Yellowstone Adventure - Day 83

   Got up early this morning because I wanted to beat the tourists to canyon today. My goal was to get to the south rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and take the uncle Tom trail down close to the canyon bottom.  After breakfast I packed up the car with my lunch/dinner of peanut butter and jelly as I planned on heading into Cody after the morning hike and updating my phone.  I left the geyser area and was no more than three miles down the road when a bison decided to travel down my road. So I decreased my speed from 45 mph to about 1 mph as that was as fast as the bison wanted to walk. I could not pass it because there were cars on the other side of the road doing what tourists do. Block the road to take pictures. So I was the only car on my side behind the bison and it was a marvelous view of its rearend swaying back and forth as it plodded down the road directly in front of me. I thought about honking my horn but then I remembered the videos in the store where a bison did a number on a tourist's car when it was mad. So I just waited for the bison to either move left into the other lane or the tourists in the other lane to get tired of taking pictures and clear the lane for me to go around it.  A couple of times the bison moved to my left into the other lane but then moved back into in front of me. I think it was thinking "Faked you out." Finally the tourists cleared out of the left lane and I was able to slowly go around the bison and on down the road.
  I arrived at the south rim of the canyon around nine and parked next to the uncle Tom trail. Since it was in the forties I put on a pullover sweatshirt and headed up the trail. The trail from the parking lot immediately made a right turn and it was evident early on why this trail was a popular one. The trail literally skirted the south rim of the canyon. If I were to step three feet to the right on some parts of the trail I would find myself several hundred feet down in the canyon. The views were amazing and I took several pictures. After about a half mile the trail started to switchback as it was descending lower into the canyon. I noticed several times there were benches on the trail and later on I figured out why. 
   After about a quarter mile I reached a sign detailing who uncle Tom Richardson was and why the trail was named after him. Evidently in the 1900's he developed a series of 528 steps and ropes ladders to get the tourist down to the canyon bottom to view the falls. Now it is a series of switchbacks and 328 steps to get you three quarters of the way to the bottom and a platform for viewing the falls. The latter part of the sign has a warning that the trail is at this point extremely difficult and steep and to take frequent breaks and not recommended for those with heart issues. I scoffed at that part and headed down. The views on the way down were unbelievable and the sound of the falls was really loud. After several switchbacks I came to the set of metal steps that would take me to the platform at the end of the trip. Gripping the handrail I proceeded down. Even at this time of the morning there were several tourists on the trail. Reaching the platform I waited my turn to take pictures of the falls and the canyon. I will be uploading them to Facebook when I can but they did not do the view justice at all. You just have to see this for yourself. After helping others get pictures of their families with the falls behind them, I asked a French family to take my picture. After helping a few more with pictures and looking around at the view a few more minutes I decided it was time to ascend back to the trail.  Well I can tell you this much the first 150 steps up those metal stairs were no problem but the next 178 were as hard as I have been tested since I have been here. I took advantage of the bench midway up the stairs and after several shaky leg minutes I reached another bench to enjoy the view/get my heart beat to stop resounding in my ears. I finally reached the set of switchbacks that would ascend to the top of the canyon rim. Yes the stairs were over and my legs and buttocks were very happy. The switchbacks were still tough and after four of them I finally reached the canyon rim and yes another bench. I was sitting there when up the trail comes the French family I helped with pictures. As they passed me I waved and the look they gave me was one of a worry that their CPR certifications were not up to date. I just smiled back and after a minute or two I headed down the trail towards the car. Every once in awhile I would veer toward the canyon rim to take a look at the falls and the canyon bottom. Eventually I caught up with and passed the French family and their expressions showed they no longer were worried about my health.
   I made it back to the car and took a very long pull off my water bottle as the trek really dried me out. I changed shirts and got rid of the sweatshirt as the day was warming up fine. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Hayden Valley and hopes of seeing some animals. As I got closer to the valley I spotted a bison coming from my right toward the road I was on. This time I sped up and got there just as he was getting onto the road heading in my direction. This time I got by it and looked in my rearview mirror to see that the guys behind me had to stop and get behind the bison. I laughed and said out loud "Not this time bubba!" Going down into the valley I spotted many bison as the herds were moving into the area and enjoying the good grass here. After about a mile I noticed several tourists with binoculars staring across the Yellowstone river. So out of curiosity I pulled into a spot just vacated and got my binoculars out to see what was going on. I stepped up to a couple with a nice telescope and ask what was going on. The wife said that a bald eagle was in the sage brush and to the right of it was a grey wolf lounging the grass. I asked her where to look for the wolf and she told me just up the river bank where a log was washed up. I took my binoculars and sure enough there was the very first wolf I have ever seen in the wild. It was too far for my cell phone to get a good picture but the binoculars showed me the whole wolf. It was just laying in the grass and the wife said they think there are pups close by. I am glad I stopped as it was a fantastic site for sure. After watching it for a few minutes I thanked the couple for the help and headed down the road.
  I decided to head up to the Lake Yellowstone over look and have lunch. I reached the over look around eleven thirty and proceeded to get my foldable chair out of the car and had a great lunch with a view enabling me to see from one side of the lake to the other with the mountains in the background. As I have said before there is no steak dinner in any fancy restaurant that could compare with a PB&J sandwich with that view. While up there I talked to several tourists that picked my brain about Yellowstone. I am learning a lot more about this place and I enjoy sharing it for sure.
   After lunch I headed into Cody and an odd thing happened. About 12 miles outside of the park next to the road was a bison eating grass. I have never saw one that far out of the park before. I will have to ask some of my more seasoned Montana friends about this.
  On the way back to the dorm from Cody not much happened other than seeing a hippie van that had its back wheels buried in the sand on the beach of Lake Yellowstone. Evidently the van owner must have thought that lake beaches are as solid as ocean beaches where you can drive on them. I have walked on the beach and can tell you it is far from solid.
   Well that is about all for this exciting day. Tomorrow I go back to work so I can have Thursday off for another hike. Take care and remember bison rearend watching is pretty boring.