North Pitchstone Trail, Headwaters of Ouzel Creek, Bechler River and Mr. Bubbles(?) - Yellowstone National Park - September 13, 2021

[Rockskipper]

Heads up - @Ugly might need your class on the differences between a horse and a mule walking/trotting sounds. I've heard that your class comes highly recommended.

The difference lies in what tools one uses. Coconuts are hard to come by out on the trail, so my class teaches one how to get the sounds they want from easily-accessible materials, like rocks and pine cones. It goes far beyond just mules and horses, but for example also teaches one how to sound like a mountain lion (use soft pine cones) or other critters. A small group of hikers can easily sound like a herd of elephants if done right, scattering everyone else off the trail and out of the way. I also teach people how to play air guitars while hiking, taking their minds off possibly dying from being stomped by elephants and such and whatnot (we start with Stairway to Heaven).

 

[scatman]

The difference lies in what tools one uses. Coconuts are hard to come by out on the trail, so my class teaches one how to get the sounds they want from easily-accessible materials, like rocks and pine cones. It goes far beyond just mules and horses, but for example also teaches one how to sound like a mountain lion (use soft pine cones) or other critters. A small group of hikers can easily sound like a herd of elephants if done right, scattering everyone else off the trail and out of the way. I also teach people how to play air guitars while hiking, taking their minds off possibly dying from being stomped by elephants and such and whatnot (we start with Stairway to Heaven).

Sign me up then. I've got the elephant part down, but I could use some mountain lion training. Will the credits transfer to a normal college/university setting? Asking for a friend.

 

[Rockskipper]

Sign me up then. I've got the elephant part down, but I could use some mountain lion training. Will the credits transfer to a normal college/university setting? Asking for a friend.

You will get credit at the business colleges of JC Penny or Sears, whichever you prefer.

 

[scatman]

You will get credit at the business colleges of JC Penny or Sears, whichever you prefer.

What, no Montgomery Ward?

 

[scatman]

I almost forgot to mention, I ran into a guy who said that he knew me as we were heading back to the trailhead on our last day.

As @TractorDoc and I were heading down from the continental divide, we ran into a group of four backpackers who were headed to Shoshone Lake for the night. The leader of their group said that he recognized me. I thought to myself as I studied his face, "I've never seen this guy before."

He asked, "What is your name?"

I said, "Hugh"

He responded, "What is your online name?"

I said, "Scatman"

He then proceeded to tell us that I had inspired his current trip, which include heading up Ferris Fork and onto the Pitchstone Plateau. I'll bet that he wishes he'd known about the trail that I had located on this trip up the north side of the Pitchstone. Nice to know that my trip reports are good for something.

He told us that he had asked for a fourth for his trip on BCP.

I looked him up when I got home, and sure enough he is @Flip357 . It was nice nice to meet you.

I told him that I would be looking forward to his trip report when he was done. Hopefully, we will get to see it.

 

[norwegianxplorer]

This backpacking trip took on many iterations before we actually hit the trail on September the 13th. At first I had wanted to request campsite 9D3 near Douglas knob for three straight nights so that I had one full day to explore Ouzel Creek as far as I could, and a second day to find and document the old trail up the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau. Unfortunately, 9D3 can only be reserved for a single night, which threw my plans all out the window. Then when I received my temporary permit, I didn't get the campsites that I had requested, taking me even further away from my goals for this trip. I was able to finagle 9D3 when I called for the official permit, but essentially I would have a long day to see Ouzel Creek with my full pack on, and not much time to find and explore the old trail.

Well, I'm done complaining. Any day in Yellowstone ought to be treasured and I am truly thankful to get to spend so much time in my favorite place. Here is our story.


A day after our Aster Lake day hike, @TractorDoc and I met @wsp_scott at the Lone Star Trailhead for four days of backpacking bliss.

Day 1 - Lonestar Trailhead to Campsite 8R5 on Shoshone Lake - 10.1 miles

View attachment 102011
Overview map for day 1


We set off along the Firehole River towards Lone Star Geyser at 9:00 am. The path to the geyser is actually an old paved road, that was used by tourists, who could drive to the geyser back in the day. We reached the geyser just after it had erupted, and those there to see the eruption were beginning to head back to the trailhead. They said that we missed it by ten to fifteen minutes. Thanks @Bob! We chatted with some park employees as the steam began to fade from the geyser holebefore heading on down the trail.

After departing from the thermal area, we soon came to a string of three footbridges, one of which had caution tape around it (I'm assuming will be replaced in the near future), another that was currently being worked on, and one brand spanking new bridge. Before we knew it we were back on the Firehole and wondering what adventures laid ahead.

Soon, we began to climb towards Grant's Pass through the forest, and then once reaching the highpoint, we began our decent down to Shoshone Creek. Before reaching the creek though, we came to a trail junction and headed left towards Shoshone Lake. Travelling along Shoshone Creek was very pleasant, and we had to cross the creek a couple of times before we got to the lake.

After leaving the creek we approached another trail junction, this one being the route to the Shoshone Geyser Basin, or left to the trail that heads along the north side of Shoshone Lake and at some point our campsite.

Before reaching the spur trail that leads down to the lake and campsite 8R5, the trail skirts an open meadow where we could see two canoeists leaving the small bay where boats can access the geyser basin. Other than thinking, "Oh, there are two guys in a canoe. That' cool." I didn't give it much more thought and continued on towards camp.

When we arrived at camp, I went down to the lake to take a couple of pictures, and once again noticed the canoeists heading east, close to the south shore of the lake. As it turns out, we may have been the last people to see the two alive. It appears that some mishap took place while they were on the lake and they were reported missing. As of today, they found the canoe, one man, a lifejacket and a paddle on the east side of the lake, which is a place you don't want to be in a canoe. Hopefully, they will find the second body soon and give the gentleman's family some closure.

After setting up camp, we made our way to the geyser basin to explore the thermal areas for a few hours before dinner. I'll let @TractorDoc give the lowdown on the basin for you when he gives his account of this trip.

After dinner, we all got some good shots of the sun setting over the lake, and then I was off to bed knowing that tomorrow's route would be a tough one for me.

View attachment 102012
Map at the information board at the Lone Star Trailhead

View attachment 102013
The Firehole River

View attachment 102014
Lone Star Geyser, still putting off a little steam by the time we arrived

View attachment 102015
Shoshone Lake next up

View attachment 102016
Back on the Firehole

View attachment 102017
Dave is testing out the new footbridge

View attachment 102018
The reds of the huckleberry leaves were just beautiful, and I just couldn't stop taking pictures of them throughout our trip

View attachment 102019
A mushroom next to the trail

View attachment 102020
Scott, crossing Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102021
A view back up Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102022
And a look down the drainage

View attachment 102023
Arriving at our spur trail to our campsite - It was a long one!

View attachment 102024
Shoshone Lake

View attachment 102025
Checking out some thermal features of the geyser basin

View attachment 102026
Thermal feature

View attachment 102027
Thermal feature next to Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102028
It's well worth ones time to see the geyser basin

View attachment 102029
One of my favorites

View attachment 102030
This one looked deep

View attachment 102031
I found this interesting

View attachment 102032
Sunset on the lake.


Day 2 - Campsite 8R5 to Campsite 9D1 via the Continental Divide, Ouzel Creek, and Phillips Fork - 16.1 miles

View attachment 102059
Overview map for day 2

I had been contemplating day two for some time, I knew that it would be a long tough hike for me with 11.1 miles being off-trail and not really having a good grasp of what those off-trail miles looked like. Nevertheless, I was excited to give it a go. We retraced our route of day one, up until we reached the junction with the Bechler River Trail. Once on the Bechler Trail, we started our ascent up the Continental Divide. This section of trail was fun due to the fact that we came across many "I" blazes, which the Park Service used to use to mark their trails way back in the 1920s and 30s. The Becher River Trail has many of these blazes, and I tried to take a picture of each one, slowing down my partners in the process I'm sure.

When we reached the divide for the second time, it was time to head west off-trail, where we essentially just followed the divide through the forest across to Trischman Knob. At one point, we did divert north to look down on Madison Lake before moving on towards Trischman. At last, on the west end of the knob, we ran into a dry drainage which marks the headwaters of Ouzel Creek. We then headed down creek for about 2.5 miles, with some standing water showing up in the small creek bed, and then eventually it began to flow. The hike down the drainage was one of the highpoints of the trip for me, but then again I'm partial to drainages.

We reached a substantial tributary to Ouzel, and at this point we worked our way up that stream and off towards Phillips Fork. The travel between Ouzel and Phillips was more open than the the trek along the divide earlier in the day - some forest and then some open meadows. Once we reached the dry creek bed that dropped into Phillips Fork, we worked our way slowly down the drainage to the base of Hourglass Falls. There are numerous falls in the fork, but Hourglass is the most spectacular of the bunch.

Taking some time to take some pictures of the falls, we then proceeded down the drainage, but were soon thwarted by drop offs and steep canyon walls that we didn't feel comfortable proceeding in that direction. This meant that we would have to regain the ridge above the fork in order to get to our campsite on the Bechler River. There was only one problem. My left knee! While it had done so well up to this point, I was beginning to have a hard time pulling myself up the steep slope to get to the top of the ridge. At this point we were only about one mile from camp, but it took all I had to make it there. I found that if I went nice and slow that I could manage, and I eventually made it to our site for the night.

Now our campsite 9D1, is the closet backcountry site to Mr. Bubbles on Ferris Fork, and after dinner all three of us headed over to watch the moon and the stars while soaking in natures hot tub. Since it was dark when I was there, Dave and Scott will have to furnish the pictures of Mr. Bubbles and the thermal area on Ferris Fork, as they returned the next day for another soak, and a round of picture taking.

View attachment 102033
@TractorDoc, making his way across Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102034
Yellowstone "I" candy.

View attachment 102035
Time to head cross country along the divide

View attachment 102036
Typical of the view along the divide

View attachment 102037
Madison Lake below

View attachment 102038
Jump!

View attachment 102039
The dry drainage which is the headwaters of Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102040
I'm all giddy.

View attachment 102041
Standing water a little further down the drainage

View attachment 102042
Ouzel Creek. Yahoo! We have flow!

View attachment 102043
Following the creek

View attachment 102044
Lots of seeps along our way to help increase the size of the creek

View attachment 102045
Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102046
Beautiful fall colors along the banks of the creek

View attachment 102047
Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102048
Scott, at our turnoff point from the creek

View attachment 102049
On our way to Phillips Fork

View attachment 102050
If you take this down, it will take you to the brink of Hourglass Falls

View attachment 102051
Some cascading falls in Phillips Fork

View attachment 102052
Hourglass Falls

View attachment 102053
More falls lower down the fork

View attachment 102054
Heading out from the creek and back up to the top of the ridge

View attachment 102055
More falls

View attachment 102056
Just happy to make it to camp!



Day 3 - Campsite 9D1 to Campsite 9D3 at Douglas Knob Meadows - 4.1 miles

View attachment 102057
Overview map for day 3. The pink line represents the old horse trail up onto the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau.

Today, the group would spit up. I was heading directly to 9D3, while Dave and Scott were going to check out the thermal area on Ferris Fork and try to catch some more of the waterfalls downstream on the Bechler River, before then heading to 9D3. Again, they can provide some detail about their day exploring the Bechler and Ferris Fork.

My legs were pretty tired from the previous days journey, so it took me a while to make my way up the river and on to 9D3. When I got to camp, I set up my tent and then headed back down the trail to go search for the old trail up the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau.

It took me about forty minutes to get back to where the old trail joins the Bechler River Trail that I had found back in 2014. From there I essentially did a zig-zag across where I thought the old trail might be on the ground. Eventually, I found it! I then hopped on it and followed it up the plateau. There were sewn logs along the way, and even a trail marker. I was in Scatman heaven! Following it for not quite one mile, I began to run out of trail and time. The old trail was getting hard to discern and I needed to get back to camp because I didn't want to be hiking through the woods alone in the dark. So with a heavy heart I turned around and followed the old trail back down the plateau to the Bechler River Trail and then back to 9D3.

View attachment 102060
Cascade Falls on Phillips Fork, in the morning, near our campsite

View attachment 102061
Thermal feature on the Bechler River next to our campsite

View attachment 102062
Looking down the Bechler River Canyon

View attachment 102063
The intersection for Mr. Bubbles?

View attachment 102064
A good view of what we bushwhacked through the day before

View attachment 102065
The lower half of Twister Falls

View attachment 102066
The Bechler River

View attachment 102067
Approaching Douglas Knob

View attachment 102068
The meadows north of Douglas Knob

View attachment 102069
Our campsite for the night

View attachment 102070
Beginning my search for the old trail

View attachment 102071
Well looky there.......... I found it!

View attachment 102072
Plain as day as it traverses the hillside

View attachment 102073
Right through the downfall

View attachment 102074
A sewn log!

View attachment 102075
What's this? A trail marker!

View attachment 102076
The corridor the trail runs through as it ascends the Pitchstone Plateau

View attachment 102077
A view of Douglas Knob from the old trail on my way back down

View attachment 102078
Sunset at 9D3



Day 4 - Campsite 9D3 to the Lone Star Trailhead - 11.3 miles

View attachment 102079
Overview map of day 4

Not much to say of day four except that we retraced our footsteps back to the Lone Star Trailhead. @wsp_scott did manage to see Lone Star Geyser erupt though.

View attachment 102080
Some more I blazes on the south side of the divide

View attachment 102081
I call this an "H" blaze.

View attachment 102082
Folks from Idaho Falls scraped their names on this old trail marker back in 1956 - 55 years ago.

View attachment 102083
Back to the new footbridge

View attachment 102084
I'm pretty sure that @TractorDoc sent this grouse after me.

View attachment 102085
Missed it again. Dave kept me calm by offering me a circus peanut.

View attachment 102086
Would have been better on tap, but It'll do. A celebratory drink for a wonderful four days

View attachment 102087
This raven wanted our food

View attachment 102088
Sunset at the Snow Lodge at Old Faithful


Hopefully @TractorDoc and @wsp_scott will add their accounts and images of the trip so everyone can gain a slightly different perspective of our trip.


The End

This backpacking trip took on many iterations before we actually hit the trail on September the 13th. At first I had wanted to request campsite 9D3 near Douglas knob for three straight nights so that I had one full day to explore Ouzel Creek as far as I could, and a second day to find and document the old trail up the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau. Unfortunately, 9D3 can only be reserved for a single night, which threw my plans all out the window. Then when I received my temporary permit, I didn't get the campsites that I had requested, taking me even further away from my goals for this trip. I was able to finagle 9D3 when I called for the official permit, but essentially I would have a long day to see Ouzel Creek with my full pack on, and not much time to find and explore the old trail.

Well, I'm done complaining. Any day in Yellowstone ought to be treasured and I am truly thankful to get to spend so much time in my favorite place. Here is our story.


A day after our Aster Lake day hike, @TractorDoc and I met @wsp_scott at the Lone Star Trailhead for four days of backpacking bliss.

Day 1 - Lonestar Trailhead to Campsite 8R5 on Shoshone Lake - 10.1 miles

View attachment 102011
Overview map for day 1


We set off along the Firehole River towards Lone Star Geyser at 9:00 am. The path to the geyser is actually an old paved road, that was used by tourists, who could drive to the geyser back in the day. We reached the geyser just after it had erupted, and those there to see the eruption were beginning to head back to the trailhead. They said that we missed it by ten to fifteen minutes. Thanks @Bob! We chatted with some park employees as the steam began to fade from the geyser holebefore heading on down the trail.

After departing from the thermal area, we soon came to a string of three footbridges, one of which had caution tape around it (I'm assuming will be replaced in the near future), another that was currently being worked on, and one brand spanking new bridge. Before we knew it we were back on the Firehole and wondering what adventures laid ahead.

Soon, we began to climb towards Grant's Pass through the forest, and then once reaching the highpoint, we began our decent down to Shoshone Creek. Before reaching the creek though, we came to a trail junction and headed left towards Shoshone Lake. Travelling along Shoshone Creek was very pleasant, and we had to cross the creek a couple of times before we got to the lake.

After leaving the creek we approached another trail junction, this one being the route to the Shoshone Geyser Basin, or left to the trail that heads along the north side of Shoshone Lake and at some point our campsite.

Before reaching the spur trail that leads down to the lake and campsite 8R5, the trail skirts an open meadow where we could see two canoeists leaving the small bay where boats can access the geyser basin. Other than thinking, "Oh, there are two guys in a canoe. That' cool." I didn't give it much more thought and continued on towards camp.

When we arrived at camp, I went down to the lake to take a couple of pictures, and once again noticed the canoeists heading east, close to the south shore of the lake. As it turns out, we may have been the last people to see the two alive. It appears that some mishap took place while they were on the lake and they were reported missing. As of today, they found the canoe, one man, a lifejacket and a paddle on the east side of the lake, which is a place you don't want to be in a canoe. Hopefully, they will find the second body soon and give the gentleman's family some closure.

After setting up camp, we made our way to the geyser basin to explore the thermal areas for a few hours before dinner. I'll let @TractorDoc give the lowdown on the basin for you when he gives his account of this trip.

After dinner, we all got some good shots of the sun setting over the lake, and then I was off to bed knowing that tomorrow's route would be a tough one for me.

View attachment 102012
Map at the information board at the Lone Star Trailhead

View attachment 102013
The Firehole River

View attachment 102014
Lone Star Geyser, still putting off a little steam by the time we arrived

View attachment 102015
Shoshone Lake next up

View attachment 102016
Back on the Firehole

View attachment 102017
Dave is testing out the new footbridge

View attachment 102018
The reds of the huckleberry leaves were just beautiful, and I just couldn't stop taking pictures of them throughout our trip

View attachment 102019
A mushroom next to the trail

View attachment 102020
Scott, crossing Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102021
A view back up Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102022
And a look down the drainage

View attachment 102023
Arriving at our spur trail to our campsite - It was a long one!

View attachment 102024
Shoshone Lake

View attachment 102025
Checking out some thermal features of the geyser basin

View attachment 102026
Thermal feature

View attachment 102027
Thermal feature next to Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102028
It's well worth ones time to see the geyser basin

View attachment 102029
One of my favorites

View attachment 102030
This one looked deep

View attachment 102031
I found this interesting

View attachment 102032
Sunset on the lake.


Day 2 - Campsite 8R5 to Campsite 9D1 via the Continental Divide, Ouzel Creek, and Phillips Fork - 16.1 miles

View attachment 102059
Overview map for day 2

I had been contemplating day two for some time, I knew that it would be a long tough hike for me with 11.1 miles being off-trail and not really having a good grasp of what those off-trail miles looked like. Nevertheless, I was excited to give it a go. We retraced our route of day one, up until we reached the junction with the Bechler River Trail. Once on the Bechler Trail, we started our ascent up the Continental Divide. This section of trail was fun due to the fact that we came across many "I" blazes, which the Park Service used to use to mark their trails way back in the 1920s and 30s. The Becher River Trail has many of these blazes, and I tried to take a picture of each one, slowing down my partners in the process I'm sure.

When we reached the divide for the second time, it was time to head west off-trail, where we essentially just followed the divide through the forest across to Trischman Knob. At one point, we did divert north to look down on Madison Lake before moving on towards Trischman. At last, on the west end of the knob, we ran into a dry drainage which marks the headwaters of Ouzel Creek. We then headed down creek for about 2.5 miles, with some standing water showing up in the small creek bed, and then eventually it began to flow. The hike down the drainage was one of the highpoints of the trip for me, but then again I'm partial to drainages.

We reached a substantial tributary to Ouzel, and at this point we worked our way up that stream and off towards Phillips Fork. The travel between Ouzel and Phillips was more open than the the trek along the divide earlier in the day - some forest and then some open meadows. Once we reached the dry creek bed that dropped into Phillips Fork, we worked our way slowly down the drainage to the base of Hourglass Falls. There are numerous falls in the fork, but Hourglass is the most spectacular of the bunch.

Taking some time to take some pictures of the falls, we then proceeded down the drainage, but were soon thwarted by drop offs and steep canyon walls that we didn't feel comfortable proceeding in that direction. This meant that we would have to regain the ridge above the fork in order to get to our campsite on the Bechler River. There was only one problem. My left knee! While it had done so well up to this point, I was beginning to have a hard time pulling myself up the steep slope to get to the top of the ridge. At this point we were only about one mile from camp, but it took all I had to make it there. I found that if I went nice and slow that I could manage, and I eventually made it to our site for the night.

Now our campsite 9D1, is the closet backcountry site to Mr. Bubbles on Ferris Fork, and after dinner all three of us headed over to watch the moon and the stars while soaking in natures hot tub. Since it was dark when I was there, Dave and Scott will have to furnish the pictures of Mr. Bubbles and the thermal area on Ferris Fork, as they returned the next day for another soak, and a round of picture taking.

View attachment 102033
@TractorDoc, making his way across Shoshone Creek

View attachment 102034
Yellowstone "I" candy.

View attachment 102035
Time to head cross country along the divide

View attachment 102036
Typical of the view along the divide

View attachment 102037
Madison Lake below

View attachment 102038
Jump!

View attachment 102039
The dry drainage which is the headwaters of Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102040
I'm all giddy.

View attachment 102041
Standing water a little further down the drainage

View attachment 102042
Ouzel Creek. Yahoo! We have flow!

View attachment 102043
Following the creek

View attachment 102044
Lots of seeps along our way to help increase the size of the creek

View attachment 102045
Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102046
Beautiful fall colors along the banks of the creek

View attachment 102047
Ouzel Creek

View attachment 102048
Scott, at our turnoff point from the creek

View attachment 102049
On our way to Phillips Fork

View attachment 102050
If you take this down, it will take you to the brink of Hourglass Falls

View attachment 102051
Some cascading falls in Phillips Fork

View attachment 102052
Hourglass Falls

View attachment 102053
More falls lower down the fork

View attachment 102054
Heading out from the creek and back up to the top of the ridge

View attachment 102055
More falls

View attachment 102056
Just happy to make it to camp!



Day 3 - Campsite 9D1 to Campsite 9D3 at Douglas Knob Meadows - 4.1 miles

View attachment 102057
Overview map for day 3. The pink line represents the old horse trail up onto the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau.

Today, the group would spit up. I was heading directly to 9D3, while Dave and Scott were going to check out the thermal area on Ferris Fork and try to catch some more of the waterfalls downstream on the Bechler River, before then heading to 9D3. Again, they can provide some detail about their day exploring the Bechler and Ferris Fork.

My legs were pretty tired from the previous days journey, so it took me a while to make my way up the river and on to 9D3. When I got to camp, I set up my tent and then headed back down the trail to go search for the old trail up the north side of the Pitchstone Plateau.

It took me about forty minutes to get back to where the old trail joins the Bechler River Trail that I had found back in 2014. From there I essentially did a zig-zag across where I thought the old trail might be on the ground. Eventually, I found it! I then hopped on it and followed it up the plateau. There were sewn logs along the way, and even a trail marker. I was in Scatman heaven! Following it for not quite one mile, I began to run out of trail and time. The old trail was getting hard to discern and I needed to get back to camp because I didn't want to be hiking through the woods alone in the dark. So with a heavy heart I turned around and followed the old trail back down the plateau to the Bechler River Trail and then back to 9D3.

View attachment 102060
Cascade Falls on Phillips Fork, in the morning, near our campsite

View attachment 102061
Thermal feature on the Bechler River next to our campsite

View attachment 102062
Looking down the Bechler River Canyon

View attachment 102063
The intersection for Mr. Bubbles?

View attachment 102064
A good view of what we bushwhacked through the day before

View attachment 102065
The lower half of Twister Falls

View attachment 102066
The Bechler River

View attachment 102067
Approaching Douglas Knob

View attachment 102068
The meadows north of Douglas Knob

View attachment 102069
Our campsite for the night

View attachment 102070
Beginning my search for the old trail

View attachment 102071
Well looky there.......... I found it!

View attachment 102072
Plain as day as it traverses the hillside

View attachment 102073
Right through the downfall

View attachment 102074
A sewn log!

View attachment 102075
What's this? A trail marker!

View attachment 102076
The corridor the trail runs through as it ascends the Pitchstone Plateau

View attachment 102077
A view of Douglas Knob from the old trail on my way back down

View attachment 102078
Sunset at 9D3



Day 4 - Campsite 9D3 to the Lone Star Trailhead - 11.3 miles

View attachment 102079
Overview map of day 4

Not much to say of day four except that we retraced our footsteps back to the Lone Star Trailhead. @wsp_scott did manage to see Lone Star Geyser erupt though.

View attachment 102080
Some more I blazes on the south side of the divide

View attachment 102081
I call this an "H" blaze.

View attachment 102082
Folks from Idaho Falls scraped their names on this old trail marker back in 1956 - 55 years ago.

View attachment 102083
Back to the new footbridge

View attachment 102084
I'm pretty sure that @TractorDoc sent this grouse after me.

View attachment 102085
Missed it again. Dave kept me calm by offering me a circus peanut.

View attachment 102086
Would have been better on tap, but It'll do. A celebratory drink for a wonderful four days

View attachment 102087
This raven wanted our food

View attachment 102088
Sunset at the Snow Lodge at Old Faithful


Hopefully @TractorDoc and @wsp_scott will add their accounts and images of the trip so everyone can gain a slightly different perspective of our trip.


The End

Amazing stuff!!

 

[Jackson]

How the heck did I miss this one!? Awesome you found the old trail. And cool to see some of the ground I recently covered too!

 

[Miya]

Woohoo amazing! Especially that sunset. I gotta add "see thermal stuff" to my bucket list haha

 

[wsp_scott]

Woohoo amazing! Especially that sunset. I gotta add "see thermal stuff" to my bucket list haha

The "thermal stuff" is pretty cool

I was thinking about you a couple weeks ago, hope all is well

 

[Miya]

@wsp_scott
All is well! Finished the PCT a few weeks ago and have been hibernating since.

 

[scatman]

Congratulations @Miya! What an accomplishment. I'm excited to read your report when you get around to it.

I tried to keep this forum on the straight and narrow while you were gone, but I'm not sure I was very successful.

I'm guessing Yellowstone is next on your bucket list?

Oh, and welcome back.

 

[Miya]

Thanks @scatman . I am still pretty pumped about the whole thing, just sore and sleepy. Ah, another trip report request? I will be at Starbucks for several weeks trying to upload a trip report on here haha Guess I could do LARGE sections, like S.CA, C.CA. etc.

Oh, I expect you kept everything perfectly in line while I was gone!

Well, Yellowstone is on the bucket list! I was thinking of just heading over, but gas is so expensive now! I need to watch my expenses until I decide to start working again. Buuuut gas is probably cheaper in other states...hmmmmmm...

 

[Flip357]

I almost forgot to mention, I ran into a guy who said that he knew me as we were heading back to the trailhead on our last day.

As @TractorDoc and I were heading down from the continental divide, we ran into a group of four backpackers who were headed to Shoshone Lake for the night. The leader of their group said that he recognized me. I thought to myself as I studied his face, "I've never seen this guy before."

He asked, "What is your name?"

I said, "Hugh"

He responded, "What is your online name?"

I said, "Scatman"

He then proceeded to tell us that I had inspired his current trip, which include heading up Ferris Fork and onto the Pitchstone Plateau. I'll bet that he wishes he'd known about the trail that I had located on this trip up the north side of the Pitchstone. Nice to know that my trip reports are good for something.

He told us that he had asked for a fourth for his trip on BCP.

I looked him up when I got home, and sure enough he is @Flip357 . It was nice nice to meet you.

I told him that I would be looking forward to his trip report when he was done. Hopefully, we will get to see it.

@scatman It was such a pleasure meeting you! Trip report in a few weeks when I have time to turn my field notes into writing. You and Joey Coconato really got me hooked on exploring the GYE. Thank you so much, I am an inspired man everytime I return from these trips.

 

[Bob]

3.69 in W Yellowstone. 3.59 in Idaho Falls .... In case your wondering

 

[scatman]

3.69 in W Yellowstone. 3.59 in Idaho Falls .... In case your wondering

Started raining here in Salt Lake this morning around 7:30 am, ruining my day hike plans for the day.

 

[Rockskipper]

I'm in Vernal and it's lightly raining, but I don't think we're going to get much.

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

Outstanding Hugh!