Day #82: Rest Day in Yellowstone

One of the early expeditions of Europeans to explore Yellowstone, included an artist. Describing a waterfall, he said "it surpasses human artistry to depict it." Really the same could be said of the whole park. The terrain changes so quickly from lakeside resort to steaming vents of sulfurous, bacteria rich water, to wide trout rivers, to huge waterfalls cascading between cliffs, back to steam vents and mud volcanoes, then to valleys with elk grazing or bison slowly munching. I spend all day on a tour of the lower loop, and saw all of the above and Old Faithful too, and still feel like I've experienced just a few percent of the park's variety.

Maybe Thomas Moran had trouble depicting the splendor of the waterfall at The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, but let's see how an iPhone camera does...

Or with the Dragon's Mouth or Mud Volcano...

And, Old Faithful to wrap up the day:

Along with the Erie Canal, the Badlands of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, and the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone has been one of the high points of my trip.