Today started with a lie in which was lovely. After my lie in we went to breakfast and then got ourselves ready for the day. We went out to Canyon stopping along the way at different points to see if we could spot anything. We didn't see any bears or wolves but we did see elk, bison, bald eagle, hawk and Canada geese. The weather today has made a total change and rather than being lovely and hot it's turns very cold and windy - at least in making the most of my winter clothes.

After our pit stops we went to Brink point lower falls where we saw a waterfall. While here we saw a dipper sitting on the cliff looking at the falls. We then made our way further up the road to the Yellowstone Grand Canyon which was totally spectacular. You could see the yellow stone and the land just drop away below you. On our way to the falls we saw an Osprey nesting on a rock stack and spotted more osprey flying over head. At one point the Raven tried to take on the Osprey. After watching the Osprey we moved on to see the falls which were vast and so much water was rushing down them it was unreal. After admiring the falls we stopped off at Canyon visitor centre and shops where we had a look around and found out all about how Yellowstone was formed and how it is the biggest volcano in the world.

From here we tried to stop for lunch but every picnic site we tried with a view or shelter seemed to be closed so we ended up in a car park without a view but thankfully it's wasn't too windy. After lunch we walked up along the Mount Washburn trail looking for marmot chipmunk and ground squirrels. All of which we were lucky to see. The ground squirrels are different to the ones on Teton but still just as cute and the chipmunks are a smaller version of the squirrel.

After seeing these we continued up the path and stopped to admire the view over Yellowstone seeing the Canyon and Hayden Valley in the distance. Whilst here we saw hawks but no a lot else until we started to make our way back and were really lucky to see a dusky grouse (a rare sighting) displaying. As we stood and watched the grouse I turned round I saw a marmot siting on the edge of the rock. So we took in the view of the marmot and grouse for a little while longer before we headed back down the slope to the minibus.

From here we made our way further along the road towards Mount Washburn to see if we could see any bear. Unfortunately the road we wanted to take was closed so we parked up further down the road but did not see anything so we started to make our way back or the hotel stopping on the way to look for harlequin ducks but as the water is so high we were unable to find any. We also made a couple of stops just to scan the area in case we could see anything. On the way back we saw deer, bison and a lovely elk with antlers.

When we got back to the cabins I packed up ready for our departure to Mammoth tomorrow and then we headed out to dinner. While eating dinner we were entertained by 3 bison running past the window and then one (known as Geoffrey - well I think it might have been him) started jumping and rolling in the grass which made dinner even more enjoyable. By the time we had finished dinner the rain was pouring and had been for some time so tonight was spent chilling and relaxing and having an early night in preparation for our day tomorrow.