Day one: Got in around 8 last night. Perfect timing with there being just enough sunlight to check-in at the station and set up camp. Took a few tries with the fire (needed more middle sized wood) but did get one going. Sat around fire and had a little to drink. Someone brought their baby--why?!--and it cried some. Wore heavy socks, thermal running pants, sweat pants, long sleeved Noble shirt, and a sweat shirt. Slept in liner and sleeping bag with blanket on top. Woke up cold and put on winter coat and gloves and was plenty warm all night. Had to get up twice to use restroom. I love it here.. Surroundings are beautiful. Saw 2 bison and at least 2 female elk on the drive in from the west side.
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Backcountry, August 2015
Group of Bison in Lamar Valley
Backcountry
Day 2: woke up on my own too early for my liking: 6:30 and decided to get up and organize the car. It is hard to stay organized! Not very much space and a variety of things you constantly need. Walked to the restroom and there was a neat River with little bubbles rising (boiling) and steam coming off. Watched a female elk in the distance (far away) grazing and loved it!
Drove to Canyon for backcountry camping and watched a video. Picked a 2 mile site and it ended up being 3 miles one way. It was pretty desolate by Cascade Lake. Set up camp and hung things from our "bear pole" also had rented bear spray. Didn't have much time by the time we got back to the car and was worn out after hiking with all our supplies for over 6 miles.
​Saw mud volcano. Wanted to see Hayden valley but ran out of time. Saw Yellowstone lake, stopped along the road for trumpeter swans and saw a bison walking along the road too. Came back to camp around 6:45 and packed up. Got back to camp (collected stuff to start a fire when we set up the tent) and we forgot matches!! No way we were going all the way back in the late dusk/dark so we walked a half mile one-way to ask the only other campers if they had anything. They let us have their flint for the night! We had couscous and really good mash potatoes. Sat by the fire then took off all our warm clothing and hung them on the food pole too. Went to bed and was about 40-42 degrees at night.
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Day 3: Went to Lamar valley and had Bison cross the road in front of us. Saw a bunch of pronghorn antelope. Some people had their telescopic cameras set up and said there was a wolf den but it was too far away for us to see any. We hiked a short but steep trail to Trout Lake. We didn't see any animals but it was very pretty.
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Went down Uncle Tom's trail by the lower falls. So pretty but I was really nervous because of the height. Andrew helped me and it was probably comical how tight I was gripping the railing. Also hiked Artist's trail and saw the falls head-on.
Bear pole to hang anything with a scent
Trout Lake
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Day 4: Woke up today to the sound of 4 trumpeter swans on the lake by our site. Heard two owl's throughout the night. Also woke up with a MASSIVE headache and all medications were back at the trail head! We moved to the other side of the lake because you can only stay in the same site for a maximum of 3 nights here without moving. It will save us 20 minutes one way as well. We went to Canyon campground and showered and ate lunch. Andrew was having to do a lot since I was still feeling awful. We forgot the cooler at Canyon but when we came back 7-8 hours later, it was still there! We drove to Mammoth Springs and took some photos. Then we drove past where we wanted (some things aren't marked as much as I thought) but saw a herd of Mountain sheep on a steep ledge and at 6-7 elk including a bull elk, mother, and a baby. They were so close to us so it was perfect timing.
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Then we continued to a lot where boiling River and Gardiner River meet. The first is very hot and the second very cold. The combination is an interesting experience for visitors so we tried out some different spots. Very neat and relaxing! Ate more cuss cuss that Andrew cooked while I made a fire. We had both collected firewood.
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Lower Falls photographs taken with a film camera that is from the 80's
