Vacation 2011–Day 6

Today, we explored the eastern side of Yellowstone. Much like yesterday, we were in and out of several locations. We really didn’t spend much time in any single location. Rather than take notes for each individual location, I let sightings mix. Among these sightings were robins, bison, elk, ravens, an osprey, violet-green swallows, deer, ground squirrels, a magpie, geese, mallards, a heron, and a coyote.



Our first stop of the day was the North rim of the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.” We stopped a few times along the road to take pictures of waterfalls.

We continued North to Tower Falls. We managed to shoot the falls from the upper viewpoint. The trail to the base had a bridge wash out, so we didn’t manage to shoot the falls from below.
We then returned to the canyon. This time, we visited the south rim. We took a quick walk to an overlook for a quick series of waterfall pictures. We finished the drive to Artist Point to add more pictures of Lower Falls.

We continued south to Mud Volcano. We walked along the boardwalk and took several shots of this hotspot. This included the actual mud volcano as well as Dragon’s Mouth where steam and water seemingly rushed from the dragon’s mouth.


We took one final stop by Pelican Creek. One book that we have been using praised the Pelican Creek Trail for its bird life. I decided to take more detailed notes. Among the wildlife that we saw in this area were robins, buffleheads, a woodpecker. gulls, a pelican, red squirrels, a green-winged teal, and Canada Geese.


EDIT: During the day, we also saw chipmunks.