Yellowstone National Park - Canyon Campground Yellowstone 8/26 - 9/1

From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 

Tim and Linda Bunyan

We say goodbye to Jim and Teddy, the puppy dog, and to Phil and Tracey. 
 Tim and I continue on to 
Canyon Campground in Yellowstone National Park. 
We are certainly glad we made reservations nearly 12 months ago as we are centrally located within the park for ease of getting around.

We will go view the buffalo in Lamar Valley.  We have been hearing the news at the Ranger Programs of great viewing locations where herds have been spotted.

There is a center for shopping, restaurants, and a museum.  There is a theatre where we attend several Ranger Programs in the evening.  This building is a separate kiosk where you may receive training and rent Bear Spray.

We do have our own bear spray; yet, Tim is reading about the bear warnings.

Canyon Village is within a mile of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and 

a favorite place to return.

 Each Campground features a story about the outstanding aspect within the Park.
As in the earliest days of this area, The  Canyon Visitor Education Center explains the world of Yellowstone's supervolcano.  There are exhibits, animations, audio-visual productions, and real-time scientific data.  Geology information is abundant on how Yellowstone geysers and hot springs shape the distribution of life found here.

Here we are doing a 'Selfie'....we are in need of training!  

The canyon in the background really is picturesque!    We are on an early morning Ranger Tour of the Canyon and especially, the famous: Artist Point.  

Thomas Moran painted from this location.  It was his paintings of the area that helped to convince the Federal Government to legislate this place to preserve.

Famous illustrator Thomas Moran came here to paint the canyon to show and inspire people living back east to come to see the rare sites.

1. The Yellowstone River (692 miles long) flows northward through Yellowstone Nationa Park, feeding and draining Yellowstone Lake, then drops over the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls at the head of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with the confines of the park.
2. The River is the principal tributary of the upper Missouri River that drains (Absaroka Range) a wide area from the Rocky Mountain across the mountains and plains of southern Montana and Northern Wyoming

The most important product of the 1871 Hayden Geological Survey, in addition to the sketches and paintings by Thomas Moran and the photographs by William Jackson, is the drawings and descriptions of the thermal features.

Thomas Moran painted this Canyon to gain the attention of the Federal Government to pass legislation to preserve this place in its natural state.  1872 President Ulysses S, Grant signed the bill into law, establishing the Yellowstone region as a public park.

 
Grand View at the end of our walking trails at the north lookout point, a grand view of lower falls.
Spent much of the day on these trails.

Our 9:00 Ranger Walk to Artist Point.



 We spent the entire day on trails along Upper and Lower Falls in this beautiful canyon.  

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is located on the Yellowstone River and is near 24 miles long and 800' - 1200' deep.

Tower Falls trail has been rehabilitated by the National Park Service and partner Student Conservation Association.

There is a nicely constructed 132' drop with is framed by eroded volcanic pinnacles is an idyllic setting.  Thomas Moran included a painting of Tower Fall.  An overlook gains us a w view throughout the Canyon area.  

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The downstream end of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River provides the overlook to remnants of an ancient lava flow that shaped much of the Yellowstone landscape.  Bighorn sheep, red-tailed hawks, and osprey habitats in the gorge and cliffs.

We are in the Tower-Roosevelt area preserved to set limits of development to protect the area's natural resources including the rustic architecture of Roosevelt Lodge.

Tim and I walk along a vacant boardwalk in the Lamar Valley area and spotted bighorn sheep in the distance.

We take a small turn from the main highway to an obscure petrified tree that is protected from souvenir collectors by an iron fence on a Yellowstone National Park hillside.  The tree has been preserved after being buried in mud, rock, and sand after a volcanic eruption. 

 

We are nearing the East entrance of Yellowstone near Lamar Valley to the location wherein 1906 President Theodore came for a camping trip for stream fishing, horseback riding, a petrified forest, stagecoach rides, and trail trips into the northeastern section of Yellowstone Park.

A view from the Roosevelt Lodge porch across the meadow to the distant mountains.  This location area serves as the Western Camp Dude Ranch where Tim and I ventured on a wagon ride and the corral area for the Cowboy Dinner.
We come here for all the same reasons. 
As Superintendent Horace Albright described it as "a place visitors would like to stay indefinitely".   
The front porch of the old west themed Roosevelt Lodge where we come to sit.  

As early as 1883 trappers and explorers camped in this area where sagebrush is circled by Douglas fir, aspen, and a mountain stream tumbled toward the Yellowstone River.

Inside the Roosevelt Lodge, this is the lobby, fireside where we sat and enjoyed a drink.  It remains as first constructed in 1920.
The lodge is constructed of unpeeled logs.

 

Tim and I rode the wagon through the mountains. In the old west style, we went to a dinner cookout where steaks are tender, the wranglers are friendly, the scenery is breathtaking.

1920 rustic corrals.  

Framed skyline of the Absaraka Range, the mouth of the Yellowstone River.  

The sign at the corral's exit:

So long partner--come back soon!

We departed thru Lamar Valley.......where the buffalo roam....and have the right of way!

This is an exciting site to view the buffalo in their homeland.

Panoramic view amid the herds of bison & other animals.  we spotted a lone wolf.  There are two wolf packs in the area.  The Lamar Canyon and Junction Butte wolf packs inhabit the area.  Lamar is ofter referred to as America's Serengeti where birds include osprey and bald eagles.
3,500 bison is an ideal number to manage in Yellowstone.

 Visitors can slowly drive by, pull over, or set up a chair and view the natural landscape.  We did it all!
While attending a Ranger Program, we head of a wolf siting.  We drove along till we found many visitors with huge telescopes (some here all day, as evidenced by their ice chest and lounge chairs set up along the roadside.)
Tim and I did see the wolf in the middle of the valley.  It was far away but we could see the wolf was eating a kill for his lunch.  We are not certain if it is Wolf 755!

The Lamar Valley, Headquarters of the Environmental Science Institute for youth.

The Lamar Valley is a tame place.....for the wild!

This 2,000 pound 'old man' is known to hit speeds to 30 mph.  This bison was strolling down the highway at night on our way back to camp.  

 One could say he knew where he was going and taking the highway to get there!

The next day we take a side road to visit the first Ranger Station of 
Yellowstone National Park. 
The Wapiti Ranger Station is the first forest service ranger station built with federal funding.  It is constructed with native forest timber.  It is a National Historic Landmark and it captivated us.  We strolled around the grounds and came to a grass-lined stream where we watched a family of river otters!  It was an exciting discover.....the photo I have is all video!  

The Army had soldiers stationed here as it became evident this Park needed to be protected and preserved from the prey of poachers.

1894 Nathaniel Langford is the first park superintendent and a member of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition which explored the park in 1870.  
The Expedition report requested legislation that set apart this "pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people".
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Here is the otter family enjoying their home!

 
The soldier would ride horseback and then in Winter patrol on snowshoe. 

Now a museum and bookstore filled with the stories from the beginning of
 Yellowstone National Park.  

 The story of the iconic National Park Service ranger 'Flat Hat'.
The dimpled hats with a dome pinched into four quadrants known at the Montana Peak was worn by the Buffalo Soldiers protecting Yosemite National Park.  It was officially adopted by the U.S. Army in 1911.,Oftentimes the hat serves in the NPS ranks longer than their original wearer.  There is a custom of handing down hats from retiring park rangers to new park rangers.
When a visitor sees the signature silhouette, it communicates "I'm here, here to help."

A walk about the ranger station property.  We enjoyed the afternoon spent here.  Away from any crowds and the story abounds with the
 perseverance and devotion of those Rangers.

We are departing Canyon Campground to Bridge Bay Campsite.