Yellowstone National Park: The Canyon

The second half of our Yellowstone stay was spent exploring the canyon area. Here, the Yellowstone River has cut out a large ravine, and it is unique because of the colors of the rock. The geothermal bacteria present in the area leaches out different minerals from underground, causing the rock to turn shades of pink, orange, and yellow and making photographs of the canyon look almost unreal.

We hiked around the area for a while, but the highlight was Uncle Tom's trail. The trail is really more of a 300-some step metal staircase which goes down the canyon wall near the base of the Lower Falls.

Uncle Tom's "trail"

The close-up falls view

Just upriver from here, there is a smaller set of falls called the Upper Falls, which are a mere 100 feet tall compared to the Lower Falls 300-foot drop.

Looking down the cold, thundering Yellowstone River

After spending Saturday around the canyon, we said goodbye on Sunday morning: we would not see Drew until the end of the week, where we would meet up again outside of Seattle. The company was great, and it was great to see one of the country's top national parks together!