Gandy.
Rapids Above Falls.
Terry Engr. Co.
U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories.
Upper Fall of the Yellowstone.
Distant view.
The river along the lower portion of this valley is the most tranquil and lovely stream imaginable—broad, deep, transparent, flowing peacefully around its graceful curves, disturbed only by the splashing trout which inhabit it. There is little here to suggest the mad turmoil into which it is soon to plunge. At a point fifteen miles below the lake, the river and road are forced by the narrowing valley close together. The stream becomes suddenly broken into turbulent cascades as it dashes violently between precipitous banks and among massive boulders.
The road also becomes decidedly picturesque. Hung up on the almost vertical cliff overlooking the rapids, it forms a short drive unsurpassed for interest anywhere else in the Park. At one point it crosses a deep ravine over the highest bridge on the road system. Just to the left of this bridge, in the bottom of the ravine, still stands the tree upon which some white man carved his initials away back in 1819.
Half a mile below the head of the rapids, the river suddenly contracts its width to less than fifty feet, turns abruptly to the right, and disappears. It is the Upper Fall of the Yellowstone. In some respects, this cataract differs from almost any other. Although the ledge over which it falls is apparently perpendicular, the velocity of flow at the crest of the fall is so great that the water pours over as if on the surface of a wheel. Visitors at Niagara have noticed the difference in this respect between the almost vertical sheet of water on the American side and the well-rounded flow at the apex of the Horseshoe Fall. The height of the Upper Fall of the Yellowstone is 112 feet.
From this point, the character of the scenery is wild and rugged. A ride of a few hundred yards brings the tourist to a sharp bend in the road, which at once unfolds to him the whole vista of the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone. The sight is so impressive and absorbing that the chances are he will cross the ravine of Cascade Creek without even noticing the lovely Crystal Falls almost beneath his feet.