Elevation: GPS says 5050, but it seems messed up at the moment
States passed through: Wyoming, Montana
We headed into the Yellowstone backcountry for a planned two night foray starting at the Grebb Lake trailhead. The plane was to camp at one of the backcountry sites and do day hikes during the day. Yesterday, we hiked 3.3 miles in and set up camp. Our site was about one hundred yards away from a picturesque lake, only accessible by foot in a slightly wooded area. After a lunch of peanut butter and jelly on blueberry bagels, apricots and plums, we hung our bear bag and packs, strapped up our day packs and hit the trail to Ice Lake. The entire area we hiked in was recently burned by forest fires and was naturally reseeded. You could really see the forest starting to grow back, and understand why forest fires are very good for the environment even though it was somewhat annoying to cross over the multiple logs strewn over the trail at times. The trail to ice lake was very picturesque in spots as it included beautiful fields and multiple streams to cross. The yellowstone backcountry does not have any bridges over trails, but we managed to cross all but one stream using logs that had fallen over the streams or just jumping if the stream was small enough. Unfortunately, there was one stream that was too wide for this, so we took our shoes and socks off and forded it. As river fording goes, I can't see it being any easier than this as the water was only shin deep and the current was very weak. After reaching ice lake and snacking on Clif bars, we headed back and prepared dinner which consisted of spiced pasta. Using our alcohol stove, we managed to cook it in about 2.5 fuel cycles and it was very satisfying.
Today we woke up, got ready and ate a breakfast of peanut butter and jelly on bagels and headed out for observation point, a hike of approximately 6.6 miles. Upon reaching the top, the view was just spectacular and it was accompanied by gale force winds and piles of unmelted snow. The weather was great with just a handful of clouds in the sky, allowing for views of the Grand Teton range and a large amount of yellowstone. At the top we decided that since it was so early in the day, we'd hike back to the car tonight and try and find a campsite. Unfortunately, all of them were full but we were able to find a KOA about 30 minutes from the park. This isn't too bad because it has wifi (so I can upload these posts and pictures), laundry services and hot showers, all of which make the drive worth it. This doesn't even include the incredible views on US-89 north from Yellowstone. Montana really is big sky country....
Notes:
The yellowstone backcountry was extremely serene. We saw only a handful of hikers the first day and didn't hear the sounds of cars, planes or anything else but nature for that matter. If you come to yellowstone and don't take a hike, you've really robbed yourself of a treasure.
I mentioned this in the post, but Montana really is just awesome. I'm typing this without looking at the keyboards, because the views all around are awesome.
Pictures: I've tried to take a lot, but its truly hard to capture whatI'm seeing with my fujifilm waterproof camera, if you get a chance, come out and see some of this for yourself, it's really worth it...
Plan for tomorrow: Check out the mammoth hot springs area of yellowstone and do a short hike if time allows....
Sorry, no pics because of the connection, you may have to wait until seattle for any more pictures
Chaitanya
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