Hello Everyone,
I have had a wonderful week out here in the Rocky Mountains, having spent most of the week in Yellowstone National Park. I didn’t put a lot of miles on my van, but put in right around 50 miles on my hiking boots which has been exhausting but exhilarating as well. I’ve spent a decent chunk of my life in Yellowstone, having guided tours there for over 25 years, but it’s still nice to be there. I also know that I’ll be back in Yellowstone in the future on the company dime, so there really wasn’t much need to visit any of my favorite spots (which are also, not surprisingly, major highlights of the park). Instead I wanted to do some hikes that have been on my radar for a while and really get into the backcountry and explore some new corners of Yellowstone I’ve never been to before. The result was a fairly quiet and peaceful week in a spectacular setting, despite it being the highest of the high season out there. I’ve always told anyone who was interested that if you get tired of the crowds in Yellowstone, walk a half mile down a trail from any parking lot and you’ll find a much quieter place. Walk 10 miles down a trail and apparently you won’t see hardly anyone at all. Aside from the hundred or so mosquito bites covering my body and a few raw patches on my feet, I’m feeling great. My mind is clear, my body feels strong and healthy and I was able to declutter a lot of things in my head this week. So it’s been a pretty great week on the road and on the trails out there in Yellowstone.
After finishing up this post last week, I went out to have a couple of beers in Livingston while the sun headed towards the horizon and the day cooled off a bit. I went back to Katabatic Brewing Company for a beer and ended up chatting with a man about my age who was from Chicago. He was traveling through and we had a nice conversation about where he had been and where he was headed. After the brewery closed, we went next door to the Murray Bar and continued talking. There was another man at the end of the bar who joined the conversation and he turned out to be from Tacoma Park, Maryland, just outside of my hometown of Washington D.C. It was really nice to be able to connect with someone from home for a bit. He was a teacher on his summer break and was heading west to visit his dad in Santa Cruz. He had just bought a new car, a Hyundai Santa Cruz and I found it quite amusing that he was driving his Santa Cruz to Santa Cruz. He was on his way to Yellowstone the next day and I was happy to point him in some good directions so that he could make the most of his time there. It was a nice evening and very nice to make both of their acquaintances.
Ron, Evan and I
The next morning I had some errands to run around town and then headed down through the Paradise Valley towards Gardiner, which is the town just north of the Yellowstone park boundary. It’s a nice enough little town and one I’ve spent plenty of time in so it felt pretty familiar to be there. There was a storm rolling in in the afternoon, so instead of going into the park I chose to get in a short hike just north of Gardiner on the LaDuke Trail in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. It was a fantastic trail with a nice uphill grade and really great views down to the Yellowstone River as it flows north and into Paradise Valley. It was only a little over 4 miles, but it was good to get a hike in as I was planning on longer hikes to come and it’s been a minute since I was on the trail. I got back to my van right as it was starting to rain, so perfect timing on that one. I chilled out in my van for a while and then headed back into Gardiner to meet my friends Evan and Ron for dinner. I wrote about Evan last week – he is a wildlife guide in Yellowstone and used to work for the same tour company that I did for several years. Ron was a senior guide when I was a rookie and we’ve worked together in two different companies over the last 26 years. He’s a gentle soul with a big heart and it’s always good to see him. We went out for a burger and sat around catching up and telling stories for a couple of hours which was really good for my mental state. They both had early mornings, so we said our goodbyes and I went down to grab a beer at the Iron Horse which has an awesome balcony overlooking the Yellowstone River. It’s a nice place to relax and enjoy the waning hours of the day.
Paradise Valley from the LaDuke Trail
First thing Thursday morning I made my way into Yellowstone. I had arranged some park permits for the coming week and needed to stop into the ranger station in Mammoth to pick them up. The ranger there gave me all the details about both of the hikes, had me watch a very well done video about safety in the park and then got me my permits and sent me on my way. Just up the hill from Mammoth is a nice little mountain called Bunsen Peak which is named after German scientist Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen who is best known for inventing the Bunsen Burner we all remember from high school chemistry. It’s a hike I’ve been wanting to do for years and was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to tackle. This one also clocked in at under five miles, but it had a decent elevation change to it which got my heart and lungs pumping. It was getting pretty hot out there and I was definitely grateful for the shade where I found it. The view from the top was pretty awesome out over Swan Lake Flat to the Gallatin Mountain Range which still have a touch of snow on them in the middle of July. After spending some time on the summit, I headed back to my van and back to Gardiner. I went and hung out with Ron for a while as he is currently working for the company I hope to work for next summer and I knew he would give me his honest opinion on some things I had questions about. I was happy with his answers and it still seems like my best option but we’ll see what happens between now and next summer.
I stayed the night in Gardiner and then headed back into Yellowstone on Friday. I made my way around the northwest loop and pulled into a picnic area where I spent an hour or so getting my backpack ready for the backcountry (which is not nearly as fun as driving your Santa Cruz to Santa Cruz). I had to be ready for cold and rain and bears and whatever else Yellowstone chose to throw at me in the days to come. Once my pack was sealed up, I headed down the road to do another hike I had wanted to check out for a while out to Ice Lake. This is just a three mile loop without a lot of elevation change and while the clouds were starting to roll in I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl. It was really hot out and I thought a little rain would probably be welcome and refreshing (be careful what you wish for). Almost exactly halfway through the loop, the thunder started in. What came next was not at all expected as the skies opened up and marble sized hail started falling. I did my best to huddle under a tree, but there was no escaping it. It was as if someone were standing above me dumping bucket after bucket of frozen marbles on my head. The temperature dropped quickly, and I could feel my body temperature dropping as well. The trail turned into a stream in minutes and it was a little bit scary to be honest. Not to be too dramatic as I was only a mile and a half from my van, but I didn’t need to get sick before my big hikes on this silly little trail. My raingear was, of course, safely packed in my big backpack and not in my daypack where it normally lives and my big backpack was high and dry in my van. The hail passed and I hoofed it back to my van to get my body temperature back up and a hot bowl of soup and some tea got me back to normal pretty fast. I headed just down the hill to Canyon Village where I spent the night. The weather stayed gloomy for the rest of the day and later in the evening the rain came down so hard you couldn’t see across the street. I’ve seen rain like that before, but not for a very long time.
I didn’t get quite the jump on the day I had hoped for on Saturday, but eventually I made my way around the west side of the park and parked my van at the Daisy trailhead just outside of Biscuit Basin. From there I started off up the Continental Divide Trail all the way to Summit Lake. This was a nice eight mile hike with a big climb at the start and then a pretty straight shot to the lake. It was a beautiful hike through the woods with plenty of places to stop in the shade and cool off. I didn’t see a single person the whole way there. Summit Lake was really pretty when I arrived and when I stepped into the lake to fill up my water bladder (with a filter of course), the temperature was perfect. Not warm but not cold either - just right for a swim. Seeing as I had the whole area to myself, I didn’t see any need for a swimsuit and went straight in au natural. It was amazing and rejuvenating and melted away the miles pretty quickly. After drying off, I set up my tent and spent the rest of the day sitting by the lake, watching the ducks take off and land and reading my book. There were quite a few bugs out there, but in true Yellowstone fashion, they were beautiful and diverse. There were bright orange dragonflies and also iridescent blue ones and butterflies of all different colors and sizes. There were bugs which had bee coloration but didn’t seem to be bees at all. And yes, there were mosquitos but they really weren’t too bad up there. While it’s certainly not the most beautiful or interesting place in Yellowstone, I thought it was amazing that on a Friday night in mid-July I had it all to myself.
I was in no rush to leave on Sunday, but after breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee and a few chapters in my book, I set off back towards my van. Just a mile from the trailhead, I branched off to go check out Mystic Falls, one of the few front-country waterfalls I hadn’t yet seen in the park. It was pretty awesome and I was really glad I had taken the side trip. Back at my van by early afternoon, I zipped just down the road to the Old Faithful area, which is the biggest developed area of the park with three hotels and plenty of restaurants and gift shops. Oh, and a pretty cool geyser as well. I grabbed a shower and a beer and was feeling pretty good about my visit so far. A decent meal, a long walk around the Upper Geyser Basin and another beer or two at the Bear’s Den in the Inn at Old Faithful and I was feeling excellent. The Inn at Old Faithful is definitely one of the coolest buildings in the country and I always just love spending time there. Sitting on one of the balconies overlooking the huge fireplace, reading my book while a violinist played into the evening was such a wonderful way to end a day. It’s probably one of my favorite parts of Yellowstone and it was very nice to be there.
I got up and out a little earlier on Monday and made my way just down the road to the Howard Eaton trailhead. I strapped on my backpack and once again headed into the backcountry. Just three miles into the hike, there’s a turnoff to the Lone Star Geyser, one of Yellowstone’s more isolated geysers. It goes off pretty regularly every three hours or so, but very few people make the trek to go out and see it. I figured I’d see if anyone was there and how long they had been waiting and maybe hang around for a while and see if I could catch it. As luck would have it, it was mid-eruption as I walked up. I felt quite fortunate to sit and watch old Lone Star do its thing for the next 20 minutes or so. Continuing up the trail, I did see a few people that day but no more than half a dozen. Five miles further along, I made my way into the Shoshone Geyser Basin, which sees even fewer visitors than Lone Star does. I’m a huge fan of Yellowstone’s geothermal features, but a lot of them are surrounded by boardwalks for the safety of the park visitors. I understand this completely, but it always makes me feel like I’m in a zoo. I saw bison and bears my whole life at the National Zoo just down the street from my house at home, but that experience was nothing like seeing them in the wild in Yellowstone my first time there (and every time since). I much prefer my geothermal features like my bison – wild, and seek them out at every opportunity. While there was a trail through this basin, it still felt like everything there was wild. Shoshone definitely isn’t the most beautiful or interesting of the park’s geyser basins, but I really enjoyed being there and I had it all to myself.
While hiking up the trail that day, I definitely encountered a thousand times more bugs than the day before, and far fewer of the pretty kind. The mosquitos and biting flies were everywhere and no amount of bug spray seemed to keep them away for more than an hour. I spent a lot of the day swatting and smacking and listening to their incessant buzzing while spraying and spraying every time I stopped. None of that prepared me for what was up next. The ranger had warned me that I had to cross through some water to get to my campsite, and I came with my Tevas and swimsuit in preparation, but I didn’t realize I was going to have to walk through ¾ of a mile of swamp. It was muddy and mucky and absolutely full of bugs and they attacked me like I was invading their home, which I absolutely was. I kept thinking it was what I would do if a steak dinner was marching through my house, which made me smile but didn’t help. I was sweating and swatting and moving as quickly as I could through the mud. At one point I stepped in a puddle that looked like it was about mid-calf deep and sunk in almost to my waist. Eventually I made it out the other end, thinking this better be worth it and also knowing in the back of my head that I had to go back through the swamp to get out of there. It turned out to be 100% worth it as I had a lovely campsite right on the beach at Shoshone Lake, the country’s largest backcountry lake not accessible by road (outside of Alaska). There was a cool and crystal clear stream running past to slake my thirst and the breeze coming off of the lake kept the bugs at bay. Shoshone Lake was also a perfect swimming temperature and again a swim put me in a better mood. I had a lovely evening there all by myself enjoying the lake and my book in perfect solitude. The wind died down around dinner time and I zipped myself into my tent to escape the onslaught. I felt like I was in a terrarium and every mosquito for miles around had brought their kids out to see me. They all clung to my windows and watched me, but they couldn’t get in and that was what was most important. I did emerge for a few minutes as the sun was going down which was really beautiful to see and then zipped back in for the night.
There were storms rolling in yesterday afternoon according to the forecast, so I was up and moving at 6am. I was hoping the bugs would still be asleep, but no luck there. I had my breakfast and my coffee and then took a deep breath and set off back into the swamp. Knowing what was in store definitely made it easier than the day before and I had really layered on the bug spray as well. It also helped that it was at the beginning of the day, not the end of the day when I was already exhausted. Back through the geyser basin and off down the trail, I made good time and got back to my van before the rains came. I trotted back to Old Faithful and had a cold beer to help with all of the mosquito bites. I had planned on taking off yesterday, but I was pretty tired and that area is just so cozy and easy that I decided one more night was definitely in order. I had a nice dinner at the Snow Lodge and spent the evening once again on the balcony at the inn with my book, serenaded by some lovely violin music.
Inside the Inn at Old Faithful
This morning I decided I had earned the buffet breakfast so I tucked in greedily to my eggs and bacon, waffles, potatoes, cereal and fruit and washed it down with at least a half a pot of coffee. I wandered back to the Inn and finished my book on the balcony (Liberty Falling by Nevada Barr – a nice, easy, light novel for the trail). Then there was nothing left to do but hit the road. It’s a lovely ride down to Jackson, passing the majestic Grand Tetons along the way. I always tell people that the Tetons were the mountains we all drew as children, not knowing it at the time. They were visible but in the clouds so I didn’t make a lot of stops along the way. I did stop to take some photos of the bison in front of the mountains which I haven’t seen very often at all. That was pretty cool. And then I continued on into Jackson, another city I’ve spent a pretty good chunk of time in in my life. It’s always nice to be here as well.
I will probably only spend one night here in Jackson, but we’ll see what happens. I have an Amazon package I need to pick up tomorrow, so it really depends on when that arrives. Jackson is a lovely place, but I know I’ll be back again sooner than later and I have other places to be. This coming week I plan to head south to Pinedale and hopefully do some hiking in the Wind River Range. Then I plan on traveling over South Pass, the one and only place that it was possible to get wagons and oxen through the Rockies. If South Pass didn’t exist, the country would look very different than it does today. After that I will be spending the rest of the week out there in central Wyoming. I haven’t had the chance to look at things too much yet, and I know that there is both another heat wave and plenty of storms on the way. I do hope you’ll check back next week to see where the wind takes me. Have a wonderful week out there y’all, and thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike
P.S. If you want to check out photos from previous trips to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, click the links here: Yellowstone Gallery or Grand Teton Gallery