28th July 2016 - Yellowstone - Island Park ID - Kms to date: 7,250

Kms today: 85


We had an 8am start from Grant Village. It was our last night in Yellowstone and we would be leaving for Island Park ID just outside the park after today's activities.
We headed to a trail head near Canyon Village where we started a five mile hike through grasslands looking for wildlife etc. We found an old bull Bison which we gave wide berth to and carried on to a string of sulphur pools emanating from the fissures in the rocks.

At one pool called Clear Lake we tested the Ph and found it very acidic. Unsurprisingly there were no plants growing on/in it. There were however half a dozen ducks paddling about in the middle of the lake. They were either mutations of real ducks or their feet had dissolved in the acid and they couldn’t swim.

Peering into the acid lake.

This Bison is not to be messed with.

At the end of the trail we arrived at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was a truly amazing sight with the Yellowstone river roaring along at the bottom of this deep gorge. We walked along the rim of the canyon admiring the views taking many photos. We came upon the lower falls with a drop of 100m and many good vantage points from which to take photos. At the end of this trail there was a public car park and a viewing platform over the lower falls. The place was chockers with buses disgorging lots of tourists trying to get a selfie with the falls!!! We soon left this chaos and headed along another trail towards the upper falls.

Our intrepid hikers taking a well earned rest.

There were spectacular views of these falls on the way.

The lower falls.

At the end of the trail we crossed a bridge and were able to view these falls from a platform just above them.

The upper falls.

This was the last act of our Yellowstone Trails tour so we headed back to Canyon Village to pick up our car and head for Island Park where we were staying that night. We said our good byes to the rest of the tour group some of which were heading back to Mammoth Springs for the night. They were a good group from all over the USA. A family of four from Colombus Missouri (mum, dad and two teenage sons), a couple from Philadelphia, a couple from Charleston North Carolina and a couple from Houston Texas.


Our hiking party.

We headed for the west entrance of Yellowstone and managed to get caught up in a Bison queue (people pulling up to view Bison along the road). Luckily the park rangers were on hand to move them on and get us moving. We arrived at Island Park around 6pm. This town is not really a town but a series of communities that got together and formed a “city”. The main street was about 20 miles long and consisted mostly of farm land!! We had to call the accommodation a number of times to try and determine where exactly they were located. Eventually we found the place behind a derelict building. There was no one on site so we were directed to our cabin by phone. The place was open and the key was meant to be inside but we couldn’t find.

Our luxurious accommodation in Island Park ID.

We left everything locked in the car and went over the road to the “Trout Hunter” for dinner. This establishment was located by the river and seemed to be catering for the fishing aficionado with boats and fishing gear for hire. After dinner we went back to our cabin and tried the TV which didn’t work so we played our never ending game of Gin Rummy and found the door key camouflaged by the bedspread.