The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

This was one of many stops on our family trip called "The GRAND Trip" in the spring of 2012. We travelled in our Toyota Corolla '94 from Ontario to Alberta, then along the Rockies to California and back home to Ontario (15,531 km - 35 days - 12 national parks - 4 provinces - 12 states).

The Grand Canon of Yellowstone is located below Lower Falls in the Yellowstone National Park. The canyon is very narrow and up to 350 metre deep. The river is cutting rhyolites, one of the most colourful rocks on earth. Each place I have seen which had exposed rhyolites (e.g. Landmannalaugar on Iceland) was simply spectacular, mainly because of the colour palette of these rocks. They vary from white through yellow and orange to deep rusty red tones, which create an impression of an impressionist painting. This picture is the view from the Artist Point, where numerous famous painters set up their easels. For this particular picture I wanted to create an illusion of exploring the canyon by scrolling the picture down. Therefore, I created a panorama from three vertical pictures to guide your eyes from the waterfall along the river and colourful rocks. Enjoy this breathtaking scenery!