Yellowstone (Part 3)

     Dark clouds were popping up as we left the Paintpots and began the final third of our loop around Yellowstone. We dodged the first few clouds and stayed dry as we made our way over to the Virginia Cascade, another awesome canyon cascade. You could walk right up to the top of this one without any hiking as the road ran right next to it.

Virginia Cascade

From the top

     Once back on the road, the clouds increased and it began to rain. The sun was still out and created a huge rainbow for us. It was the widest and brightest rainbow I have ever seen. Shannon snapped some pictures as I drove through the rain. At one point the rainbow became a double. We then entered this huge field and could see both ends of the rainbow in the field. I've never seen the end of a rainbow before. It always seems to move as you move toward it, but not today. We actually drove under the rainbow and it was then behind us. It was a very cool sight. Just in case you are wondering, there was no pot of gold at either end.

Turning into a double

The end is right there in the field!

     The rain was gone by the time we reached our next turn and headed south on the eastern side of the park. Our first stop on this side was at Yellowstone Canyon, which features a pair of waterfalls. We hiked down a path full of switchbacks to get into the canyon next to the Yellowstone River. The Upper Falls was visible from a distance. You could walk right up to Lower Falls. This waterfall was nothing short of breathtaking. You can stand right at the top and watch the water fall over the edge into the massive canyon. The mist hung in the air as we looked into the canyon with the sun beginning to set on an awesome day. The canyon looked almost unreal in the late-afternoon shadows. This area was definitely one of our favorite spots of our whole trip.

Upper Falls

Yellowstone River

The edge of Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Yellowstone Canyon

Video: Lower Falls and Yellowstone Canyon

    We hiked back out of the canyon and found a few more overlooks at other points within the canyon. We only hiked the north side of the canyon in order to move on down the road to see one more area before darkness set in.

Lower Falls from a distance

Lower Falls

Yellowstone Canyon from above

     The Mud Volcano area was our last stop of the day. This is the third area of the park that features a lot of volcanic activity that is visible above ground. The area leading up to this group of geysers and springs was open prairie along the Yellowstone River where we saw herds of bison grazing, a few elk and some trumpeter swans.

Herd of bison in the dstance

    The Mud Volcano area is a bit different from the other geyser areas. There is a lot of steaming hot water here, but also a lot of acid. The majority of the liquid pools here are more acidic than battery acid. They also smelled a lot worse than any of the sulfurous smells we encountered earlier in the day. We speed-walked around the boardwalk on the hillside that takes you past several springs, geysers and lakes. The cloud hanging around the Churning Caldron was the strongest of the smells. It was hard to breathe as you passed through and the cloud completely covered the boardwalk. A group passing in the opposite direction snickered at us coughing as we emerged from the cloud, but we got the last laugh as we heard them gagging shortly after they entered the fog.

Mud Geyser

Walking into the cloud next to the Churning Caldron

Video: The Churning Caldron

     At the top of the hill was Sour Lake, one of the most acidic pools in the park. We then went by the Mud Volcano, which is not quite as impressive as the information pamphlets make it sound. It's a bubbling pool of muddy water. The volcano cone of mud is long gone after a pressure build-up caused it to burst years ago.

Black Dragon's Caldron

Sour Lake

The Mud Volcano

     The day was now over for sightseeing. Darkness had arrived, but we had seen everything on our list. We did it! It was one long, hectic day, but we did Yellowstone. We took the long, slow drive back to Jackson Hole in the dark. I actually appreciated the low 35 mph speed limits. There were animals everywhere. None of them do you want to hit. We saw elk, mule deer and bison all over the road. One bison was standing on the edge of the road as we took a blind corner. I may have shaved the hair off his side. I cannot imagine hitting a bison. It would be like hitting a parked car. It was 35 degrees by the time we got back, but we did not mind tonight. We were too tired to care that it was cold.

     Here is a quick video of some of the views we saw during our full day in Yellowstone.

Video: Views of Yellowstone