Sunday, October 10, 2010

Wildlife, Waterfalls, and Wonders


Day 5 (July 25th)


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Today was a good day. We woke up to a few deer (or elk) chillin' in our campsite. I followed them around for a while and tried to get some good pictures. After we lost interest with the deer we got ready for the day. As we were in the car leaving the general campsite, we saw a buffalo (or bison... they're practically the same thing). We had seen some buffalo the day before while driving, but this one was different because it was IN the campsite. So we all hopped out of the car to take a closer look. Of course, Mikey, being the stupid teenager, got the closest. He got about 3 feet from it, but luckily there were some trees he could jump behind when the buffalo started to look angry. Everyone in the tents around that area were all peeking out and taking pictures. It was such a cool experience.

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So, finally we left the buffalo and were on our way to start driving around Yellowstone. First, we went through Hayden Valley. There's not really much I can say, except that it was beautiful. It's one of those places that you just have to experience for yourself. While driving, we saw a baby buffalo. It was so cute! A little later we almost hit a buffalo as it crossed the street. The things are everywhere!

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Our next stop was Artist Point at the Grand Canyon. Not THE Grand Canyon, but the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which I was told was first. Supposedly, the Grand Canyon in in Utah is named after the one at Yellowstone. I'm not surprised at all. It was so beautiful! It had a huge waterfall that ran into a river. The river ran through the whole canyon... just like the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. We went on a little hike in this area where we got to just follow the river, except from way up high.
 

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After Artist Point we stopped to see Tower Fall which was a small waterfall. It was pretty, but nothing too special after seeing the waterfall at Artist Point. As we drove, I saw a sign for a petrified tree. The guys didn't care to see it, but I wanted to, so they stopped for me. I didn't get to see it up close because nobody felt like taking the 50 yard walk, but I got some pictures. After we left here, we found ourselves stuck in traffic. Tourist traffic. Finally, we got to the front and realized everyone was pulled over looking at something in the distance. We asked someone what it was and he said it was a grizzly bear. I couldn't see it. We spent 5 minutes trying to see the thing... that's how far away it was. Finally, I could almost, kind of see it with my telephoto lens.

As we drove around Yellowstone seeing what other natural wonders there were to see, we stopped at a place called Mammoth Hot Springs. They were so wonderful. It never ceases to amazing me how the Lord created so many beautiful and crazy natural things! As we walked around Mammoth, we went to the end where it dropped off. It was like a cliff, but there was water running off of the cliff. It wasn't like a typical waterfall, though. It just looked like shiny rocks because the water was so thin and clear. Again, I can't explain. You just have to see it for yourself.

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Once we got back to camp, we started dinner. Chris made bacon-wrapped corn and Dennis made BBQ chicken. Mikey helped too, of course. And the guys always found something for me to do.

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