Yellowstone National Park
Firehole Canyon Drive & Firehole Falls

 Before finally giving up on my vacation, and hitting the road for Salt Lake City, I convinced myself that I had time for one more detour.  Firehole Canyon Drive was just a mile south of Madison Junction, so it wasn't far out of the way. 

Firehole Canyon Drive parallels the Grand Loop Road.  It's a short drive on a narrow one-way road, that takes you along the edge of the canyon formed by the Firehole River.  The main attraction is Firehole Falls.

You'll have to be satisfied with viewing the falls from the side of the canyon.  Some very rough, very steep trails dropped down to the river, but I don't think you could safely make it down and up. 

I did, however, find a nice viewpoint, a short distance from where all the other tourists were congregating.  It required a short (and only slightly dangerous) climb down to a ledge, where I settled in for a few minutes.  I had to keep glancing at my watch.  2 o'clock was my "go" time.  If I left Madison at 2, I'd be in West Yellowstone by 3, and Salt Lake City by 8. 

1:55.  Plenty of time.

1:58.  Not quite yet.

2:00.  I stayed put.

2:05.  Alright, I had pushed it long enough.  I took one last look at the waterfall, calculated where I would be at that time tomorrow (at my desk, at work, of course), then climbed back up to the parking area, and drove off.

There was one more place to stop, further down Firehole Canyon Drive.  You can get a good look at the river...

... and at the area just above the brink of the falls.

And that was it.  I drove back to Madison Junction, then to the west park entrance.  I passed through West Yellowstone at exactly 3 p.m., right on time.  US Highway 20 heads west, then turns south...

... and crosses into Idaho, passing through a mostly flat landscape.  In other words, you get to have an extra half hour of staring at the mountains in your rear-view, as you lament the ending of your trip.

I made a brief stop in the potato-farming town of Ashton (watch for the town's name on your next bag of spuds). 

As you drive along US 20, watch for the Tetons on the eastern horizon.  They can be tough to spot if the sky is hazy, but on a clear day, you can stare at them (instead of the road in front of you) all the way to Rexburg, where the highway makes a very large curve around a hill that's topped with a giant LDS church.  Once you go around that hill, the Tetons are nothing but a memory. 

From Rexburg south, US 20 is a speedy 4-lane highway, and eventually turns in to a freeway, before reaching Interstate 15.  From there, you can set your car, and brain, on cruise control.

In case you're wondering, I did make it back to Salt Lake City, at almost exactly 8 p.m.  My flight left at 11:59, so I had enough time to eat dinner and check in at the airport.  As I sat at the gate, the announcement came: my flight was delayed.  If only I had known, I could have spent an extra half hour on that rocky ledge, staring at Firehole Falls. 

T H E   E N D

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