Eager to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, I was up early again. My family was soon up as well and we headed out in the van by 7. Unfortunately, I forgot the bear spray, so we turned back after a few minutes to pick it up from our tent. Finally, we were headed toward the canyon with Jason making sandwiches on the way.
And we saw a little of this:
The canyon was just 20 minutes from our campground, so the drive was fast and beautiful. We stopped at the ranger station to fill water bottles and visit with a ranger for suggestions. She recommended hiking the short trail at the Brink of the Upper Falls and then hitting Uncle Tom's Trail and Artist Point. We were so excited to be at the canyon so early, with hardly any other people.
We stopped at the brink first and enjoyed the second largest falls in the canyon, Upper Falls (109 feet tall). We were so impressed with the sheer power of the water.
Next, we parked at the head of Uncle Tom's Trail, thrilled to have our choice of so many parking spots. I was thinking we'd hike to Artist Point first, but Jason and the kids were so excited to hike the 328 steps of Uncle Tom's Trail, descending about 500 feet into the canyon. They begged to do it right away. We loaded up on granola bars, hiking packs and cameras, and found the trail head. This hike was on my must-do list. Started in the late 1800s by a man nicknamed Uncle Tom, the trail first consisted of rocky steps and paths weaving down into the canyon for a spectacular view of the enormous Lower Falls (308 feet tall). It was so precarious that hikers had to hang onto a series of ropes to keep from falling. Yikes! Since then, a giant staircase of metal steps has replaced the original trail. Warning signs caution anyone with health problems to avoid the trail due to the number of steps.
The hike down was amazing. Truly amazing. As we came around each turn and stopped at a landing,we were treated with an increasingly larger peak at the Lower Falls. These gushing falls create rainbows in the water spray at the bottom and pour forth from the beautiful rock of the canyon. The views make you want to walk faster to see the full view at the bottom. Every step feels like such a treat and accomplishment.
Finally at the bottom, here was our view:
We enjoyed the beauty and then began the ascent. Let's just say it was quickly apparent who in our family was in the best shape. Jason and Gavin took off, hiking up those steps like they do this daily. Natalie had the same enthusiasm, but was a little more concerned with motivating mom. She was such a peach about hiking ahead and then turning back, calling encouraging words to me. I did fine for the first 100 or so steps. Back in my 20s, I loved climbing steps of church towers and other buildings while traveling, always blown away by the view at the top. Uncle Tom's Trail was much the same idea. But I'm no longer in my 20s. By the time I finished all 328 steps, I was definitely out of breath and needed a few minutes. On the way up, a woman in her 60s passed us. Passed us! Turns out she does triathlons. Good grief.
Now at the top again, Jason suggested we hike the nearly two miles along the South Rim Trail to Artist Point, the most famous canyon viewpoint. I really wanted to go to the ranger talk about inspired artwork, so I was game. We realized we'd need to hike the two miles back to get to the car, but I guess we were just really ambitious about what we all could handle that day.
I'm thankful we were. It was so worth it. We had a beautiful hike, all along the canyon. To our left, the canyon plunged down nearly 1,000 feet. To our right, the pines stretched high into the air. We stopped at lookouts, kept Gavin far away from the edge and greeted several other hikers as they passed.
Once at Artist Point, we met a spunky lady from Canada and chatted for a while. You just never know who you're going to run into.
We took so many photos at the point and tried to soak up all of the beauty. Unfortunately, we were at the wrong time for an art talk, but we were perfectly timed for a Junior Ranger talk about food webs. We all participated and were joined by a few other families.
By this time, 11:30 a.m., the crowds were already growing and it was difficult to squeeze into areas for a photo we wanted.
We saw an osprey hunting:
We also learned from the ranger than a grizzly had been on the South Rim Trail yesterday. The trail we had just hiked. In fact, it was so comfortable on the trail that rangers had to close the trail and haze the bear, shooting it with a big rubber ball to bruise it and make it associate the discomfort with the area. Well, that explained all of the newly printed DANGER: BEAR signs all over the trail.
I took a deep breath, checked my bear spray and we headed back along the South Rim Trail. This hike was harder for Gavin. Poor guy was hungry and tired and we'd been hiking for hours at this point. But part of this trip was about new experiences and stretching yourself - me with five nights of camping, camping and hiking with bears, and driving scary roads. For Gavin, it was hours of hiking and not giving up.
During this hike, I really encouraged the kids to sing and talk loudly. I also let Gavin use his Jedediah Smith voice, and if you now him, you know how loud that is. There was no way we were going to accidentally sneak up and surprise a bear. Bears would know we were coming from miles away.
This hike ended up being really nice too and it felt like such an accomplishment to finish. By that time, the entire parking lot was stuffed, with cars looping through hoping someone would leave. We decided to give up our spot and drive down the road to a picnic area, in hopes that there would still be parking there. We stopped at the picnic area near Chittenden Bridge and had a wonderful lunch of stew and veggies.
As we were walking back to the car, we saw this:
Of course, people were walking very near the bison to take photos. We opted to stay far away. In fact, the kids and I walked to the other end of the small parking lot, carrying all of our gear. Jason offered to go by himself to the van and drive it around for us. I'm not messing with bison.
We headed back to Fishing Bridge to get gas, shop for gifts and visit the ranger station. Back at our campground, the kids finished their Junior Ranger booklets and we relaxed. Before dinner, we headed back to the Fishing Bridge ranger station to turn in the booklets and get their patches. The ranger was amazing, so incredibly good talking to the kids. Gavin was so excited to learn he has dyslexia!
For the evening, we made dinner and rushed off to the Bridge Bay amphitheater to hear a ranger talk on bird bills. Little Beau, the kids' new friend from Amsterdam, saw us walking and begged her parents to go to. She sat with Natalie and Gavin during the talk and Natalie helped her with the activity stations afterward. Again, I was so impressed with the ranger talks at the parks we've visited.
We headed to bed early this evening, playing cards by lantern light in our tent. This was our last night of camping. By this point, I'd expected to be tired of tenting and ready for the comforts of a building and real bed. But the opposite was true. The past five nights of camping made me fall in love with tenting. We had worked out a system, developed a routine, met wonderful neighbors, worked together as a family and immersed ourselves in nature. I had finally relaxed about the wildlife around me and treasured those early mornings waking with the sun and chirping birds. I was ready for more.
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