Day 81: Yellowstone…another day

Another great day at Yellowstone, though the weather continues to be very cool, 30 at night, 60 in the day (but no rain---hurray!)

We returned to the Grand Canyon after breakfast to check out the north rim.  We took the North Rim Trail from Grand View to Inspiration Point, a little over a mile, and a very different trail from the South Rim---through spruce and fir forest, with occasional glimpses of the canyon itself, with fewer hills to climb.  Returning to the RV, we gave Ranger a brief walk, then hiked in the opposite direction on the North Rim Trail to see the view from Lookout Point.  The Red Rock Trail started at that point, going down into the canyon to give a close-up look of the Lower Falls.  Dan opted out, but I went down---which was fine on the trip out, quite exhausting on the trip back up!

One of the few places in the area where Ranger was allowed is the Canyon Village (restaurants, shops, and so forth), so we went there next to give him a longer walk.  While there, we bought lunch and ate outside in the sun, which by then was feeling very warm. 

In the afternoon we again did some touring in the RV, going south toward Yellowstone Lake.  The road followed the Yellowstone River and went through open area where we saw many bison.  We stopped at a place called Mud Volcano and looked at some of the thermal features.

We did a bit of bird-watching at the lake, checking out the Lake visitors area and the Bridge Bay marina along the way, then turned around and drove back, again seeing bison.

We had a good hot campfire which was much enjoyed as the temperatures again dropped close to freezing.