Did you know that Wyoming
has its own Grand Canyon? Measuring a half-mile wide and about 900-feet deep,
the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park is about 20 miles long. That's
much shorter than Arizona's 227-mile long Grand Canyon, but the Grand Canyon of
the Yellowstone has natural wonders (and bright colors) of its own.
From Caldera to Canyon
After the last eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera approximately
600,000 years ago, lava flows covered the area. Subsequent erosion created the Grand
Canyon of Yellowstone that visitors see today. Although there was once a glacier
presence here, geologists think that all of that evidence has eroded - without a trace.
Natural Beauty
 The northern part of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon contains
steep walls of beautiful, striated rock.
This part of the canyon is much narrower than the southern end, which
tends to be wider and have sloping walls. But the southern part is where the canyon's
colors are. These colors range from tan and gold to pink and blue. Every bit as
colorful as the more famous Grand Canyon of Arizona, the Grand Canyon in
Yellowstone is also impressive because the brilliant Yellowstone River
winds its way through.
The Yellowstone
River includes several waterfalls
as it wends its way through the canyon. During my visit, I stopped at the two major
ones: Upper Falls
and Lower Falls. Lower Falls
is the more famous of the two. Located at Artist's Point, Lower
Falls has been immortalized in paintings and photographs. It is twice as high
as Niagara Falls (measuring 308-feet tall), but has nowhere near the volume of
its cousin in the East. Still, Lower Falls is the largest waterfall (by volume) in the Rocky Mountains. The flow over the falls can be as much
as 63,500 (240 m³/s).
Of course, there's more to Yellowstone
than just a huge canyon and thermal
features like geysers. There are many mountains, ranging in elevation from
about 8,000 feet to 11,000 feet above sea level. There are over a thousand miles of trails,
and meadows and valleys that are rich in
wildlife for viewing. There are also several large lakes and more small ones
than you can visit during a vacation. In short, there's something for everyone,
and Techno Tourist will just have to go back for another visit to try to see it
all!
Editor's Note: The final installment of this four-part
series will run next week, right here in TechnoTourist's Engineering
Expeditions. Click here for Part 1 and click here for Part 2.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_of_the_Yellowstone
http://www.yellowstoneparknet.com/canyon_village/grand_canyon.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Falls
| 
