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After picking up my son at Island Park, my family along with @McGimpkins headed into Yellowstone for four nights at the Grant Village campground with the intention of doing three day hikes: the first, joined by @langutah , to Delusion Lake, the second, to Sentinel Meadows and Queen's Laundry, and the last to Beach Lake then on to Dryad Lake before exiting at Natural Bridge.
Day Hike #1 - Delusion Lake
Delusion Lake comes by its name from early explores of the area mistakenly thinking that it was an arm of Yellowstone Lake but indeed it is its own separate entity. The lake is approximately .4 miles across and 2.4 miles in length. Other than the first two miles and the end along a road, the rest of our hike was off-trail.
We hit the Riddle Lake Trailhead just after 7:30 in the morning ready to day hike to seldom visited Delusion Lake. Our route would take us two miles down the Riddle Lake Trail to Riddle Lake. Once at the lake, we would find the outlet and follow the meadows along Solution Creek for approximately 3.6 miles where we would bushwhack through some burn before hitting a second set of meadows that run to the northeast and lead essentially to Delusion Lake. Our return would consist of hiking through burn for about a mile before hooking up with Solution Creek again and then following the creek to Yellowstone Lake. Once at the lake, we would follow the shoreline back to Grant Village if possible or hop up on the road near the water treatment plant and wind our way back to our campground.
Overview map of day hike #1
Scatman , @McGimpkins , @langutah and Scatman Jr. at the trailhead
We made good time along the trail heading to Riddle Lake. At the lake, we were fortunate to see some trumpeter swans on the lake. Riddle Lake itself had many lily pads along the eastern shore and Mount Sheridan loomed over the lake to the south.
Meadows along the Riddle Lake Trail
Lily pads on Riddle Lake
Mount Sheridan, south of Riddle Lake
As we approached the outlet of the lake, we saw a swan nesting on the shore, thus we gave her a wide berth as not to disturb her. Arriving at the outlet, we began to follow what turned out to be a dry at this point Solution Creek. We hiked through the meadows along the creek for 3.6 miles, occasionally surprising pairs of sandhill cranes and often getting glimpses of soaring hawks.
The meadows along Solution Creek
Elk skull and antlers
Mount Sheridan
At this point, we turned to the east for a half mile of bushwhacking through old burn and new growth
until we reached another set of meadows that would lead us to Delusion Lake.
Making our way through the old burn
Emerging from the burn into the meadows that would lead us to Delusion Lake
After a quick break, we still had two miles of meadow walking to reach the lake. On our maps, these meadows were marked as marshy, but they turned out out be dry though walking through them was more difficult than it would seem due to uneven footing. Soon enough we got our first sight of Delusion Lake where we would stop and rest, eat lunch, refill our water bottles and take some photos of the lake. Again, like Riddle Lake there were a tremendous amount of lily pads along the western edge of the lake.
Hiking through the meadows towards Delusion Lake
First glimpse of Delusion Lake
Lily pads cover a western finger of the lake
Delusion Lake with the hazy Absarokas to the east
@langutah , kind enough to fill everyone's water bottles.
Group shot at Delusion Lake
After leaving the lake, it was back to trudging through burn for another mile before once again reaching Solution Creek. Once at the creek, it was a little less than a mile to Yellowstone Lake where we began hiking along the shoreline back to Grant Village. About one mile from the Village, we left the shoreline and hiked up to the old waste water treatment facility where we jumped on the road and followed it back to our campsite at the campground.
Negotiating the old burn and new growth once again
Back on Solution Creek
Hiking along Solution Creek
Where Solution Creek flows into Yellowstone Lake
A Bald Eagle
Arriving at Yellowstone Lake
@langutah taking the direct route (across the water) to our campsite at Grant Village
The shoreline of Yellowstone Lake
Snags along the shore of Yellowstone Lake
Old waste water treatment facility at Grant Village
Well, a great day hike I do believe. I'm guessing we went a touch over 15 miles with all the zigging and zagging that we ended up doing. Plus everybody chipped in when we had to backtrack for my point and shoot camera that I lost. I'm still pissed about that by the way.
The sun was out all day and I thought it got pretty hot into the afternoon which slowed me down some. This led to some concern for me about our long hike to Dryad Lake on day three.
As far as wildlife was concerned, we managed to see the two swans along with numerous sandhill cranes that seemed to appear around every bend in the meadows, a number of hawks, canadian geese, ducks, a bald eagle and one deer.
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Day Hike #1 - Delusion Lake
Delusion Lake comes by its name from early explores of the area mistakenly thinking that it was an arm of Yellowstone Lake but indeed it is its own separate entity. The lake is approximately .4 miles across and 2.4 miles in length. Other than the first two miles and the end along a road, the rest of our hike was off-trail.
We hit the Riddle Lake Trailhead just after 7:30 in the morning ready to day hike to seldom visited Delusion Lake. Our route would take us two miles down the Riddle Lake Trail to Riddle Lake. Once at the lake, we would find the outlet and follow the meadows along Solution Creek for approximately 3.6 miles where we would bushwhack through some burn before hitting a second set of meadows that run to the northeast and lead essentially to Delusion Lake. Our return would consist of hiking through burn for about a mile before hooking up with Solution Creek again and then following the creek to Yellowstone Lake. Once at the lake, we would follow the shoreline back to Grant Village if possible or hop up on the road near the water treatment plant and wind our way back to our campground.
Overview map of day hike #1 Scatman , @McGimpkins , @langutah and Scatman Jr. at the trailheadWe made good time along the trail heading to Riddle Lake. At the lake, we were fortunate to see some trumpeter swans on the lake. Riddle Lake itself had many lily pads along the eastern shore and Mount Sheridan loomed over the lake to the south.
Meadows along the Riddle Lake Trail
Lily pads on Riddle Lake Mount Sheridan, south of Riddle LakeAs we approached the outlet of the lake, we saw a swan nesting on the shore, thus we gave her a wide berth as not to disturb her. Arriving at the outlet, we began to follow what turned out to be a dry at this point Solution Creek. We hiked through the meadows along the creek for 3.6 miles, occasionally surprising pairs of sandhill cranes and often getting glimpses of soaring hawks.
The meadows along Solution CreekElk skull and antlersMount SheridanAt this point, we turned to the east for a half mile of bushwhacking through old burn and new growth
until we reached another set of meadows that would lead us to Delusion Lake.
Making our way through the old burn Emerging from the burn into the meadows that would lead us to Delusion LakeAfter a quick break, we still had two miles of meadow walking to reach the lake. On our maps, these meadows were marked as marshy, but they turned out out be dry though walking through them was more difficult than it would seem due to uneven footing. Soon enough we got our first sight of Delusion Lake where we would stop and rest, eat lunch, refill our water bottles and take some photos of the lake. Again, like Riddle Lake there were a tremendous amount of lily pads along the western edge of the lake.
Hiking through the meadows towards Delusion LakeFirst glimpse of Delusion Lake Lily pads cover a western finger of the lakeDelusion Lake with the hazy Absarokas to the east@langutah , kind enough to fill everyone's water bottles.
Group shot at Delusion Lake After leaving the lake, it was back to trudging through burn for another mile before once again reaching Solution Creek. Once at the creek, it was a little less than a mile to Yellowstone Lake where we began hiking along the shoreline back to Grant Village. About one mile from the Village, we left the shoreline and hiked up to the old waste water treatment facility where we jumped on the road and followed it back to our campsite at the campground.
Negotiating the old burn and new growth once againBack on Solution Creek
Hiking along Solution Creek
Where Solution Creek flows into Yellowstone LakeA Bald EagleArriving at Yellowstone Lake
@langutah taking the direct route (across the water) to our campsite at Grant VillageThe shoreline of Yellowstone LakeSnags along the shore of Yellowstone Lake
Old waste water treatment facility at Grant Village
Well, a great day hike I do believe. I'm guessing we went a touch over 15 miles with all the zigging and zagging that we ended up doing. Plus everybody chipped in when we had to backtrack for my point and shoot camera that I lost. I'm still pissed about that by the way.
The sun was out all day and I thought it got pretty hot into the afternoon which slowed me down some. This led to some concern for me about our long hike to Dryad Lake on day three.As far as wildlife was concerned, we managed to see the two swans along with numerous sandhill cranes that seemed to appear around every bend in the meadows, a number of hawks, canadian geese, ducks, a bald eagle and one deer.
Featured image for home page:
