After watching Old Faithful erupt, we spent the rest of the day exploring Yellowstone. Have I mentioned how HUGE it is?! (We drove all over Yellowstone for 2 1/2 days and still didn't come close to seeing all of it.) Our first stop was at Biscuit Basin, where there were all of these beautiful boiling hot springs and geysers. It smelled awful though! The Sapphire Pool was my favorite!
We had a little picnic there by the stream, and then we went on a 2 1/2 mile hike up to Mystic Falls. The kids got a little tired, but overall they did great, and it was absolutely beautiful! Brian was totally in his element too...this is his favorite kind of thing to do. After our hike, we made our way back to the van and drove around to other parts of Yellowstone. We happened to drive by this huge geyser that was erupting right as we passed by...it was amazing! I think it was either Firehole geyser or the Great Fountain Geyser. This one was even cooler than Old Faithful, because we were so close to it! The scariest, and probably the coolest part of our day was when we hiked down to this massive waterfall at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. First of all, the scenery there was absolutely amazing! We hiked about half a mile downhill on a trail that takes you to a platform at the Brink of the Lower Falls. There are no words to explain what this was like, except terrifying...breathtaking...unbelievable... The Lower Falls is the tallest waterfall in Yellowstone, at 308 feet...that is more than twice the size of Niagara Falls! All I can say about is I was holding on tightly to my children & I was genuinely scared standing there on that platform. But it was such a cool experience! The hike back up was straight uphill and very difficult, but we made it. We were all pretty worn out at that point and I wasn't feeling good, so we started making our way back to our camp, which took another hour or so. It was getting close to dusk, which is when the animals like to come out, so we kept our eyes open on the way back. We saw some more elk & some deer, but still no bears.
What a fun day, exploring God's beautiful creation!!
Hiking to Mystic Falls...
Jonah picked me lots of flowers!!
I Spy Brian...
I feel you, girl! (My mini-me!)
This was too funny...the kids didn't want to get out of the van! LOL!
And here we are at the top of the Lower Falls. The roar and power of this water was unlike anything I have ever heard or seen!
Slow Mo...
Our God is such an amazing artist!!
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