 Just because we're getting older doesn't mean we still can't hike. Ok, we're not as fast as we used to be (except Doc, of course) but we still like head out west, strap on those sweat-encrusted packs and make some fresh tracks on the trail. None of us had ever backpacked in Yellowstone before, so this was a new experience. We were planning to hike across the northwest corner of Wyoming and camp in Montana- about a mile from the far northern edge of Yellowstone National Park and the Gallatin National Forest. This trip we decided to fly into Jackson
Hole (Wyoming) Sunday afternoon, spend the night and hit the sightseeing
trail on Monday. Tom Dillon and Colby Strom flew out early and
bought some supplies we weren't allowed
to check through the airlines and the rest of the guys arrived Sunday
evening. Doc, Karl, Tony and
Monday morning we decided to get an early start, so we got a 6 AM breakfast at the motel in Jackson, made a water stop, jumped in our 2 rental cars and made the short drive north to the Grand Teton National Park. One entry fee ($25 per car) gets you a week in the Tetons and Yellowstone- not bad. It was really crisp in the early morning at those altitudes (in the 30's), and our polarfleece jackets and gloves felt great. We almost immediately had to stop to take pictures of the Tetons; how could you NOT take pictures of this kind of scenery? Jackson Hole was one of the last areas settled in the west by homesteaders. It had been settled and disputed by the native tribes for centuries (of course!) but due to its high altitude, farming here by white settlers was difficult. The Snake River runs in the huge elk meadows that range in the basin itself, so there has never been any shortage of bison, deer and elk in the region. This is why fur trappers and hunters have been coming here for over 200 years. The Tetons, of course, are one photo
opportunity after another- everywhere you look they dominate the scenery
and you get another uncontrollable urge to stop the car and take more
photos using them as a backdrop. The wildfires in California that
had been in the news were apparently causing just a "tinge" of high
altitude smoke in the atmosphere that morning- the air was not quite as
clear as we'd seen it in other parts of the west. Our second photo stop was Jenny Lake in the early morning. The calm air that morning gave the lake a mirror quality, and when combined with the high elevation and the crisp blue skies- well, you can see just how pretty it really is with the reflection of mountains and water. Driving north from the Tetons later that morning we entered Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone it sited up in the northwest corner of Wyoming, but also takes in a portion of Montana and Idaho as well. We came in the South Entrance to the park and could immediately see the effects of the 1988 fire, which burned huge, and we do mean HUGE sections of the park. But our resident scientist Dr. Dillon pointed out that fire is a part of the cycle of the western forest, and that the ponderosa and other pines have to have fire in order to re-seed. Since it had been 18 years since the fires, we could clearly see the effects of the re-seeding, with trees now over six feet tall and covering much of the forest floor.
We went across the road and into one of the park restaurants for lunch, with everyone checking their voice mail (and checking in at home!)
The area covers several acres and extends into the lake itself, with hot pools, steam vents and bubbling mud pools, all connected with a board walk (for safety). The alkali crust and the algae that forms makes for interesting colors, but the sulfur smell, especially at the steam vents was pretty potent!
We arrived about an hour before the next predicted 2:57 PM eruption, so we decided to huddle back up in front of Old Faithful at about 3 pm. We split up and headed out to view the entire upper geyser basin, seeing more hot springs, geysers, mud flats and other really cool features. Even in the very warm (high 70's) afternoon sun, the steam off the hot springs and vents was still striking. We all got good seats around the geyser at about 2:50 or so, and sure enough, at 3:02 PM there was a small bubbling of water, a small jet of steam followed by a long shower of water into the air. Pretty neat. The ranger had said that the water coming out of the geyser was about 150-200 years old, since that's how long it takes for water to filter down to the deep aquifer, and that they think it has it's own source of water. From our perspective it was a really nice show, since most of the geysers in the basin may only erupt every 5-10 DAYS.
Notice the stylish nylon trip shirts we had embroidered; it got us several inquiries from tourists, thinking we were park employees. (We were tempted to start selling tickets to Old Faithful, but restrained ourselves only reluctantly.) Next came a tour of the Old Faithful Inn, which is a huge log hotel, with a really interesting multi-story lobby- but all made out of pine logs. The Inn is going to close at the end of the season for three years' worth of renovation, so we wanted to see it while we could. Well worth the 15 minutes of looking and craning our collective necks. A long walk back to the car (it's a huge
tourist complex- a campus almost) we headed north and then west towards
West Yellowstone, Montana. Old Faithful was in the upper geyser
basin; we went past the middle basin and the lower basin, with steam
coming out of the ground. As we drove along the river, we saw our
first elk- a doe At first we couldn't figure out why the cars ahead of us were stopped, or only going 5 mph, but as we traveled west to exit the park and for West Yellowstone, Montana, we soon came to realize that when ever a car pulled over, they were almost always looking at wildlife next to the road. But soon traffic came to a crawl- and after a while we found out why. Several bison were walking across and along the road, stopping traffic in both directions. There are signs throughout the park warning people about the unpredictability of bison, who can move pretty quickly when they choose. Today they chose to be very slow, but we were able to take plenty of photos up close.
Ross and Colby hit the fly shop to buy their final flies to take with them on to the trail. Karl went back to the hotel to put the final touches on the food distribution while the rest of us went to IMAX to see a really cheesy movie about bears. We learned not to fear grizzly bears, who are actually warm, fuzzy creatures that are greatly misunderstood. Right. Tony said he was still glad he was packing heat (bear spray, which he never let out of his sight the entire time we were in the back country- and we didn't blame him!) Finally a trip back to the hotel Monday evening, where Karl did our food distribution and crew gear distribution to each of our packs. Tomorrow we hit the trail!
|
Ross
were on the same later flight that arrived at about 6:30 PM local time.
Dinner and we crashed at the Super 8 motel (which was pretty affordable,
even for Jackson hole.)
We
stopped at the Backcountry office to get our backcountry briefing, for
Colby and Ross to get their fishing permits and for Doc to get some
teasing from the National Park Service volunteer about the paperwork for
the back country. We got the video and lecture about hiking into
grizzly bear country, about bear bags and smellables. (Someone
pointed out that after three days in the woods we'd all be smellables.)
Next
came a drive on top of the Lewis River gorge and a stop at Lewis Falls
(right next to the road, and really pretty) and then a visit into one of
the more interesting thermal basins and mud flats at the west end of
Yellowstone Lake. 
We
crossed the Continental Divide twice; the first time we crossed the divide
at 8,391 (about the same altitude we would be hiking later in the week) we
decided to take a group photo-- but no tripod. About the time one of
us wished for someone to stop, a car full of nice folks from Washington
State stopped and they took our photo in front of the photo of the
continental divide- the photo we have on the main page. Pretty good
timing.
Next
it was the stop that we had all been waiting for- a trip to the upper
geyser basin and (hopefully) a chance to see Old Faithful do her stuff.
Before the earthquake several decades ago changed the structure of the
basin, Old Faithful used to erupt at very predictable intervals. But
they still have a fairly accurate 20 minute window, based upon how long
the last eruption lasted and when it started.
After
the great show we talked one of the foreign tourists walking by into
taking a group photo in front of the steam still coming out of Old
Faithful. Front row is David Moore, Colby Strom, Tony Bagwell; back
row is Ross Statham, Karl Hebert and Tom Dillon.
that was grazing between us and the river.
Late
in the day we exited the park and arrived at our motel in West
Yellowstone, Montana. We got dinner at a little restaurant downtown
and made sure we harassed Karl Hebert about his BIRTHDAY. (He's
getting "older, not better" seemed to be the general theme.) 
