Day 8 was focused on the Canyon Area of Yellowstone Park. As usual, we got an early start to try to see wildlife, and had a wolf cross the road ahead of us as we approached the park entrance. We also saw a field of bison and their calves. We drove through the Hayden Valley area, but only saw a little dot of a grizzly in the distance.
We then headed to the South Rim of the Canyon area. On the South Rim, we had great views of the upper falls from Artist Point and other observation areas. We then headed over to the North Rim of the falls where we hiked down to a platform just over the brink of the lower falls. Insane views from there! We also went to Inspiration Point for another view of the canyon and lower falls. Such a beautiful area.
We then went to the mud volcano area, which had a nice boardwalk hike and some really interesting geothermal features, such as the churning cauldron and dragon's mouth, but also was an area that really smelled of sulphur. We continued on the loop road to the Fishing Bridge and to the Tom Thumb area, where there were more geothermal features right alongside Yellowstone Lake. The lake still had ice on it, although the areas around the hot springs were well thawed. Right along the edge of the lake were several hot springs known as the fishing pots, as in the past fisherman would catch their fish and put them right into the hot springs while still on the line to cook them. Several elk were grazing near the boardwalk hike, giving us another great view of wildlife in the area. Views in the area were spectacular! We enjoyed dinner at the Slippery Otter Pub back in West Yellowstone that evening.
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