It is important to start early. The North Rim Drive road gets packed and is often shut down, only letting a car in when a car leaves. We started about 9:30 AM and didn't run into problems, but driving by in the afternoon, it was just a traffic jam.
We first went to the brink of lower falls. It is a short, but steep, hike to the overlook that is right on the edge of the fall.
We then drove to lookout point.
From here, we left the car and hiked down to Inspiration Point.
Inspiration Point is an interesting name in that a painting made from it helped inspire the forming of Yellowstone. On the South Rim is Artist Point where the painting was thought to have been made, but it was actually on the North Rim at Inspiration.
The trail to Inspiration isn't hard, but is close to the rim in a few places.
You can barely make out the falls from here, but the canyon is pretty and it is a nice hike.
We then headed back to the car and drove to the South Rim to go to Artist Point.
Rangers often times put on ranger programs at Artist Point, so we were able to check that off of our Junior Ranger qualification.
From here, we headed north and drove across the Lamar Valley before heading to Mammoth, with a brief stop at Tower Falls.
Tower Falls would be a lot better if someone got a saw and cut some trees down.
Lamar is beautiful. We saw tons of buffalo, including babies, and watched a ranger help some picnicers escape from an approaching bear.
Mammoth is weird. It's pretty, but ugly. Supposedly when it was hotter, it was a lot prettier, but these days, it is like walking through a ghost town.
While in Mammoth, we drove up to the Gardiner Gate. We saw a mama moose and her babies along the road.
When in Yellowstone, be prepared to stop. After a few days, you may not want to stop for every deer, buffalo, or bear, but others will. Expect to stop.
From here, we completed the northern loop at Yellowstone and made our way back to Canyon. Another great day in Yellowstone.
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