[Illustration: Yellowstone Lake, a mighty inland sea]
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, as seen from either Artist Point or Inspiration Point, is one of the truly great wonders of the West. It is hard to conceive such breath-taking beauty. Once you have gazed into its jagged depths, alive with color, you will never forget it, nor would you if you could.
Perhaps you stand on the rim, and gaze down into a seemingly bottomless void. Eagles and fish-hawks quite likely will be circling far below. The sides of the ragged pit will be painted with myriads of shifting, changing, vivid colors, with shades of yellow predominating. In the bright sunlight the canyon flames in glory. No sound comes from the echoless, yawning gulf at the bottom.
Grand Canyon--richly named! From Artist Point it is nearly 1,600 feet to the opposite side. There is a sheer drop of nearly 800 feet below the platform on which you stand. Down there lies the green, serpentine Yellowstone River. Your gaze follows the curve of the canyon to where, in the distance, may be seen the silvery sheet of the Lower Falls plummeting downward in a billowy cloud of misty spray.
You can also see the Canyon from other angles and obtain a fuller realization of its majestic beauty. This may be done at Point Lookout, or farther up, at the Grand View.
Time stands still at this mighty chasm. However long you stare in silent wonder, it seems like but a fleeting moment.
As the Yellowstone River flows from Yellowstone Lake toward the Missouri River and the Gulf of Mexico, it leisurely twists and winds through the Park until, about fifteen miles from its source, the river is converged to a width of less than fifty feet. Through foaming cataracts it suddenly rushes forward to hurtle down 112 feet in a graceful fall known as the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. The velocity of flow is so great at the crest that the water pours over the lip of the canyon in a graceful arc.
On approaching the Grand Canyon, a good view of the Upper Falls may be had from an observation point about one quarter mile below Chittenden Bridge.
A short distance beyond the Upper Falls the swift, surging torrent again comes to a mighty precipice, this time with a drop of 308 feet--the famous Lower Falls. Plunging over, it leaps downward with a thunderous roar, and disappears in a cloud of spray, presenting an unforgettable picture. A third of the fall is hidden behind this vast cloud of spray which conceals the mad play of the waters beneath.