I’ve been offline for a bit because I’ve been concentrating on getting Hiking for the Couch Potato out to the world!  If you take a look at http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com, then come back for details, I’ll explain what image number 3 at the top of my new blog is about.

Okay, so  - did you go look at the other web site?

If you did, then let me share with you that the image is from Hawaii, Wailoa River State Park, a park on the Big Island.  This is a gorgeous place to meander that provides many vantage points for photography. A local park, there is no admission fee.  You can climb down to be near the water or see the falls from higher up.

It’s peaceful and we had almost no one else to bother us, unlike many more known sites in Hawaii, where everyone seems to be jockeying for a place to take photos.

Actually, there are two different falls that visitors can get fairly close to.  And we do mean close! – The sound of the water rushing is almost deafening at one location!

After you have visited the other locations we’ve told you about, it is definitely worth a ride to the Canyon Village area, which is in the vicinity of the Canyons and the falls (Upper and Lower).

The walks at each location are fairly short and you might have to jostle for position in some locations to get a good photo, but do take the time to see the falls!Canyon Falls Visitor Education Center

We stopped first at the Visitor Education Center to get our bearings and use the facilities.  The Park Ranger are very patient, despite the fact that they’ve probably heard the same questions dozens of times within the last hour.

At several locations, you can see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which has colorful cliffs that plunge 1,000 ft.

Colorful cliffs of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

To the falls -

Next, we headed to see the Upper Falls (109 ft. high, the materials informed us) from the special viewpoint.  We could hear and see the falls – right near us and, if the viewing platform and fence were not there, the falls would have washed us away at the bend the river.  Majestic and amazing!

Then, we headed to South Rim Drive and stopped at Artist Point, which attracted a greater number of tourists.  The view was from more of a distance of the Lower Falls (308 ft.) than we had seen for the Upper Falls.

Regrouping, we traveled back to the North Rim Drive, which is a one-way road from the south, for another vantage point for the Lower Falls.  We stopped at both Lookout Point and Grand View, which are not very far apart.  The different perspective from each location is a great way to view them.   At Lookout Point, the chemicals in the water provided a streak of color at the edge of the falls that doesn’t seem to belong, but is certainly a variation in nature.

Nature is certainly nothing to discount.  We enjoyed the views, and were glad of the vantage points that allowed us to see so much.  According to the Park’s literature, the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone plunges 1,000 feet.”  The volcanic activity that is at work in other parts of the Park is also at work here and created the colorful canyons we saw.

We hope you are able to visit Yellowstone, but enjoy our views!

Next week… We’ll backtrack and tell you about Grand Teton National Park, south of Yellowstone.