Wednesday, August 15, 2012

MANY Bison and The Yellowstone Lower Falls at Artist's Point


Leaving the Yellowstone Cascades and traveling north, we came to a large meadow area that was covered by several herds of bison. This is an amazing sight and gave us a glimpse into what such herds must have looked like in the great Plains in the 1800's.

We saw a number of calves ranging with the herds. We suspect that the calves were pretty safe hanging around with the adults!

This bull was not worried about anything or anyone! Rick was very glad that he was using a zoom lens to capture this shot as we did not want to get anywhere near this fellow.

Hmmmm. These guys were standing shoulder to shoulder and totally blocking the other lane. They apparently had not moved for quite a while as there was a long line of traffic waiting their turn. We didn't think that the bison were in much of a hurry to move and were happy to ease by them.

One of the premier attractions in Yellowstone Park is the lower falls of the Yellowstone River and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. From this picture, you can quickly see why this is so spectacular. 

 The falls themselves are some 308' high, or about twice the height of Niagara Falls. These are spectacular from our vantage at Artist's Point observation platform.

 The Canyon is very deep (some 1,000' in total) and the river rages at the bottom after dropping over the falls. That is some rough water!

 One of the amazing things about the canyon is the way light changes the appearance of the canyon and the falls. We watched for about 30 minutes and were delighted how the changing sunlight illuminated the canyon in different ways.

 Orinda was happy to be here and experience this wonderful display of rock and water. This has to be a must do if you visit Yellowstone Park.




1 comment:

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Great pictures of the falls. It is such a great park:)