was running away from two bulls. One bull was right on her heels, the other, a much larger, heavier bull, was determinedly following but far enough behind that he isn't even in this photo. She ran across the prairie, swam the river, clambered up the steep hill for a ways, then ran parallel to the river until she was out of our sight, her suitors still in pursuit. Maybe Anne Marie will post some of the photos Chad took with their big zoom lens.