Bechler Meadows, Yellowstone

Pringles

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My friend Chris, and I got to hike in the Bechler region of Yellowstone in early August. We started here, at the Bechler Ranger Station.

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The trail was in trees for the first mile or so.

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There were occasional meadow views.

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And lily ponds.

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The trail was quite flat.

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Pine drops, I think.

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There were squishy wet areas.

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Monks hood was blooming.

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Paintbrush were out.

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This is Idunnobush.

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The park had helpful bridges for getting through marshy spots.

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There were some long walks through very open meadows.

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I think that’s the mouth of Bechler Canyon. Kevin and Eric and I hiked from Lone Star Geyser to the other end of the canyon last year.

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I didn’t post a picture of camp, which was a little spot in some trees, but th

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This was a the camp kitchen. There was room for a number of campers and 2 bazillion-quadrillion mosquitoes.

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The first thing we did on the second day was ford this stream, Boundary Creek. I am *not* fond of water, and you good folks gave me suggestions last winter for fording streams. For this trip, I wore hiking shoes that would dry quickly, and sloshed right through. I had been concerned that it would be a mud bottom, but it was quite solid. Since I didn’t take off my shoes or socks or anything, it took no extra time, except for unhooking my hip belt. The

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This day had a number of sections that crossed big meadows. I was a little uncomfortable with the willows next to the trail, out of fear of bears. But I yelled, “Hey bear,” a lot, and saw none. The park rangers had warned us that there was a cinnamon black bear in the area that had been pan handling, but we didn’t see it.

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I hoped to see a moose, but no.

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Another stream crossing. There were a number on this day. Chris was stopping putting on sandals, and then putting her boots on again. I was glad I had shoes that would dry fast. Although, I don’t think they totally dried until I had been in camp a bit. My feet weren’t unhappy.

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We began to climb. We didn’t gain much altitude, but a hill is a hill, and we noticed.

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These flowers were everywhere.

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We were going toward the notch.

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We were going toward the notch.

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Oh look, another stream crossing!

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Slosh, slosh, slosh.

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We got to our campsite, hung our food, put up our tents, and then went and looked at Dunanda Falls. We did not go down to the stream and soak. I know, that’s why people GO to Dunanda Falls. Well, last year I was by Mr. Bubbles and didn’t soak, and this year I was by Dunanda and didn’t soak. It’s ok. I don’t like water.

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I think this is what we could see of Silver Scar

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The paintbrush was vibrant.

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We dayhiked to the top of Dunanda Falls.

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The view of the Tetons from the tent at this second campsite.

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Red sky at morning, sailor take warning. I was thoughtful of that, but I guess I’m not a sailor, because nothing happened.

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Interesting clouds.

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I don’t know what this was. It looked a little like a columbine, but wasn’t. It was very fleshy.


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Giant hellibourine.

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Pearly everlasting.

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Trail through messy woods.

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A beautiful view of a meadow.

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Bechler Meadows. Somewhere along in this segment, the trail went into a squishy, bouncy area. It seemed like what I’ve heard described of peat bogs. I skedaddled through, and hoped not to experience another. It felt like if I stopped, I’d sink.

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The people bridge over Boundary Creek.

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I didn’t play on the bridge. I promise. I’ve since thought that with my luck, I’d play on the bridge, get caught and sent to prison. There, my room mate would introduce herself and say, “I killed three people... what did YOU do.” In a tiny voice, “I played on the bridge in the Bechler...

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This was Boundary Creek near our camp for the night.

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The camp kitchen wasn’t very special, though it was functional.

Most interesting about this camp was the privy. It w

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Trail on the final day.

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I think this was a badger hole

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The one hiker I was faster than. He didn’t seem to mind.

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After getting back to the car, we drove to Cave Falls, the two Mesa Falls (though we couldn’t get a parking place at the upper falls, so never saw it. This was lower Cave Falls (I think.)

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Chris had seen Old Faithful before, but hey, when you’re in the neighborhood, you see your old friends, right? So we stoped and watched Old

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As we passed West Thumb Geyser Basin, an unnamed (as far as I know) geyser went off. We stopped and watched.

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It had been a nice, three night, four day trip. We saw mountains, meadows, a couple of little lakes, waterfalls, and flowers.
 
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wow, I didn't know that any of the geysers in West Thumb erupt once in a while.
And Bechler ara is still a white spot on my Yellowstone map. It definitely looks really amazing. So I guess during one of my future summer hiking trips I will go and check it out
 
I didn’t know there were geysers in West Thumb, either, but it was sure going off. There were about 10 of us that stopped and watched. Like the rest of Yellowstone, it’s worth exploring. Everywhere I go in Yellowstone, I meet someone who planned and planned to get there, and they tell me that “This is the busiest backcountry area of the park.” The Lamar, the Bechler, Heart Lake, the Thorofare... . They’re apparently *all* the busiest. :) It’s good that everybody is happy where they’re going. And that they take bug spray.
 
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A fun trip report. Liked the commentary. But you didn’t finish your sentence about the privy!


Thanks Stephanie B. I’m not sure why, but sometimes either the server software or my iPad don’t agree on things, and words get eaten. Occasionally pictures get eaten, and sometimes they reproduce. Technology.

Anyway, the privy at that campsite was a little fiberglass “throne.” They’re fairly common at the backcountry sites I’ve gotten, to, but this one was about four feet to the side of the trail between the camping area and the kitchen. There were some downed trees within a few feet, and, unbelieveable, we each walked back and forth between tents and kitchen a few times before we even saw the privy. I was the first to find it, and the next time I went up to my tent, I missed it again. The privy itself was private enough, but I believe if someone sat upon it, the cloak of invisibility would have risen. Now I’ll go back and try to edit it, but... .
 
Bechler Meadows is definitely on my list to do - really enjoyed your TR and comments! Loved your flower pics and names! Your Privy comment made me laugh of a canoe trip I did once with my wife and friends that included Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone: had to reserve the trip and campsites way ahead of time. Every Privy was setup on a hill with views everywhere as you sat on the throne. The bugs were bad then too!
 
It’s a beautiful place. People say it’s different than the rest of Yellowstone. I dunno. Everywhere I go, I see a little of some other part. I do know that there aren’t many places where you can lay in your tent and hear coyotes yip, or wolves howl, or elk bugle or bighorns murmur, or a geyser go off, or a thermal bubble and vent, or all of those in the same night. After Edward Abby described something achingly beautiful, his next sentence was simply, “Routine stuff.”
 
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