The sun was finally out in full force for our trip from our West Yellowstone base to a more central location at Grant Village. Another trip along the Madison River, then the Firehole River and past the Old Faithful Lodge and it's namesake geyser and we left, for a while, the still burn-scarred upper geyser basin for a trip up to a pass over the Continental Divide. Along the way we stopped to see Grand Prismatic Spring - the largest and most impressive of the hot springs in the area. With the cool weather, the amount of steam coming from the hot water made for poor views and wet sunglasses, but we did manage to get a few views in.
We finally got a glimpse of Yellowstone Lake after topping the ridges and then took a short jog to the south to find the never before visited
by me Grant Village complex. This was the first time I've stayed in this area, always had just driven through before. The complex was constructed in 1984 amidst enormous controversy as it was placed right in the midst of some the best grizzly habitat in the park. Needless to say, the bears came out on the losing side in favor of more visitor space. There is still a great deal of disagreement among wildlife biologists and park administration about habitat management in general, but this facility caused a firestorm in the late 80's. It's in place now, however, so little can be done to change things, but I must say it's a delightful location and the facilities - the newest in the park by far - are nice. The bears might disagree.We explored the area around Grant Village for a bit before heading north to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - next to Old Faithful, probably the most well know spot in the park. It is a spectacular place with a deep canyon cutting through layers of multi-colored rock.
At over 900 feet deep and half a mile wide, it certainly gets your attention. Geologically it's an interesting spot because the canyon is erosional rather than glaciated, which is what defines much of the park - and of course volcanism. In this case, it is presumed that the location of the canyon was covered by rhyolite rock - normally very hard -which was chemically altered by the existence of an underlying geyser basin. The heat and water and chemicals contained in that water had an effect on the rhyolite which altered its composition, making it very soft and subject to the incredible erosion we see today. There are still many thermal features in the vicinity today, which were visible on this trip. The cool weather caused large amounts of steam to be emitted from all these locations so I was able, for the first time, to see the locations. A fabulous place!!
On our return toward Grant Village we made a stop at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel. It was here we found all the bison that had been missing in our passage of the Hayden Plateau between the canyon and the hotel. Here is the Hayden Valley - a gorgeous place as well!!
