08/02/08
Nothing like a week in Yellowstone to clear your head!!!! How can you possibly write about a backpacking trip to Yellowstone…for a week….alone??? There’s no real story or entertaining mishaps, just a solid week of 10-14 mile days of hiking. I’d wake up, hike and then repeat each day. I guess I could bore you with my attempts at homemade dehydrated meals ( a HUGE success mind you….) or tell you how I had to hold both pairs of my socks together with Duct Tape because both pairs wore holes on the first 6 mile hike in…thank god for tevas. I could even tell you how refreshing it truly is to take a “bath” in the middle of a huge meadow and not a human sole around for miles, or maybe even tell you what its like to simply sit in a hot spring in the middle of the backcountry for an hour before finally having to hike on. I could even try to relate what its like to watch the sunset on the Grand Tetons from almost 75 miles north, in a meadow…silent, or watch an entire heard of Bison cross through Hayden Valley, or see 5 black bear in a matter of 20 minutes. I could even tell a few of you the thoughts that went through my head as I hiked; thoughts about who I am, my current place in life, what natures all about and how it all truly works, taoism, etc. All these little aspects of the trip could really make a pretty interesting story…but I think I’m going to keep some of them just for me. This was a trip for me…..

The pictures are for all of you!!

Day 1

the view from camp night 1

Day 2

an early start

1st of about 10 stream crossings for the trip

camp night 2 & 3

Day 3

Day 4

stream crossing early am..who needs coffee? Just make a 75yrd stream crossing, up to your “temperature sensitive” area and you are certainly wide AWAKE!!!

all mine…all day!!!

Day 5

time for little soak!!!!

actual sitting pool

Its amazing how much the temperature fluctuated! It would be super cold one second and then another too hot, it only took a few inches of distance to really change the situation from comfy to painful. Still, nothing like getting the shoulders way in there and just looking back into the skies!!!!

That nights camping meadow. I got to watch the sun set and rise by simply rolling over in my sleeping bag. It can’t get much better than that.

Day 6

By about this time I realized that the storage on the camera was running low so I had to take fewer and fewer pictures. The last day is not photographed (a pretty dull day of tree hiking) besides this last one along Lake Lewis.

I felt pretty like I had some pretty positive energy flowing when a 7 mile road hike turned into a 1/4 mile stroll before being picked up by a local and being driven back to the trailhead. Took the drive down to Jackson and it still makes me think about moving. Finally took a real shower and headed off the the Snake River Brew Pub for beer and greasy beef. The next day I took the chance to ride through the park’s east side, which I hadn’t seen before. This is only a small glimpse of what I did see. I wish I had a telephoto lens that matched some of the people I met….WOW you can see so much more! I spent an hour waiting for a pack of wolves to come back and take out an injured elk that I had missed them take from the herd only 45 minuted before and injure….SO CLOSE!! No wolves this time and no grizzly..owe well. There was still a ton of bison, elk, some moose, 5 black bear, deer and one little gray fox as I was crossing the park boundary.

A perfect trip for the soul, a perfect place for nature, a perfect place to connect the two

We started our short little trip with two nights in a campground. The Yosemite experience in a campground is like no other. Between the kids running through our site and the surrounding people cutting wood, it was anything but peaceful.

We were able to get a little solitude around the giant sequoias

The first day in the Valley was the opportunity to see some falls and fight some crowds. Strangely, this actually included carrying a dirty diaper down from the base of one of the falls. Can someone tell me why anyone would a) change a baby at the base of the falls & b) leave the diaper there???? We tried not to let it dampen our spirits.

Day two found us waking up early and running away from the campground before everyone else woke up to get a little climbing in at the base of El Cap. Nothing too radical or exciting, just some easy fun climbing with an incredible view.

Once the temps got too high, we headed out and went for a few more short tourist hikes on the Mist trail. Its always amusing to see how unprepared some people are when they go for a hike: no water, flip flops; I swear, we were wondering when someone was going to pass out.

Finally, day 3 took us out of the Valley and into silence. We left early and headed out from the Sunrise Lakes parking lot, where there were hundreds of cars. Fortunately we didn’t see nearly as many people as I thought. We enjoyed a decent amount of solitude and incredible weather.

took our time reaching Clouds Rest (by far the best view along the trail). Looking back we wonder why we only took 3 pictures????

The descent off the backside is really a quad burner and I was glad to reach our quiet little campsite. We were able to get away from the majority of people. Having our dinner, overlooking Half Dome, we heard someone yelling from below “hey guys there’s a bear wondering around”, the sound of fear in the womans voice still makes us laugh. Sure enough, the smallest little black bear comes wondering by us, barely even caring that we were there. Ahh city folk, they are so fearful of what they’ve never experienced. Later on that evening we actually saw a few people throwing rocks at the bear as it was digging up a rotted stump looking for insects or something to eat….I mean it was nowhere near camp!!!!!

The next morning we tried to get going early to beat most people on the trail, but caught up to a few that wouldn’t let us pass. We got another bear show with a mom and 2 cubs alongside the trail

Scenic hiking on pretty mellow terrain is always so nice and relaxing.

I was able to save Suzanne’s life from a falling tree….

Having only 2 nights in the backcountry is tough, you get out there and as soon as you find yourself giving in, you’re on your way out. We took total advantage of our last night by having several hours at our camp. We relaxed, explored, read, knapped, etc. Finally watching as the sun set from one of the greatest and easiest vantage points.

Two nights isn’t nearly enough for Yosemite backcountry, but 2 nights is better than none. It only wets your appetite for even MORE!!!

Talk about an Elevation Adventure: sun, rain, snow, park closures, seasonal closures, and super helpful Park Rangers. A trip we will not soon forget

After only 12 hour of driving and a quick check-in at one of the basic campgrounds we were able to get our first glimpse at the Park.

We picked up our permits and were warned about a storm front that was on its way to the area and “could” deliver a few inches of snow at the higher elevations and rain in the low lands. Of course neither of us were all too concerned, the Ranger didn’t seem to think it would be that bad….wrong.

The first day was along the Highline Trail which has been a trail that I’ve wanted to hike ever since first hearing about Glacier National Park. The day was sunny, warm and perfect. We had an incredible 14 mile hike and passed several groups going the opposite direction and telling us all about how wonderful the trip was.

We finally reached camp late in the afternoon and were still able to get some time before the sun went down to talk with some other backpackers and warn them about the storm.

We woke up to overcast skies and cool temps and started our hike. After only a 1/2 mile from our camp we ran across a Grizzly mom and two of her cubs about 200 yds away. The perfect distance, just far enough to feel safe and close enough to watch them for a while. Mom noticed us after a few minutes and took her cubs a little further off.

As the day progressed, so did the cloud cover.

We finally reached our camp for the night and never saw any of the moose that we werepromised, but it was a gorgeous lake nontheless.

Shortly after arriving at camp and making dinner the rain started and didn’t stop for the next two days. We headed out early the next morning and basically ran up and over Stoney Indian Pass. We were originally supposed to camp at the pass but decided to go up and over to get out of the snow, it was certainly an area that would have been breathtaking had we been able to stop and enjoy it. By the time we reached the pass there was already 6 inches of snow and the temperatures had dropped significantly. We ran down the other side and fought off hypothermia as best we could before reaching camp. I only wish we had the time to enjoy that area of the hike, there were numerous waterfalls and cliff bands surrounding us…maybe one day.

For the next two nights we barely left the tent. There is nothing like spending a ton of time cramped in a little tent with someone special, you really get to appreciate their individual “aroma” HA

Finally, after 2 nights of solid rain, it stopped and we were able to leave the tent, make a little food and attempt to dry out our gear. We were able to get a glimpse of an incredible sunrise, somewhere, but provided us with a purple illuminated tent.

We went on our merry way to the next camp which was a mere 6 miles away. It was an incredible enjoyable hike and we were able to get a little info from a few other people that we came across. Most people told us that the center of the park was closed because the storm blew down numerous trees.

We reached our next camp, set alongside a beautiful lake that overlooked the surrounding mountains and the pass that we would have to attempt to get back to civilization. Mother nature was kind to us and spared us more rain and instead provided us with some wildlife viewing of a black bear and some mtn goats.

We woke up early the following day and didn’t want to waste too much time before trying to tackel the pass. After only an hour of hiking we reached snow line and had to fight our way through thigh deep plunge steps and super hard patches of ice. It was pretty tough going all the way, but the weather seemed to be cooperating.

We finally reached the narrow section that lead to the “tunnel” which literally is a tunnel through the top of the mountain. Any later in the season and we would probably have found the tunnel doors locked until spring.

We finally began to see signs of civilization, we saw dozens of people hiking on the snow with day packs and even more as we descended. Soon we would be near a ranger station and information. We basically ran that section of trail, thank god! We arrived at the ranger station 5 minutes before they closed for the SEASON. We asked for info on the pass that we were to attempt the next day and they advised us against it. Options??

We were able to hitch a ride with one of the rangers to another of the east side entrances where we were able to get beer and burgers. We then hitched a ride with another ranger that brought us to the halfway point, an area that was closed to everyone but official vehicles. We then met a third ranger that was willing to bring us to our vehicle…again, in a closed area of the park.

All in all an incredible trip. One of unpredictability and one that taught us both to stay positive, always have fun, and never to stress when things don’t go perfectly. We didn’t get to see all the scenery that I had originally hoped to, but we did have an incredible experience.