Yellowstone is huge with so many unique sights (pt 1)

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River drop 308 ft; this point marks where the harder volcanic rock shifts to softer hydrothermally altered rock

The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River drop 109 ft; both the Upper and Lower Falls are easy to see with new parking areas and boardwalks

The colors in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are a result of hydrothermal alteration; most of the yellows in the canyon are the result of iron present in the rock rather than, as many people think, sulfur

The Yellowstone River is considered to be one of the greatest trout streams of the world; anglers catch brown trout, rainbow trout and native Yellowstone cutthroat trout as well as Rocky Mountain whitefish

We were up early every morning and captured sunrise over the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone; the canyon is 24 miles long, between 800 and 1,200 ft deep and from .25 to .75 mi wide

Crystal Falls is an impressive 129ft waterfall that could be easily overlooked by its powerful neighbors on the Yellowstone River – Lower and Upper Falls

The Artists' Paint Pots is a group of 50+ springs, geysers, vents and especially mud pots; they exhibit varying shades of blue, gray and brown, and have a range of textures, with the behavior changing depending on the amount of subterranean water

First recorded in 1882, Blood Geyser was named due to the high concentration of iron oxide in the water which stains the surrounding rock red

In the late 1800s Mud Geyser erupted every few minutes spewing water 50 feet into the air; by 1927 the eruptions stopped but now steam vents are active again so maybe the geyser will come back to life

It was surprising that some of the thermal pools were right next to the Firehole River; the river produces excellent fishing early and late in the season but becomes too warm during the hot summer months

Grand Prismatic Spring, 370 ft in diameter, is the largest hot spring in the park; it is difficult to appreciate up close but this view from the Fiery Falls Overlook gives the best impression

Bison sure don't look like they can run 35 mph or jump fences; Yellowstone's bison are special because they have not been hybridized through interbreeding with cattle

Runoff from the Excelsior Geyser crater; the geyser was very active in the 19th century but the powerful eruptions damaged its internal plumbing system, and it now boils as a productive hot spring most of the time

Grand Prismatic Spring stretches 200+ ft across and is usually cloaked in steam due to its 160 degree temperature; it was one of my favorite sights in the park

The Excelsior Geyser pumps 4000+ gallons of boiling water every minute into the Firehole River; in the 1880s the geyser erupted in bursts 50-300 ft high

Silex Spring's water is very hot as evidenced by the clear blue color; Silex is Latin for silica, which is a major component of rhyolite, Yellowstone’s most common volcanic rock

Clepsydra (Greek for water clock) Geyser erupts nearly continuously to heights of 45 ft; prior to the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake, it erupted regularly every three minutes

The aspens were already brilliant yellow in mid-September; we saw small groups of sandhill cranes but only from a distance

We tend to use buffalo and bison interchangeably but bison is preferred for formal or scientific purposes; this guy was waiting for us right next to the Hellroaring Creek trail

One of the many herd of elk we saw with the dominant male keeping watch; we often would hear their bugling which is most common during the rutting season