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On September 4th, our group headed into the Yellowstone backcountry to Grebe Lake for a four day backpacking trip. This trip included two day hikes: one to Observation Peak, and a second one to Wolf Lake.
Originally I had wanted to get campsite 4G4 on the north shore of Grebe for three nights and use this site as a basecamp for our day hikes. Unfortunately, I (nor any of my family members for that matter) were able to secure a lottery spot. This meant that I had to wait until the general public could reserve backcountry campsites and thus I was unable to get 4G4 for three consecutive nights.
So instead, we had to move to 4G3 on our second night and then head back to 4G4 for our third night.
Sheila and I had opened up our trip to those here on BCP just in case anyone wanted to join us, and to our delight @Bob , @Pringles , @ImNotDedYet , @Patrick GPz , @The Trout Whisperer , and @Dreamer decided to tag along. Now these basecamp trips usually have an open itinerary, and this one was no different. People can basically do what they want, stay as long as the want, etc.. Knowing this, we had three folks leave after one night, and two more after two nights in the backcountry.
Trip overview map
Day 1 - Hiking in to Campsite 4G4 on Grebe Lake - approximately 4 miles
Sheila and I stopped in at the backcountry office in West Yellowstone to pick up our official permit.
After securing the permit, we had about thirty minutes to kill before meeting Bob, Linda, John and Terry at the Buffalo Bar for lunch. So we strolled around West Yellowstone for a bit.
Nice moose
Lunch time!
After fueling up, it was on to the trailhead which was about an hour away.
@Pringles , @Dreamer , and @Patrick GPz had arrived at the trailhead earlier than the rest of us, so they headed to Grebe before us. It always takes Scatman a little bit of time to get everything ready at the trailhead. Everyone else was kind enough to wait on the slowpoke.
58 pounds of gear ready to go.
Group shot at the trailhead
And they are off! The ultralighters are putting the 58 pounder to shame.
Something seems out of kilter. The leaning tower of Scatman.
Sheila was trailing me just in case I dropped something. I did have my tent fall off which means that I had to stop and put it back
on and strap it down tighter than I originally had it.
Some open country at first
The ultralight crew decided to wait for us.
Forested the rest of the way to the lake
Campsite signs at the lake
The many sides of Grebe Lake
@ImNotDedYet makes the decision to take the low route to 4G4
Reaching camp with the Man, the Myth, the Legend.
Our tent at 4G4
Dinner time! No campfires allowed due to fire restrictions
That's right! Circus Peanut time! @Pringles had brought in two bags of the delicious treats. Of course, this meant playtime for
Scatman.
Three loons on the lake and I had a hard time getting pictures of any of them.
About time to call it a day
Day 2 - To Campsite 4G3 then on to Observation Peak - Approximately a 10 mile day
Well, we had to pack up and hike ten minutes up the trail to get to campsite 4G3 from 4G4. Once arriving at 4G3, we realized that there was a squatter at our site. His name turned out to be Benjamin and I will let @ImNotDedYet or @Patrick GPz tell you about Benjamin since they spent more time with him than I did. Sheila and I set up our tent and took off with @Dreamer for the summit of Observation Peak. Before we headed off though, it was time to say our goodbyes to @Pringles , @The Trout Whisperer and @Bob as they were only staying for one night.
A bright group shot at 4G4 before some take off
A ten minute hike to 4G3
All set up at 4G3 and ready to take off for Observation Peak
Heading towards Cascade Lake
Typical of the scenery between Grebe and Cascade
Dreamer up ahead with a small sliver of Cascade Lake above him
Arriving at Cascade Lake
Heading towards the junction with the Observation Peak Trail. A couple of fishermen were pulling in some fish at the lake.
This way to the peak
Leaving Cascade behind
And further behind. Hayden Valley can be seen off in the distance
Headwaters of the Tower Creek drainage can be seen below
Sheila thought this shot had a slight resemblance of the Lewis and Clark signs you see along the road when following their route to the Northwest.
Heading along the ridge at this point
Grebe Lake comes into view
Hayden Valley.
Love the fireweed this time of year
Campsite 4P1 just off the summit. This site has no water source so be sure and pack enough in if you are going to stay here.
The fire lookout on Observation Peak
Eric enjoying the day on top with Cook Peak in the distance
Grebe Lake below
Electric Peak to the northwest
Cook Peak to the north
Mount Holmes to the west
Wolf Lake, with a sliver of Ice Lake beyond
The Yellowstone River flowing through Hayden Valley. You can also catch a glimpse of Yellowstone Lake in the upper left of the
image
BCP greetings while eating a Circus Peanut.
And a celebratory mini Tony's Chocolonely on the summit
Group shot
Grebe, Wolf and Ice Lakes
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone viewed on our way back down
More fireweed
A few lupines still in bloom
Afternoon sun on Cascade now
A bison just off the trail junction
Okay @ImNotDedYet tell us about Benjamin.
A mating pair of swans on Grebe
Evening on Grebe
Day 3 - 4G3 to 4G4 and onto Wolf Lake - Approximately 4.0 miles roundtrip
Of course we had to pack up and head back to 4G4. Before going we said our goodbyes to Terry and Patrick who were hiking out due to some ailments. Some nice folks from Indiana were packing up and getting ready to head out when we arrived at 4G4. They seemed to know Bob (The Man, The Myth, The Legend) and I had a nice chat with them before they took off to camp at Wolf Lake.
Fog on Grebe at 4G3
Grebe Lake
Harebells
Group from Indiana. Austin was the gentleman's name who is on the far left. I told him about Backcoutrypost, so hopefully he will
chime in in the future.
The outlet of Grebe on our way to Wolf Lake
The lily pads extend a ways up the outlet
Forest hiking
And meadows
The fire lookout on Observation where we were the dat before
A squirrel on our way to Wolf
Sheila, showing us how it is done.
At the outlet of Wolf Lake. The outlet is the beginning of the Gibbon River
Wolf Lake. We talked to a fisherman who told us that two hours earlier that he had watched a grizzly bear had walk down the
west side of the lake.
I walked don the Gibbon River a ways before turning around and heading back to Wolf
Group shot at Wolf Lake
Bear pole at campsite 4G5 on our way back to Grebe
View of Grebe from 4G5
Fall colors on some cow parsnip leaves
One of the swans on Grebe
Reflective mood on Grebe that evening
Day 4 - Back to the trailhead - Approximately 4 miles
Pack up and head out today.
Breakfast at 4G4
Slightly uphill back to the trailhead
Grebe Lake Trail
Trailhead is within sight
Back at the Sube.
You are in bear country
Some interesting shots at the trailhead of the old road that used to go to the old fish hatchery that at one time (1920's - 1930's) at
Grebe Lake. @TractorDoc and I need to follow this old road one day.
We headed back to Old Faithful through Hayden Valley and guess who we ran into?
@Pringles !
And of course once at Old Faithful we ran into this handsome fellow (not the one in the kilt).
The End.
Originally I had wanted to get campsite 4G4 on the north shore of Grebe for three nights and use this site as a basecamp for our day hikes. Unfortunately, I (nor any of my family members for that matter) were able to secure a lottery spot. This meant that I had to wait until the general public could reserve backcountry campsites and thus I was unable to get 4G4 for three consecutive nights.
So instead, we had to move to 4G3 on our second night and then head back to 4G4 for our third night.Sheila and I had opened up our trip to those here on BCP just in case anyone wanted to join us, and to our delight @Bob , @Pringles , @ImNotDedYet , @Patrick GPz , @The Trout Whisperer , and @Dreamer decided to tag along. Now these basecamp trips usually have an open itinerary, and this one was no different. People can basically do what they want, stay as long as the want, etc.. Knowing this, we had three folks leave after one night, and two more after two nights in the backcountry.
Trip overview map
Day 1 - Hiking in to Campsite 4G4 on Grebe Lake - approximately 4 miles
Sheila and I stopped in at the backcountry office in West Yellowstone to pick up our official permit.
After securing the permit, we had about thirty minutes to kill before meeting Bob, Linda, John and Terry at the Buffalo Bar for lunch. So we strolled around West Yellowstone for a bit.
Nice moose
Lunch time!
After fueling up, it was on to the trailhead which was about an hour away.
@Pringles , @Dreamer , and @Patrick GPz had arrived at the trailhead earlier than the rest of us, so they headed to Grebe before us. It always takes Scatman a little bit of time to get everything ready at the trailhead. Everyone else was kind enough to wait on the slowpoke.
58 pounds of gear ready to go.
Group shot at the trailhead
And they are off! The ultralighters are putting the 58 pounder to shame.
Something seems out of kilter. The leaning tower of Scatman.
Sheila was trailing me just in case I dropped something. I did have my tent fall off which means that I had to stop and put it back
on and strap it down tighter than I originally had it.
Some open country at first
The ultralight crew decided to wait for us.
Forested the rest of the way to the lake
Campsite signs at the lake
The many sides of Grebe Lake
@ImNotDedYet makes the decision to take the low route to 4G4
Reaching camp with the Man, the Myth, the Legend.
Our tent at 4G4
Dinner time! No campfires allowed due to fire restrictions
That's right! Circus Peanut time! @Pringles had brought in two bags of the delicious treats. Of course, this meant playtime for
Scatman.
Three loons on the lake and I had a hard time getting pictures of any of them.
About time to call it a day
Day 2 - To Campsite 4G3 then on to Observation Peak - Approximately a 10 mile day
Well, we had to pack up and hike ten minutes up the trail to get to campsite 4G3 from 4G4. Once arriving at 4G3, we realized that there was a squatter at our site. His name turned out to be Benjamin and I will let @ImNotDedYet or @Patrick GPz tell you about Benjamin since they spent more time with him than I did. Sheila and I set up our tent and took off with @Dreamer for the summit of Observation Peak. Before we headed off though, it was time to say our goodbyes to @Pringles , @The Trout Whisperer and @Bob as they were only staying for one night.
A bright group shot at 4G4 before some take off
A ten minute hike to 4G3
All set up at 4G3 and ready to take off for Observation Peak
Heading towards Cascade Lake
Typical of the scenery between Grebe and Cascade
Dreamer up ahead with a small sliver of Cascade Lake above him
Arriving at Cascade Lake
Heading towards the junction with the Observation Peak Trail. A couple of fishermen were pulling in some fish at the lake.
This way to the peak
Leaving Cascade behind
And further behind. Hayden Valley can be seen off in the distance
Headwaters of the Tower Creek drainage can be seen below
Sheila thought this shot had a slight resemblance of the Lewis and Clark signs you see along the road when following their route to the Northwest.
Heading along the ridge at this point
Grebe Lake comes into view
Hayden Valley.
Love the fireweed this time of year
Campsite 4P1 just off the summit. This site has no water source so be sure and pack enough in if you are going to stay here.
The fire lookout on Observation Peak
Eric enjoying the day on top with Cook Peak in the distance
Grebe Lake below
Electric Peak to the northwest
Cook Peak to the north
Mount Holmes to the west
Wolf Lake, with a sliver of Ice Lake beyond
The Yellowstone River flowing through Hayden Valley. You can also catch a glimpse of Yellowstone Lake in the upper left of the
image
BCP greetings while eating a Circus Peanut.
And a celebratory mini Tony's Chocolonely on the summit
Group shot
Grebe, Wolf and Ice Lakes
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone viewed on our way back down
More fireweed
A few lupines still in bloom
Afternoon sun on Cascade now
A bison just off the trail junction
Okay @ImNotDedYet tell us about Benjamin.
A mating pair of swans on Grebe
Evening on Grebe
Day 3 - 4G3 to 4G4 and onto Wolf Lake - Approximately 4.0 miles roundtrip
Of course we had to pack up and head back to 4G4. Before going we said our goodbyes to Terry and Patrick who were hiking out due to some ailments. Some nice folks from Indiana were packing up and getting ready to head out when we arrived at 4G4. They seemed to know Bob (The Man, The Myth, The Legend) and I had a nice chat with them before they took off to camp at Wolf Lake.
Fog on Grebe at 4G3
Grebe Lake
Harebells
Group from Indiana. Austin was the gentleman's name who is on the far left. I told him about Backcoutrypost, so hopefully he will
chime in in the future.
The outlet of Grebe on our way to Wolf Lake
The lily pads extend a ways up the outlet
Forest hiking
And meadows
The fire lookout on Observation where we were the dat before
A squirrel on our way to Wolf
Sheila, showing us how it is done.
At the outlet of Wolf Lake. The outlet is the beginning of the Gibbon River
Wolf Lake. We talked to a fisherman who told us that two hours earlier that he had watched a grizzly bear had walk down the
west side of the lake.
I walked don the Gibbon River a ways before turning around and heading back to Wolf
Group shot at Wolf Lake
Bear pole at campsite 4G5 on our way back to Grebe
View of Grebe from 4G5
Fall colors on some cow parsnip leaves
One of the swans on Grebe
Reflective mood on Grebe that evening
Day 4 - Back to the trailhead - Approximately 4 miles
Pack up and head out today.
Breakfast at 4G4
Slightly uphill back to the trailhead
Grebe Lake Trail
Trailhead is within sight
Back at the Sube.
You are in bear country
Some interesting shots at the trailhead of the old road that used to go to the old fish hatchery that at one time (1920's - 1930's) at
Grebe Lake. @TractorDoc and I need to follow this old road one day.
We headed back to Old Faithful through Hayden Valley and guess who we ran into?
@Pringles !
And of course once at Old Faithful we ran into this handsome fellow (not the one in the kilt).
The End.
