June 22, 2011: Day 4, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and More

Our plan for the day was to get to the Artist's Point along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by 945 am today.  I had read that there is an awesome rainbow that appears at the base of the falls at precisely 945 and lasts till 955.  They were right!!! At 10 there was a Junior Ranger program about squirrels, and it was interesting to hear about the different types of squirrels that live in the park.  We did a bit of hiking along the canyon, and the most exciting was the "Brink of the Lower Falls".  It was a hard hike, but worth it.  We went to the visitor center and watched a short movie, enjoyed the exhibits, then had a picnic lunch.
Along the drive from Canyon to Yellowstone Lake, we stopped at Sulphur Canyon and Mud Volcano.  There were some really neat things to see and hear here.

Journal

8:15 am Wednesday June 22

We are just leaving camp on our way to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We are hoping to make it to Artist's Point by 9:45 to see the rainbow.  We had a really rough night last night with Abby's rash.  They are really bothering her.  We may need to find a doctor today :(.

9:45 am

We made it just in time!  We got to see the rainbow grow out of the base of the falls.  It was pretty neat.  After we watched the falls we got to listen to a ranger talk about squirrels.  We learned that there are five types of squirrels in the park.

The Red Squirrel is very important because it gathers white bark pine cones and this is an important food source of the Grizzly Bears.  The Uinta Ground Squirrels sleep 8.5 months of the year, short tails, marmot like.  Three types of chipmunks are also squirrels.  They have stripes that cover their eyes and go along their backs.

We did a bit of hiking along the canyon, and the most exciting was the "Brink of the Lower Falls" it was a 600 foot drop over .75 mile.  It was a hard hike but worth it!  At the Canyon Visitor Center we watched a short movie and enjoyed the exhibits.  We had a picnic lunch and an ice cream treat. 

Along our drive from Canyon to the Lake, we stopped at Sulphur Canyon and Mud Volcano.  There were some cool hot springs (not cool temp, but neat!).  We drove along the north part of the lake and up to Lake Butte, we could see all the way to the Tetons!  There was a large snowbank that we played in. 

At the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center we enjoyed looking at the bird exhibits and playing by the lake.  There was more snow here, and the girls played in it. 

Journal

10:45 pm

We are all tucked into bed and tuckered out!  I have lots to digest before I'm ready to write for the day.  We enjoyed the Canyon area and our drive through Fishing Bridge.  The camera started acting up so we missed some good pictures.  We did see a bear!!  A black bear.  That was fun .  I feel like I'm going to ramble, so I'll finish another time.