The Other Grand Canyon

Usually when we hear the words "Grand Canyon" we think of this beauty:

It is totally deserved that we think of the Grand Canyon because this amazing place is inspiring and unique, breath taking and so big it's hard to grasp.

However, there's another Grand Canyon that usually doesn't come to mind. It's much smaller, way further north - and in one of the most wonderful places on this planet.

Do you know which place I'm talking about?

Perhaps if I look at this canyon from the other direction you might get the idea.

It is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River crashes down at what is called the Lower Yellowstone Falls, and it does it with high speed and tremendous noise.

It is simply amazing.

We just came back from our fourth visit to Yellowstone National Park. I fell in love with this amazing national park when we visited it in 2002 for the very first time. My love for this incredibly beautiful and wild place only deepened with every visit. This is a place that has healing powers for me and never fails to inspire me and feed my soul.

However, this was the first time that we explored the Grand Canyon and the Yellowstone Falls (there is the Upper and Lower Falls, the Lower Falls being the more famous ones). I'm not quite sure why we always ignored this part of Yellowstone before and only passed by without taking the time to hike to the brink of the falls and along the North Rim.

The sheer strength and force of the water leaves one almost speechless - no one would hear you anyway since it crashes down so loudly. It drops down more than 300 feet, nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls (but still a baby compared to Upper Yosemite Fall with 1,430 feet).

It winds its way through the canyon, and while the canyon walls aren't as colorful as the ones of its bigger brother, it still offers different shades of warm yellow, rust and red.

You can hike down to the brink of the Lower Falls (as well as to the Upper Falls which is not quite as exciting), but unfortunately you eventually have to hike it up again... not so easy for me due to the altitude of Yellowstone. In the following photo you can see the people standing right above the fall.

If you look hard at the photo below you can see wooden stairs leading down the hill and ending in a wooden platform. I simply refused to go down there.

However, nothing could hold back Kaefer ...