Weather: generally sunny, light cloud
110 miles
I got up at 8.40, and had a breakfast of cereal followed by a danish pastry over at the cafeteria. I then picked up the car to drive the short distance to the canyon. In theory this was within walking distance, but the round-trip to the viewpoints furthest from the village would have taken most of the day.
I first stopped at Inspiration Point on the north rim. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is somewhat modest in scale compared to the actual Grand Canyon in Arizona, but nevertheless impressive. The steep sides of the canyons are lined with trees where conditions permit, otherwise a wide variety of colours of rock are left exposed. In many places, geothermal features remain active on the canyon walls, although these are inaccessible to all but the most foolhardy.
Various large birds could be seen soaring in or above the canyon. I was told these included ospreys and bald eagles, but even with binoculars it was hard to see them well.
I next stopped at Grandview point, above one of the most colourful portions of the canyon, then went on to Lookout Point, from which I could see the lower of two large waterfalls on this stretch of the river. Here one man had rigged up a powerful telescope on a tripod and was inviting people to look through it -- I did so for an amazing view of a nesting osprey, its towering nest built upon a sheer pinnacle of rock. I then took a short but steep trail down the side of the canyon for a closer view of the falls.
At the next stop, I was able to walk down right to the brink of the Lower Falls, looking down on the colossal flow of water down the 308ft (93m) drop. The following stop was at the brink of the Upper Falls, rather shorter at 109ft (33m) but nevertheless impressive.
Half a mile further on, I crossed the river via the Chittenden Bridge and made my way around to a parking lot on the opposite side of the Lower Falls. At this point was the head of the most demanding of the trails leading into the canyon, ``Uncle Tom's Trail'', named for one Tom Richardson who took visitors down a series of steps and rope ladders at this point at the start of the 20th century. This had been improved considerably since, and from about halfway down onwards offered stunning views of the falls, flanked on one side by a bank of as yet unmelted snow and on the other by a bright rainbow among the spray.
My last stop on the Canyon Ridge was at Artist Point, offering stunning views both ways along the canyon. By the time I had finished there, it was nearly 2.00, and high time for lunch. I headed back to the village, but made a stop a little way outside as I came across three elk grazing in a field beside the road.
I had lunch at a deli in the village area, then set out towards Old Faithful, some 40 miles away around the lower loop road. I made a brief stop to photograph some bison drinking from a stream, and another a few miles on when I hit a patch of roadworks southwest of Norris Junction. From the state of some of the other roads in the park, the programme of road-refurbishment was clearly called for.
I parked in a vast parking lot close to Old Faithful, and walked over to
the visitor centre to find out the expected time of its next eruption:
5.54 
10 minutes.
This time being some way off, I first watched a short video about the park and
in particular its many geysers, then took a walk around some of the many
other geysers and springs in the area close to Old Faithful, remaining
sufficiently close to it that I could quickly move within view of it should
an eruption start.
The other springs and geysers were absolutely fascinating, many being brightly coloured and in weird and wonderful shapes. As I wandered the boardwalks of this Geyser Hill, I suddenly heard a rushing noise behind me, turned round, and found the pool I had just passed, Plume Geyser, to have sprung to life in a relatively short but spectacular eruption.
I had been planning to make it back to the huge open area around Old Faithful in plenty of time for its next eruption, but it clearly had different ideas and went off a few minutes before the predicted time. The eruption lasted a good couple of minutes, throwing a narrow jet of boiling water high into the air from its cone.
The show over, I started out on a walk of about three miles along the paths beside the Firehole River to see more of the many features in the area. Each was different, but among the most impressive I encountered was Grotto Geyser. This erupted from a bizarrely-shaped cone with arched ``windows'' allowing one to peer through into the heart of the geyser, at least when the clouds of steam around it dispersed sufficiently to permit this. It was in the midst of a vigorous eruption for the several minutes I spent watching it, before continuing up the trail to one of the most photographed features of the area, Morning Glory Pool.
This deep pool has a very vivid blue colour at its heart, surrounded by a shallow pool coloured yellow and then orange, the colours being a good guide as to the temperature of the waters. The magnificent pool has sadly been damaged owing to vandalism in the form of coins and other objects thrown into it, which constrict the vent at its base and thus restrict water flow.
On the way back I passed Grotto Geyser again, still going strong. Apparently its eruptions may sometimes last over ten hours. I passed further geysers and pools, then came across a different kind of distraction: a group of bison, including a calf, wandering on or close to the path. As I made my way to the side of the path (being on stable rather than geothermally active ground) to avoid them, I was treated to another display by Old Faithful. I stopped to watch, but the bison remained completely oblivious, perhaps they had seen it many times before.
I took a brief look at the historic Old Faithful Inn, one of many buildings built on the semi-circle facing the geyser of the same name, then returned to the car. By now it was around 7.30, and I decided to take advantage of the remaining daylight to drive back to Canyon Village before having dinner. I chose to take the opposite side of the loop, this being somewhat longer but avoiding the roadworks. This drive took me briefly across to the Pacific side of the continental divide (most of Yellowstone drains into the Yellowstone River, which flows into the Missouri and then the Mississippi, finally reaching the sea some 3000 miles downstream) and then around to the scenic shores of Yellowstone Lake.
Darkness was setting in as I reached the Hayden Valley area, on the road immediately south of Canyon Village. Dusk is a good time to watch for wildlife, and I kept coming across groups of cars parked alongside the road. Out of curiosity, I kept stopping to see what they were looking at -- mainly bison and elk, but in one place I was able to catch a brief glimpse of a grey wolf disappearing into the forest. Further on, I slowed down to watch as a herd of bison made its way down to the Yellowstone River, swam across, and then crossed the road directly ahead of me.
I arrived back at Canyon Lodge to find the cafeteria closed (it was now well after 9.00), but the nearby more up-market restaurant was still serving. Service was extremely quick, and I had sauteed trout, very good. Afterwards I went back to my room, wrote a couple of postcards and sorted a few things out, then went to bed at 11.40.