They finally opened up the Dunraven Pass at the North Loop in Yellowstone so on another beautiful day we got up early and passed the West entrance at 7.30 in the morning.
We first wanted to visit the Lamar Valley in the North East of the park which is famous for seeing lots of wildlife. The earlier you can get there the better though and it would take us about 2 hours just to get there!

Since we'd seen the first part of the road already we drove straight through but I had to stop to take some pictures of the Washburn Range from the road between Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs.

 

 

 

Just gorgeous

 

A little farther down the road a small herd of bison was crossing and we finally saw the first babies.

They're so cute, it's hard to believe they grow up to be so big and bulky!

 

 

 

The Undine Falls, just passed Mammoth Hot Springs is a pretty little three-tiered waterfall falling about 100 feet down on Lava Creek.

 

 

 

 

Next is a view towards The Gallatin National Forrest, with the Yellowstone River down below.

 



 

 

See the 'fuzz' in the middle of the picture? If you look close you see it in all my pictures at the moment.

Reason being: scratches on the lens! Darn! Probably caused by some sand or so and the fact that I have to 'help' the shutter to open fully with my finger since it gets stuck every now and than.

I'll see if I can find a new lens at EBay but I'm actually also thinking of getting something with a little more zoom so maybe it's time to shop for a whole new camera! Yeah!
 

 

 

 

Just passed Tower Roosevelt we spotted some Elk. So far we've seen no young ones amongst them yet. I can see they're probably a little later than the bison, they look a lot less robust!

 

 

 

Around mid morning we reached the Lamar Valley.This is the winter range for the elk and bison.

It's also the spot to see wolves but but they're usually only seen from afar and most people bring huge telescope lenses and spotting scopes to catch a glimpse of them!

 

An interpretive sign along the road says the valley is often called the 'Eden' of the United States due to so many animal species living here together.

It reminds me of pictures of the African Serengeti I've seen, just with different animals.

 

 

Bison and pronghorn grazing together

 

 

              OK, this is very far away but it IS a wolf! Cool!

Pronghorns again. They looked very pregnant!

See what I mean?

Time for a little lunch. Nice view eh?

 

 

While we were there we drove the couple of miles  to the East entrance of the Park and turned around again. Just for fun :)

 

These little Uinta Ground Squirrels were all over the picnic areas. Hey, free (fast) food!

Time for some more falls. This one's the famous Tower Fall, 132 feet, named for the eroded volcanic pinnacles or 'towers' found at the top of the falls.

 

The famous painting of these falls by Thomas Moran played a crucial role in the establishment of Yellowstone Park in 1872.






We finally reached the Dunraven Pass (8859'). Being prime habitat for Grizzly bears we'd hoped to spot one but no such luck.

 

 

 

Just this big old bison (sorry for the 'fuzziness')

 

 

 

 

Our last stop of the day was 'The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' on the other side of the pass, just passed Canyon Village.

This canyon is approximately 24 miles long, between 800 feet (244m) and 1,200 feet (366m) deep and between one quarter of a mile (.45 km) and three quarters of a mile (1.2 km) wide. (in case you were just dying to know :)

The canyon is a classic V-shaped valley, indicative of river-type erosion rather than glaciation. Today it is still being eroded by the Yellowstone River.

 

 

 

The colors in the canyon are also a result of  alteration by water. The rhyolite in the canyon contains a variety of different iron compounds.  Exposure to the elements caused the rocks to change colors. The rocks are oxidizing; in effect, the canyon is rusting.
The colors indicate the presence or absence of water in the individual iron compounds.

We drove the North Rim Drive which leads to overlooks of Lower Falls, 308 feet, and walkways along the canyon's rim.

The Lower Falls is often described as being more than twice the size of Niagara, although this only refers to its height and not the volume of water flowing over it.

 

Most of the yellows in the canyon, as seen below, are also the result of iron present in the rock rather than, as many people think, sulfur.

 

 

Well, here's to the end of another beautiful day in Yellowstone.

This huge cloud just caught the last rays of sunshine of
a perfect day on it's top.