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Ascending toward Mt Washburn, you can see the fog that socked the canyon in each morning. One of the first stops when we got to this side of the park was the canyon, but visibility was so poor we ended up just eating donuts in the car. Sometimes vacation can be really rough!

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Mt Washburn with the fire tower in the distance

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Steam rising from hot springs

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Another foraging grouse stepping carefully through the dusting of snow and ice. This was one of two places we saw any snow or ice -- the other being Grand Teton.

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Gorp! Gorp!

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Getting closer...

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More hot springs visible throughout the park

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Fog over the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

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We made it!

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Mountains as far as the eye can see. Apparently, on clear days one can see the Tetons from Mt Washburn. No such luck for us. But that's okay - pretty soon we'll get to see them up close and personal!

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If you look carefully, you'll see several bighorn sheep lounging on the rocky scree

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We met the ranger who mans the tower continuously from June through late September or the first snowfall.

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More sheep!

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A pika having lunch. These guys were skittering all over the rocks. I love that moment when you stand still and watch a spot that seems quiet and empty, and then all of a sudden you see a riot of movement and realize it's not empty at all but rather filled with life!

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On our way through Dunraven Pass, we stopped with a crowd of people to see a wolf feasting on an elk carcass. The scene was so close to the road, that you could clearly see the action with your naked eye.

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Apparently, earlier in the morning an elk had leapt out of the brush in front of a car followed by a pack of wolves. The pack took the elk down not more than 50 yards from the road.

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Looking out for others

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After tearing ourselves away from the gruesome feasting scene, we got on the north rim trail along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone near Canyon Junction.

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Looking down on the Upper Falls and its rainbows

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As we hiked, the canyon got deeper and deeper

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Looking back upstream, you can just make out the bottom of Upper Falls but not the rainbows

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Standing at the brink of Lower Falls and looking downstream toward Red Rock.

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Lower Falls

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Lower Falls as viewed from Red Rock

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View from Inspiration Point. As you can see, the sun is getting lower in the sky. We started getting worried that we were only to the half-way point of the hike.

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Still smiling, still before sunset, standing at Artist Point on the south rim

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View of Lower Falls from Artist Point near sunset

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Moon over pines, on the road back to Yellowstone Lake