shredhiker
Member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2023
- Messages
- 151
I met my buddy Bruce & his son Austin at the trailhead, around 10am on June 19. They'd hiked up Slough a few times, but always earlier in the year & never past the Silvertip Ranch. We had big plans on going much further, that didn't pan out quite as expected, but it was still a great trip.
Day 1: we hiked into 2S4, very pleasant hike in. Around 8pm we went & sat by the creek for about an hour, scanning for wildlife. There were a few bison & two beavers hanging out right by camp, and a few elk maybe 100 yards downstream. Way off in the hills we could see a grizzly meandering around, probably 350 yards out. With binoculars or a zoom lens, we could get an occasional glimpse but it was too far away to keep track of very easily. When I looked through the photos & video footage on my laptop some days later, I realized it was actually a sow & cub we'd been watching! The first night was cold, sub-freezing, but practically no bugs to speak of.
Day 2: we set out for Frenchys Meadow, arriving at the park boundary around 1pm. This was about the time we'd realized our plans were going to have to change. We had hoped to hike up Bull Creek & down Tucker Creek going kind of a loop starting from just beyond the park border. The terrain around Slough Creek past the ranch gets very steep, and almost canyon-like; there was no safe crossing near there, and it didn't appear that going off-trail to search for a spot would've yielded great results. We kept on moving toward the forest service patrol cabin, when the trail got back near Slough Creek we did our best to scout out places to cross, but everything we could see was too deep & swift, with tons of standing water all around the creek making it difficult to really get a good look. We eventually made it to the area where the Tucker Creek Trail crosses back over (which our intended route would have had us on the opposite side of Slough Creek) kind of made a note that the crossing wasn't looking good, and decided to keep moving & reevaluate our plan.
We stopped at the patrol cabin for lunch, watched a few elk around the creek, and as we were putting our packs on to get moving again, about two dozen horses from the ranch came storming up the creek. That was quite a thing to see, and hear! Crossing Slough on the southern end of Frenchys Meadow was difficult to navigate, but not terrible. We found a spot pretty close to the trail that was about mid-thigh at it's deepest, but not swift enough to be worrisome. We made camp in the trees up on the northern end of the meadow, with a few elk and bison grazing near the southern end. As we were searching for tent spots, the horses came out to meet us as well. Two of the small ones came up to us and seemed friendly enough, while the others kept their distance. It was noticeably warmer that night, and the bugs were starting to be a nuisance but not as bad as expected.
Day 3: one person in the group wasn't feeling great, and over breakfast we had a pretty short discussion, and decided to base camp there for another night. After breakfast I went maybe a mile up Bull Creek mainly looking for tracks, but didn't see much. Then a couple of us went a little further up Slough Creek to the Horseshoe Trail, which we only followed up to the Slough crossing, and then made our way back to camp. We had lunch, and then decided to go look for the infamous Frenchy's Grave, which I had a few sets of coordinates for, that were pretty close together. It took us about half an hour to find it, kind of hidden in the tree line. What a cool piece of Yellowstone history.
Throughout the day we stumbled on what looked to be an old outfitters camp, about half a mile from where we'd set up. A few logs that were strung up like bear poles, but way too low to hang food from properly. Plenty of old farm equipment scattered throughout the meadow, and a couple of what appeared to be irrigation trenches coming off of Frenchy Creek. Around 7pm, the horses started appearing in the meadow again. I guess they'd gotten accustomed to us hanging around at that point, as several of them came right up to us, and they seemed to have no objection to us walking around in the meadow with them. Although they probably scared off any chance of spotting actual wildlife, it was fun & unexpected having them around until dark.
Day 4: we headed back toward the park, to stay at campsite 2S6. Coming south, we crossed Slough Creek in the same spot we had a few days prior, and it was a few inches deeper. I think this re-affirmed in everyone's mind that we'd made the right choice, cutting our route short. I still kept an eye out as we came upon the junction for the Tucker Creek Trail again, there's probably a way to get across that time of year, but we weren't familiar with the area enough to know where to look.
The view from 2S6 was pretty spectacular. I'd actually considered dropping that site from our permit, thinking we'd be out of the park another night, but it ended up being a fortunate choice to hold onto it. We watched a few bison down near the water, and several sandhill cranes. It was warming up considerably, so I wasn't shocked that we didn't see any bears about. Bugs were getting worse, we were having to spray down with Deet a few times per day & wear long clothes anytime we weren't moving. Given the time of year, it could have been much worse.
Day 5: we left camp pretty late, and headed to the Elk Tongue patrol cabin. We saw a couple of day hikers looking for a place to take a dip in Slough Creek, and talked to a few other backpackers headed out of the park. It occurred to me, those were the only people we'd seen since day one, aside from some movement we noticed around the ranch. The day warmed up in a hurry, and was definitely the windiest day of the trip, pollen was flying off the trees like clouds, leaving a bit of a haze in the air. We had one more night on our permit for site 2S1.
As we approached the spur trail for the campsite, we spotted a bear about 10 yards from the '2S1' sign. We were still about 250 yards out, and with it's head down, it was tough to identify what kind of bear it was. We watched it digging around for a good 10-15 minutes, and eventually I was able to zoom in with my camera and get a clear enough shot to see it was a black bear. We watched it a little while longer until it disappeared back into the trees, then cut through the meadow, short-cutting a section of the spur trail, just to be safe.
Day 6: was a pretty uneventful hike out day, except for the mosquitoes. They finally had arrived in full force. Not many photos taken and no snack breaks until we were back at the trailhead. I enjoyed a leisurely drive through the park, grabbed a pizza from the Colter Bay marina, and took my first shower in a week. From there I made my way down to Lander, since I had to fly out from Denver the following morning.
Frenchy Meadow Sunset
Bear by 2S1 Spur Trail
Day 1: we hiked into 2S4, very pleasant hike in. Around 8pm we went & sat by the creek for about an hour, scanning for wildlife. There were a few bison & two beavers hanging out right by camp, and a few elk maybe 100 yards downstream. Way off in the hills we could see a grizzly meandering around, probably 350 yards out. With binoculars or a zoom lens, we could get an occasional glimpse but it was too far away to keep track of very easily. When I looked through the photos & video footage on my laptop some days later, I realized it was actually a sow & cub we'd been watching! The first night was cold, sub-freezing, but practically no bugs to speak of.
Day 2: we set out for Frenchys Meadow, arriving at the park boundary around 1pm. This was about the time we'd realized our plans were going to have to change. We had hoped to hike up Bull Creek & down Tucker Creek going kind of a loop starting from just beyond the park border. The terrain around Slough Creek past the ranch gets very steep, and almost canyon-like; there was no safe crossing near there, and it didn't appear that going off-trail to search for a spot would've yielded great results. We kept on moving toward the forest service patrol cabin, when the trail got back near Slough Creek we did our best to scout out places to cross, but everything we could see was too deep & swift, with tons of standing water all around the creek making it difficult to really get a good look. We eventually made it to the area where the Tucker Creek Trail crosses back over (which our intended route would have had us on the opposite side of Slough Creek) kind of made a note that the crossing wasn't looking good, and decided to keep moving & reevaluate our plan.
We stopped at the patrol cabin for lunch, watched a few elk around the creek, and as we were putting our packs on to get moving again, about two dozen horses from the ranch came storming up the creek. That was quite a thing to see, and hear! Crossing Slough on the southern end of Frenchys Meadow was difficult to navigate, but not terrible. We found a spot pretty close to the trail that was about mid-thigh at it's deepest, but not swift enough to be worrisome. We made camp in the trees up on the northern end of the meadow, with a few elk and bison grazing near the southern end. As we were searching for tent spots, the horses came out to meet us as well. Two of the small ones came up to us and seemed friendly enough, while the others kept their distance. It was noticeably warmer that night, and the bugs were starting to be a nuisance but not as bad as expected.
Day 3: one person in the group wasn't feeling great, and over breakfast we had a pretty short discussion, and decided to base camp there for another night. After breakfast I went maybe a mile up Bull Creek mainly looking for tracks, but didn't see much. Then a couple of us went a little further up Slough Creek to the Horseshoe Trail, which we only followed up to the Slough crossing, and then made our way back to camp. We had lunch, and then decided to go look for the infamous Frenchy's Grave, which I had a few sets of coordinates for, that were pretty close together. It took us about half an hour to find it, kind of hidden in the tree line. What a cool piece of Yellowstone history.
Throughout the day we stumbled on what looked to be an old outfitters camp, about half a mile from where we'd set up. A few logs that were strung up like bear poles, but way too low to hang food from properly. Plenty of old farm equipment scattered throughout the meadow, and a couple of what appeared to be irrigation trenches coming off of Frenchy Creek. Around 7pm, the horses started appearing in the meadow again. I guess they'd gotten accustomed to us hanging around at that point, as several of them came right up to us, and they seemed to have no objection to us walking around in the meadow with them. Although they probably scared off any chance of spotting actual wildlife, it was fun & unexpected having them around until dark.
Day 4: we headed back toward the park, to stay at campsite 2S6. Coming south, we crossed Slough Creek in the same spot we had a few days prior, and it was a few inches deeper. I think this re-affirmed in everyone's mind that we'd made the right choice, cutting our route short. I still kept an eye out as we came upon the junction for the Tucker Creek Trail again, there's probably a way to get across that time of year, but we weren't familiar with the area enough to know where to look.
The view from 2S6 was pretty spectacular. I'd actually considered dropping that site from our permit, thinking we'd be out of the park another night, but it ended up being a fortunate choice to hold onto it. We watched a few bison down near the water, and several sandhill cranes. It was warming up considerably, so I wasn't shocked that we didn't see any bears about. Bugs were getting worse, we were having to spray down with Deet a few times per day & wear long clothes anytime we weren't moving. Given the time of year, it could have been much worse.
Day 5: we left camp pretty late, and headed to the Elk Tongue patrol cabin. We saw a couple of day hikers looking for a place to take a dip in Slough Creek, and talked to a few other backpackers headed out of the park. It occurred to me, those were the only people we'd seen since day one, aside from some movement we noticed around the ranch. The day warmed up in a hurry, and was definitely the windiest day of the trip, pollen was flying off the trees like clouds, leaving a bit of a haze in the air. We had one more night on our permit for site 2S1.
As we approached the spur trail for the campsite, we spotted a bear about 10 yards from the '2S1' sign. We were still about 250 yards out, and with it's head down, it was tough to identify what kind of bear it was. We watched it digging around for a good 10-15 minutes, and eventually I was able to zoom in with my camera and get a clear enough shot to see it was a black bear. We watched it a little while longer until it disappeared back into the trees, then cut through the meadow, short-cutting a section of the spur trail, just to be safe.
Day 6: was a pretty uneventful hike out day, except for the mosquitoes. They finally had arrived in full force. Not many photos taken and no snack breaks until we were back at the trailhead. I enjoyed a leisurely drive through the park, grabbed a pizza from the Colter Bay marina, and took my first shower in a week. From there I made my way down to Lander, since I had to fly out from Denver the following morning.
Frenchy Meadow Sunset
Bear by 2S1 Spur Trail
