Join us in our Yellowstone River Walk.

As you see to your left, we got here by driving East 18 miles from Mammoth Springs which is toward the Northeast entrance to the park. The picnic area and lodge looks really impressive on the map, but was largely deserted. It was too early in the season. Everything was closed up tight. But the trail was well marked and we followed the instructions you see below.
We started at the picnic table top center, took the dotted line to the fork, and then took the trail north to the road and came back.

Our first stop on this lovely road was 

These distressing scenes were typical of the forests of Yellowstone. A recent Nova presentation  explained how the absence of wolf packs could have produced this devastation.
We've just left the picnic area for our 3.7 mile walk.
We were carrying our GPS, so we could have done that!
Elaine took this majestic picture below across the canyon.
Could these mountains below be the Grand Tetons?
Elaine took this cute little critter -- and I enlarged it. 

We were walking on a very high cliff overlooking the Yellowstone river. You can see it down in the distance.
Those white cliffs look the cliffs of Dover, UK. 

I'm not sure what we were taking here. 
the petrified tree. Well protected by a sturdy tree.

An  informative interview regarding this can be read at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wolves/bangs.html . The good news is that wolf packs are being reintroduced to Yellowstone.
If I were on the ball, I would have recorded the mile number.
To our right was the deep canyon of the Yellowstone river.
Pretty purple flowers above ad below..
OK, Claire, what is that yellow flower below..

Same critter, un-enlarged.
Same river, with my 8x telephoto lens, above and below.
That white chauky stuff was everywhere. It reminded me of the white cliffs of Dover.
See those tiny people across the way. We'll be walking down that path this afternoon seeing persons where we are now. I used my telephoto above and below to get them up closer. 
We were just about to get to the fork in the trail and would walk to the road and back to out car. But first, we see a beautiful panoramic view of the Yellowstone river entering into a wider and gentler valley. Below is a stitch of two.

This is the sign where the trail forks. We are headed for
Elaine reaches the road clearly marked SPECIMIN trail below.

We finally see the Yellowstone picnic sign

the specimen ridge trailhead -- 1.2 miles further.
We had to dodge a car now and then.
where we had parked our car.

Thank you for accompanying us on our River Walk. Now join us on our River Drive on the other side of the canyon.