A Snapshot and The Scoop: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Alisha and I managed to visit two Grand Canyons in two years! Last year it was the Grand Canyon in Arizona, this year it was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in Wyoming. Located in Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was carved by the Yellowstone River, downstream of Yellowstone Falls. Enough "Yellowstone" for you? It's easy to see how the canyon gets its name - sandstone colored by mineral deposits, smelling slighly like eggs, provide a backdrop for churning white water and roaring falls who's echos thunder down canyon to the viewpoint where I stood to take this picture. Though not a mile deep or a mile across, this canyon is still Grand in all the right ways.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Firehole River

A river of hot springs. That's right, the Firehole River that flows through Yellowstone National Park is a river made up of hot springs, geysers, and other geothermal activity. How cool is that!!! What starts out as a little stream quickly swells into a good sized river as the runoff from every hot spring and geyser in its watershed joins its waters, creating a river that is an attraction in and of itself among the vistas offered by Yellowstone. Not only does the river accept the runoff, but sometimes a geyser or hot spring are located in the river itself, though of course it is never recommended that you get close to such a phenomenon. Unstable crust and boiling waters and all that jazz. For real though, how many other places do you know where a river is created and sustained by geothermal activity? Gotta love Yellowstone!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: What Month Is It?

Do you know the feeling when you're on a trip and it seems like time is no longer a constant, but instead is a fluid entity, speeding up or slowing down on a whim? You can go into the trip, absolutely positive it is a Saturday, but after a while you're not sure what day of the week it is, let alone the date or the time. I experienced this phenomenon on a trip out west in March, where I was not only questioning what day it was, but what month. My problem was the temperature; living in Texas now I'm used to mild winters and am no stranger to the 70's and even 80's in March, but when my thermometer reached 95f one afternoon on my travels, I had to wonder if I'd somehow missed five months and it was in fact August, not March. I am certainly not complaining about the warmth - I prefer it - but I was completely thrown off by the fact that I could get heatstroke in the spring. I took full advantage of the weather and backpacked out to a shady spot, and spent my evening marvelling at springtime in the southwest.

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you've ever felt a disconnect between your life and time. I know I'm not alone!